Transcript 08 Grammar Rules

Grammar Rules- Agreement
• Within a sentence, subjects and verbs must
agree. That means, if the subject is plural,
the verb must be plural too.
• Within a sentence, pronouns and
antecedents must agree. That means, if the
pronoun is she, the antecedent must be a
female.
Agreement- Subject/Verb
• Plural subjects must have plural verbs, and
singular subjects must have singular verbs.
• To make a subject plural, you usually just need to
add an –s or –es to the noun.
• The opposite is true for verbs. In order to make a
verb singular, you usually just need to add an –s
or –es.
– EXAMPLE1: The boys walk home from school.
– EXAMPLE2: The girl walks home from school.
Agreement- Irregular Verbs
• Irregular verbs must agree
with their subject.
– BAD EXAMPLE1: I are waiting for lunch.
– GOOD EXAMPLE1: I am waiting for
lunch.
– BAD EXAMPLE2: The boys was eating
dinner.
– GOOD EXAMPLE2: The boys were eating
dinner.
Agreement- Sample Irregular Verbs
• Singular Irregular Verbs
– Am
– Is
– Was
• Plural Irregular Verbs
– Are
– Were
Agreement- Pronoun/Antecedent
• Pronouns (he, she, it, they, us) always refer back
to a noun. That noun is called an antecedent.
Pronouns must properly reflect the noun to which
they refer.
– EXAMPLE1: Sharon bought groceries, and she carried
them home.
– EXAMPLE2: The students ate breakfast; they thought
it was good.
– EXAMPLE3: The cat is crazy, but it is fun to play
with.
– EXAMPLE4: Brian, Joe, and I went to Johnny’s, and
his mom gave us ice cream.
Agreement- Non-Gender Specific
Antecedents
• Don’t use they/them to refer back to
singular, non-gender specific nouns or
pronouns.
• Use “his or her” instead.
– BAD EXAMPLE: Everyone got to see their
relatives this holiday season.
– GOOD EXAMPLE1: Everyone got to see his
or her relatives this holiday season.
– GOOD EXAMPLE2: Each student turned in
his or her homework.