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Grammar Notes Subject-Verb Agreement Part 2 S-V Agreement Rule #7 • A compound subject whose parts are joined by and usually requires a plural verb. • Example: • The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew are the world's most famous teenage detectives. 1/23 1/23 S-V Agreement Rule #8 • When the parts of a compound subject are joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the part closest to it. • Examples: • Neither the Hardy Boys nor Nancy is the stay-at-home type. • Nancy or the Hardy Boys are always near a crime scene. 1/27 S-V Agreement Rule #9 • When a collective noun refers to a group as a unit, it takes a singular verb. When it refers to a group acting as individuals, it takes a plural verb. • Examples of collective nouns: class, team, club, family, staff, jury, crowd, police • Examples: • In 1911 a robbery team steals the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in France. (acting as a unit) • The team separate after the theft. (acting as individuals) 1/27 S-V Agreement Rule #10 • Some nouns ending in s appear to be plural but are really singular in meaning. Use singular verbs with these words. • Examples of singular words that end in s: mumps, genetics, physics, molasses, news, mathematics • Example: • Eventually, forensics is used to help solve the crime. 1/28 S-V Agreement Rule #11 • Titles of works of art, literature, and music are singular. Words and phrases that refer to weights, measures, numbers, and lengths of time are usually treated as singular. • Examples: • The Twelve Chairs is a comic mystery story. • Twelve years is a long time for an investigation to continue. 1/29 S-V Agreement Rule #12 • A verb always agrees with its subject, never with a predicate nominative. • A predicate nominative is a noun or pronoun that follows a linking verb and names or explains the subject. • Examples: • The robbers' main target is banks. • Banks are the target. 1/30 S-V Agreement Rule #13 • A subject can follow a verb or come between parts of a verb phrase in the following types of sentences: * Questions * Sentences beginning with here or there * Sentences beginning with a phrase • Examples: • Does the bank want the robbers punished? • Here is a book about dumb criminals. • Right by the police speeds the truck.