Transcript Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb Agreement
ACT Prep
Basic Principle:
• Singular subjects need singular
verbs
–My brother is a nutritionist.
• Plural subjects need plural verbs.
–My sisters are mathematicians.
Most indefinite pronouns are
singular
anyone
everyone
someone
no one
every
another
•
anybody
everybody
somebody
nobody
either
each
anything
everything
something
nothing
neither
* Everyone has done his or her homework.
* Somebody has left her purse.
Exceptional Indefinite Pronouns:
• Some indefinite pronouns are singular
or plural depending on what they're
referring to.
– none, some, more, most, any, and all
• Be careful choosing a verb to
accompany such pronouns.
*Some of the beads are missing.
* Some of the water is gone.
Compound Subjects
• Compound subjects consist of two or more
subjects joined by and.
– The professor and I are good friends.
• Phrases such as together with, as well as,
and along with are not the same as and.
– The mayor and his brothers are going to
jail.
– The mayor as well as his brothers is
going to prison.
Either and Neither
• The pronouns neither and either are
singular and require singular verbs even
though they seem to be referring, in a
sense, to two things.
– Neither of the two traffic lights is
working.
– Which shirt do you want for
Christmas?
– Either is fine with me.
Or and Nor
• When nor or or is used, the subject
closer to the verb determines the
number of the verb.
• Whether the subject comes before or
after the verb doesn't matter
• The proximity determines the number.
Because a
sentence like
"Neither my
brothers nor
my father is
going to sell
the house"
sounds
peculiar, it is
probably a
good idea to
put the plural
subject
closer to the
verb
whenever
that is
possible.
For Example:
• Either my father or my brothers are
going to sell the house.
• Neither my brothers nor my father is
going to sell the house.
• Are either my brothers or my father
responsible?
• Is either my father or my brothers
responsible?
There and Here
• The words there and here are never
subjects.
– There are two reasons [plural
subject] for this.
– There is no reason for this.
– Here are two apples.
• Although the subject follows the verb, it
still determines the number of the verb.
Odds and Ends
• Fractional expressions are sometimes
singular and sometimes plural:
– half of, a part of, a percentage of, and
a majority of
• The same is true when the following act
as subjects:
– all, any, more, most and some
• Sums and products of
mathematical processes are
expressed as singular and require
singular verbs.
• The expression "more than one"
(oddly enough) takes a singular
verb:
– More than one student has tried this.
• Some of the voters are still angry.
• A large percentage of the older population is
voting against her.
• Two-fifths of the troops were lost in the battle.
• Two-fifths of the vineyard was destroyed by
fire.
• Forty percent of the students are in favor of
changing the policy.
• Forty percent of the student body is in favor of
changing the policy.
• Two and two is four.
• Four times four divided by two is eight.
Caution!
• Sometimes modifiers will get between a
subject and its verb, but these modifiers must
not confuse the agreement between the subject
and its verb.
– The mayor, who has been convicted along
with his four brothers on four counts of
various crimes but who also seems, like a
cat, to have several political lives, is finally
going to jail.
For the Super Advanced Student:
• If your sentence compounds a positive and a
negative subject and one is plural, the other
singular, the verb should agree with the
positive subject.
– The department members but not the chair
have decided not to teach on Valentine's
Day.
– It is not the faculty members but the
president who decides this issue.
– It was the speaker, not his ideas, that has
provoked the students to riot.
TIP!!
• Sometimes after you know that the
subject is singular or plural, you still
can’t decide which verb is singular and
which is plural.
– Substitute “it” for singular
– Substitute “they” for plural
• The verb immediately become apparent.
– Most parents mistakenly think that mumps
has/have been eliminated as a childhood
disease.
Relative Pronouns:
• Who, whom, which, and that are either
singular or plural, depending on the words
they refer to.
.
• The sales manager is a good researcher who
spends a great amount of time surfing the Web
for information.
– Subjects: the sales manager , researcher
– Verbs: is, spends
• Sales managers are good researchers who
spend a great amount of time surfing the Web
for information.
– Subjects: sales managers, researchers
– Verbs: are, spend
Once Again . . .
• Sometimes the pronoun who, that, or which is
the subject of a verb in the middle of the
sentence.
• The pronouns who, that, and which become
singular or plural according to the noun
directly in front of them.
• So, if that noun is singular, use a singular verb.
If it is plural, use a plural verb. do.
Examples:
• Salma is the scientist who writes/write the
reports.
– The word in front of who is scientist, which
is singular.
– Therefore, use the singular verb writes.
• He is one of the men who does/do the work.
– The word in front of who is men, which is
plural.
– Therefore, use the plural verb
• This may seem a bit confusing at first, but
there's a way to get it right every time.
• If you find "who," "which," or "that"
introducing a dependent clause (like in the
examples above):
– Look at the word right in front of it (usually
that's the word it takes the place of).
– Decide if the word is singular or plural (that
will tell you whether "who," "which," or
"that" is singular or plural).
– Make the verb agree!
• That's all there is to it!
“One of the. . .” causes problems:
• Sanders is one of the council members who
oppose the plan.
– Who refers to the plural members
– Several council members oppose the plan.
• Sanders is the only one of the council
members who opposes the plan.
– Who refers to one
– There is only one council member,
Sanders, opposing the plan.
LET’S PRACTICE
1. Either the physicians in this hospital
or the chief administrator is / are
going to have to make a decision.
2. Is / Are my boss or my sisters in the
union going to win this grievance?
3. Some of the votes seem / seems to
have been miscounted.
4. The tornadoes that tear through this
county every spring are / is more than just
a nuisance.
5. Everyone selected to serve on this
jury have / has to be willing to give up a
lot of time.
6. Kara Wolters, together with her
teammates, presents / present a
formidable opponent on the basketball
court.
7. He seems to forget that there are / is
things to be done before he can graduate.
8. There have / has to be some people
left in that town after yesterday's flood.
9. Some of the grain appear / appears to
be contaminated.
10. Three-quarters of the students is / are
against the tuition hike.
1. Either the physicians in this hospital or the chief
administrator is going to have to make a decision.
2. Is my boss or my sisters in the union going to win this
grievance?
3. Some of the votes seem to have been miscounted.
4. The tornadoes that tear through this county every spring
are more than just a nuisance.
5. Everyone selected to serve on this jury has to be willing to
give up a lot of time.
6. Kara Wolters, together with her teammates, presents a
formidable opponent on the basketball court.
7. He seems to forget that there are things to be done before
he can graduate.
8. There have to be some people left in that town after
yesterday's flood.
9. Some of the grain appears to be contaminated.
10.Three-quarters of the students are against the tuition hike.