Transcript Subject Verb Agreement

Subject Verb
Agreement
 Two ways one can make an error with this rule are
by:
 not correctly identifying what the subject of the verb is
or
 making a mistake about whether the subject is singular
or plural.
 Do not let intervening words make you "lose" the real
subject.
 The timing of the protests about the new regulations
was poorly planned.
 Over the years the bonus that my company awards to
employees has increased.
 Remember that compound subjects are plural.
 Our car and our house cost a lot to maintain.
 Aunt Mary and Uncle John live in Nebraska.
 Exception: Sometimes two words or phrases
connected by ‘and’ are treated as a single thought:
 Research and development is essential before
developing a new product.
 Expressions change the grammatical number of the
subject.
 Unemployment as well as taxes influences
voters.
 A car's performance, together with its price, affects the
decision to purchase
 With correlatives (or, nor, either/or, and neither/nor),
the verb agrees with the noun nearer to it.
 Neither the teacher nor the students were impressed by
the lecture.
 Neither the students nor the teacher was impressed by
the lecture.
 Mr. Grant or his secretary always answers letters from
clients.
 Either the instructions or some vital part is always
missing from do-it-yourself kits.
 NOTE: The word neither by itself (not in a
correlative) has a singular sense: "Neither of my
parents looks like me."
 Don't let inverted word order (when the subject
follows the verb) throw you off.
 Hardest hit by the drought in Idaho were the
farmers.
 In the valley between the mountains lives a creature
called Bigfoot.
 There are several reasons for learning the rules.
 Don't let an intervening who, which, or that clause
throw you off.
 A person who lacks skills often experiences difficulty
finding a job.
 The oranges that I bought at the supermarket were
delicious.
 Our attic, which was infested with termites, needs a
new floor.
 Remember that each, every, one, nobody, no one,
everybody, everyone, and anyone are singular.
 Someone who follows the rules of grammar
communicates better.
 Each of the candidates proposes a different
agenda.
 If profits are good, everybody in the company gets a
nice bonus.
 Every Tom, Dick, and Harry has a different opinion.
 Note that words designating apportionment are
singular or plural, depending on their context.
 Such words include all, any, most, none, some, majority,
minority, and all percentages and fractions.
 Three-fourths of the book is in Greek, and one-half of
the pages are upside down.
 All of his childhood was spent in the woods, so some
of his habits are peculiar.
 The majority believe that the Republicans will win the
next election.
 Note that one is singular - no matter what (it's about
as singular as anything can be):
 Only one out of ten people knows this rule.
 Collective nouns:
 Should be treated as plural if the members of the group
act separately:
 The jury has reached a verdict.
 Should be treated as singular if the group acts as a
unit.
 The jury are arguing about the evidence.
 Note: When items such as sums of money or periods
of time are taken as a unit, they are treated as singular.
 Fifty dollars is too much to pay.
 Seven months is too long to wait.
 Beware of nouns that look plural but are actually
singular.
 News about a presidential candidate's love affairs
travels fast.
 Physics was never easy for me.
 Note, some nouns can be either singular or plural,
depending upon meaning.
 Examples include: statistics, series, communications,
acoustics, deer, sheep. Statistics is an interesting
subject, but statistics are often misleading.
 Do not let the complement of a linking verb influence
the verb.
 John's problem is his parents.
 (The word parents does not affect the verb.)
 John's parents are his problem.
 Recognize when an entire phrase acts as the (usually
singular) subject of the sentence.
 Collecting matchbook covers is a boring hobby.
 To experience life without some disappointments is
impossible.