Transcript Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb
Agreement
Two people is at the bus stop.
Each girl won their varsity letter.
Two people are at the bus stop.
Each girl won her varsity letter.
Subject-Verb
Agreement
• Every sentence contains both a SUBJECT and a VERB
• What is a subject?
• Who or what is doing the verb
• What is a verb?
• Action verbs: express an action -- bark, jump, hit,
speak
• Linking verbs: connect the subject to something that
is being said about the subject – am, is, are, was,
seem, become
Subject-Verb
Agreement
Back to our examples…
- What is the subject?
- What is the verb?
Two people are at the bus stop.
Each girl won her varsity letter.
Subject-Verb
Agreement
Agreement:
• Singular subjects agree with singular verbs
• Plural subjects agree with plural verbs
EX.
The course was easy.
The courses were easy.
…. so far, so good, right?
Subject-Verb
Agreement
Where students normally start to trip up is when
the subject is linked to phrases or clauses:
• Clause: a group of words that contain both a
subject and a verb
• Phrase: a group of words
Subject-Verb
Agreement
Ex. The book of short stories is by Eudora Welty.
The book of short stories is by Eudora Welty.
The book is by Eudora Welty.
Ex. The girl who sells eggs is our next-door neighbor.
The girl who sells eggs is our next-door neighbor.
The girl is our next-door neighbor.
Subject-Verb
Agreement
Ex.
The book of short stories is by Eudora Welty.
The book of short stories is by Eudora Welty.
The book is by Eudora Welty.
Ex.
The girl who sells eggs is our next-door neighbor.
The girl who sells eggs is our next-door neighbor.
The girl is our next-door neighbor.
Ex.
Our English class, accompanied by Mrs. Strauss, attends
several plays each year.
Our English class, accompanied by Mrs. Strauss, attends
several plays each year.
Our English class attends several plays each year.
Subject-Verb
Agreement
On your own, do the ODD-NUMBERED
exercises on page 85:
1.
3.
5.
7.
9.
is
attack
is
concerns
grants
11.
13.
15.
17.
19.
endangers
resists
produces
was
constitutes
Subject-Verb
Agreement
Another problem area is when the subject takes the
form of a pronoun:
• some, many, someone, any, everything, each
Sometimes, the pronouns are followed by phrases:
• Many of these words
• Some of the students
• Each of the girls
Subject-Verb
Agreement
• Highlight the common singular pronouns (6d)
Neither book is in the library.
Neither of the books is in the library.
• Highlight the common plural pronouns (6e)
Many of our animals are becoming instinct.
Both of the cars start readily in cold weather.
• BE CAREFUL: words that can be both singular and
plural (6f) – some, any, none, all, most
Some of the money was saved.
Some of the tickets were sold.
Subject-Verb
Agreement
On your own, do the ODD-NUMBERED
exercises on page 87-88:
1.
3.
5.
7.
has
involve
succeeds
regards
9. Does
11. was
13. Both
15. object
Subject-Verb
Agreement
What to do with compound subjects?
Compound subject: when subjects are joined
by and or or
• Subjects are joined by and take a plural verb:
A hot dog and ketchup seem to belong together.
Aries, Taurus, and Gemini are signs of the
zodiac.
Subject-Verb
Agreement
• Subjects joined by or or nor take a singular verb:
Has your mother or your father given
permission to use the car?
Neither snow nor ice keeps the mail carriers
from their appointed rounds.
Subject-Verb
Agreement
The tricky one…
• When a singular subject and a plural subject are
joined by or or nor, the verb agrees with the
NEARER subject:
Neither the students nor their teacher regrets the
approach of summer.
Neither my sisters nor I am planning to attend.
Subject-Verb
Agreement
On your own, do the ODD-NUMBERED exercises
on page 93-94:
1.
3.
5.
7.
9.
is
is
makes
was
is
11.
13.
15.
17.
19.
was
is
attend
serves
is