Transcript Subject – Verb Agreement

Subject – Verb
Agreement
Why do subjects and verbs have to
agree? After all, they are only words!
What’s wrong with these sentences?
• There is too many pictures on the wall.
Or this one?
• Everybody but Sami want to go home.
Or this one?
• All the people plans to win the lottery.
The subjects and verbs don’t agree!
How do we fix them?
• There are too many pictures on the wall.
A plural subject goes with a plural verb.
• Everybody but Jasim wants to go home.
A singular subject goes with a singular verb.
• All the people plan to win the lottery.
A plural subject goes with a plural verb.
Now the subjects and verbs agree!
To be correct, subjects and verbs must agree…
They must agree in NUMBER:
•Singular subjects go with singular verbs.
•Everyone wants to win the lottery.
•Plural subjects go with plural verbs.
•All the players want to win the game.
•Number is always about Singular & Plural
What causes problems with S/V agreement?
• Words between the subject and the verb:
The shoes in the closet needs to be shined.
In the closet is a prepositional phrase between the subject shoes
and the verb need.
To be correct, the verb should be: need with no “s”
The shoes in the closet need to be shined.
Common Prepositions
about
before
during
inside
over
above
across
around
at
below
beside
between
by
except
for
from
in
in
of
off
on
through
to
under
with
Verb before the subject…
• Inside the garage are the shovel.
• Across the border is Makka and
Jeddah.
• Where is the instructions for the XBox?
Shouldn’t they be…?
•Inside the garage is the shovel.
•Across the border are Makka and
Jeddah.
•Where are the instructions for the XBox?
Indefinite Pronouns
[-0ne words]
one
anyone
[-body words] [-thing words]
nobody
nothing
anybody
anything
each
neither
everyone
everybody
everything
either
someone
somebody
something
All of these indefinite pronouns are singular
Nobody have a clue about what they are doing. (should be has)
Everything are ready for the party. (should be is)
Neither Sami, nor Ali, nor Tariq know the way. (should be knows)
All and both, however, are plural
All of them wants to go. (should be want)
Compound Subjects
• Subjects joined by and usually take a plural verb.
Diet and exercise is ways to be healthy. (should be are)
Ambition and luck is Mahhood's keys to success.
(should be are)
Who, Which and That
If they stand for singular words, who, which and that
take singular verbs:
Jamal is a person who are very private. (should be is)
If they stand for plural words, who, which and that take
plural verbs:
Ali is one of those people who is very private. (should be are)
General Rules for checking subject / verb agreement
•
•
•
When you are trying to see if the subject and verb agree,
leave out the part you don’t need:
Everyone in the contest want to win.
Everyone want to win. [wrong!: should be wants]
Now put the part back:
Everyone in the contest wants to win.
Say the sentence to yourself out loud, if it doesn’t sound
right, there is a very good chance it is not right.
Subject / Verb Agreement Exercise
Underline the correct verb in the parentheses.
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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8.
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10.
11.
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15.
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17.
Almost everybody (has / have) some difficulty with writing..
Neither the chipmunk nor the squirrels (is / are) bothering us.
Both of us (is / are) voting in the next election.
Neither of you (jump / jumps) to conclusions.
Some say the Indians (has / have) been treated unfairly.
He (is / are) my boss and friend.
Sunbathing (is / are) my favorite form of exercise.
Neither of us (has / have) to pay the fine.
The twins and their parents (travel / travels) together.
Nobody (believe / believes) your alibi(excuse).
America and Russia (is / are) the most powerful nations.
“Safe” and “out” (is / are) two calls in baseball.
Neither of them (dance / dances) to disco music.
Each (serve / serves) a different purpose.
The hammer as well as the saw (make / makes) work easier.
Our team (play / plays) hard every night.
Neither of the boys (has / have) to shave.
Present Tense Exercise
Correct the subject-verb agreement problems.
Dr. Salma state in her article that men and women is different
emotionally and physically. She believes that men avoids
emotional issues, but women are more compassionate and
sensitive. Salma face the fact about the two different sexes. They
acts and thinks very differently about ways of
communication. Women tends to looks at problems in several
different ways but men looks at problems objectively only. I
knows that this point are quite true in the Arab Countries
because the husband always talk about sports while the wife
want to talk about relationships and feelings. Men generally
makes a lot of jokes and they likes to talk in public, but woman
are much more serious and they hardly ever speaks in public.