Transcript Subject-Verb Agreement - English With Mrs. Pixler

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
Making subjects and verbs agree!
• The subject of any sentence must match the verb in
number.
• Singular subject  singular verb
• The student uses the Internet for research
• Plural subject  plural verb
• The students use the Internet for research
• Easy, right??
Subject-Verb Agreement
• Error 1: the subject phrase is so long or complicated that
the actual subject gets lost
• The cost of all the repairs we needed to make were more
than we could afford.
• Error 2: the subject follows the verb, as in sentences that
begin with there is or there was
• There is usually some leftovers in the refrigerator.
• Error 3: the sentence includes a compound subject
• Good planning and careful follow-through is necessary for
success in any field.
Common Errors
NEAREST-NOUN
AGREEMENT ERRORS
Subject-Verb Agreement
• “Nearest-noun” agreement errors are made when the verb
in the sentence is agreeing with a noun close to the verb,
but is not the actual subject.
• The cost of all the repairs we needed to make were more
than we could afford.
• Last night, one of the new cottages were damaged in the
storm.
Nearest-Noun Agreement Errors
• Finding the Subject Tip: to find the correct subject of a
sentence, jump back to the beginning of the sentence and
find the first noun (or pronoun) that makes sense as the
subject and is not part of an introductory element. Once
you find the correct subject, make sure that the verb
agrees with that subject.
Identifying Errors
1. Any communication between the defendants and the
witnesses are strictly prohibited.
2. During the afternoon, the temperatures inside the
warehouse complex is unbearable.
3. The ads created by their Madison Avenue advertising
firm was the talk of the industry.
4. The legal status of many Greek artifacts taken out of
Greece is unclear.
5. As a result of the accident, all flights into and out of the
city have been canceled.
Sentence Practice 1
1. The reporters covering the story for the local station has
already left.
2. A movie based on a collection of the author’s short
stories are being filmed.
3. The hearings chaired by Senator Blather was a complete
waste of time.
4. The files kept in the locked cabinet in the main office is
never to leave the office.
5. The family involved in the fire at the warehouse
deserves some privacy.
Sentence Practice 2
Owning a pet, even the least demanding of creatures, are
never easy. Over the years, we have had a number of cats,
each of which have had a unique personality. Sometimes
people seek out cats, and sometime cats, instinctively
knowing the house with the most defenseless owner,
chooses where to live. One of the cats that fall into the latter
category is a big yellow tomcat we call Ferdinand. If cats
could belong to political parties, Ferdinand would be a
pacifist. Absolutely nothing that happens around him seem
to upset him. For example, every one of the cats that we had
before as pets were terrified of the vacuum cleaner.
Ferdinand, however, completely ignores it. When he is
sleeping on the run, I have to vacuum around him. (6)
Editing Practice 1
A researcher who has studied the history of cats believe that
the ancestor of today’s domestic cats were a species of
small wildcats native to northern Africa and southern
Europe. The first evidence of cats being domesticated
animals kept by humans were found in Egypt. An Egyptian
official who oversaw large government grain storehouses
were apparently the first to use cats to control rats and mice.
In fact, in Egypt, the pet cats of an important official was
considered sacred. When a favored cat died, it was not
uncommon to mummify the cat and to give it tiny
mummified mice to play with throughout eternity. (5)
Editing Practice 2
• On a loose-leaf sheet of paper, write two paragraphs (7+
sentences each) about your experience with pets.
• Draw an arrow from each subject to its verb.
• How many of the subjects are the first noun or pronoun in
the sentence?
Apply What You Know
AGREEMENT WITH
“THERE IS” & “THERE WAS”
Subject-Verb Agreement
• English has a special construction used to point out the
existence of something
• There plus some form of the verb be
• In this case, the subject is not in its usual position,
instead, it follows the verb
• Subject-verb agreement errors are made in this type of
sentence when the subject is plural the preceding verb is
singular.
• There is a million stories in every big city.
• There was dozens of books piled on the couch.
“There Is” & “There Was” Errors
• There Is/There Was Tip: When a sentence begins with
There is or There was, the subject, which comes AFTER
the verb, is the first noun (or pronoun) that makes sense
as the subject. Make sure the verb agrees with this
subject.
Identifying Errors
1. There is never enough napkins to go around.
2. After the storm ended, there was dozens of trees down
all over the city.
3. There is a couple of movies that I would like to see.
4. You could never tell that there was any difficulties with
the stage lighting.
5. Since it had snowed all night, there was only some
trucks on the road.
Sentence Practice 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
A tavern is in the town.
A really nasty flu is going around.
A light golden haze is on the meadow.
Some good movies are playing this weekend.
Lots of fish are in the ocean.
Several fountains were spraying water in the courtyard.
People are waiting to be served.
A suite is available if you want to stay there.
Paint and masking tap were all over the floor where he
had been working.
10. Is an airport in Coeur d’Alene?
Sentence Practice 2
There is lots of reasons to visit Spain. First of all, there is all
those wonderful, long, sunny afternoons. Even though Spain is
west of England, Spain using the same time zone as France and
Italy, essentially giving Spain year-round daylight savings time.
Moreover, when Spain goes on daylight savings time in summer
with the rest of Europe, there is actually two extra hours of
daylight in Spain. The extra daylight in the afternoon means that
when the stores reopen after the siesta at 6 pm, there is still
plenty of daylight when people are out and about. Most
businesses and offices are open at 8 or 9 in the morning to take
advantage of the fact that there is many hours of relative coolness
in the morning before the sun gets high enough to make it
unbearable. (4).
Editing Practice 1
Another reason to visit Spain is to explore the art and
architecture. There is some of the world’s greatest
museums, art galleries, and churches in Spain. In Madrid,
there is half a dozen great art collections, the most famous
being the Padro. The Padro has the world’s greatest
collection of Spanish paintings: There is innumerable
paintings by Goya, Velazquez, and El Greco. The enormous
wealth Spain acquired from its conquests in the New World
allowed Spanish kings to purchase numerous collections of
great art masterpieces from the rest of Europe. In the Padro
there is fantastic collections of Dutch and Flemish
paintings. For example, there is nearly one hundred
paintings by Rubens alone. (5)
Editing Practice 2
• Skim through a magazine or newspaper article and find
five examples of sentences beginning with There plus
some form of the verb be.
• Copy these sentences on to your own sheet of loose-leaf
paper, then, draw an arrow from the subject back to the
verb it follows. Do you find any mistakes?
Apply What You Know