Transcript Subject Verb Agreement

Subject Verb
Agreement
The Stupidity of English
Grammar
 To


Singular: girl
Plural: girls
 To
–s.


make a noun plural, we add –s
make a verb plural, we take away the
Singular: he talks
Plural: they talk
Tip for Subject/verb
Agreement
Generally, if the subject doesn’t
end in –S, the verb will.
If the subject does end in –S,
the verb won’t.
Singular verbs must
accompany singular subjects,
and plural verbs must
accompany plural subjects.
 SINGULAR:
The man wears four ties.
His favorite college is in Nebraska.
Matt, along with his friends, goes to Coney
Island.
PLURAL: The men wear four ties each.
His favorite colleges are in Nebraska.
Matt and his friends go to Coney Island.
Spicing it up
 Put
the subject at one end of the
sentence and the verb a mile away.
An audience of thousands of expectant
people who have come from afar to listen
to live music in an outdoor setting seem
terrifying to a nervous performer.
A. No Change
B. Seems
C. Have seemed
D. to seem




To solve this problem, cross out the junk in the
middle that separates the subject, “an
audience,” from the verb “seem.” Remember
that the subject of a sentence can never be
part of a phrase that begins with “of.” You’re
left with:
An audience seem terrifying to a nervous
performer.
Now you can see what the verb should be:
An audience seems terrifying to a nervous
performer.
Prepositional phrases
The subject can never be part
of a prepositional phrase.
Example
The students in my class study / studies hard.
Watch out for long prep.
 The
feline leukemia virus, characterized by
a loss of appetite, weight loss, poor coat
condition, and other debilitating losses,
are rampant among cats on the island.
a. are rampant among cats on the island.
b. are rampant in cats on the island.
c. is rampant among cats on the island.
d. is rampant in cats on the island.
C
 The
Court’s rulings on assisted suicide,
which overturned two previous decisions
by a United States Circuit Court, dictates
that any health care officials involved can
be held responsible.
A. by a United States Circuit Court, dictates
that any health care officials involved
can
b. by a United States Circuit Court, dictate
that any health care officials involved can
c. by a United States Circuit Court, dictates
that any health care officials involved will
B
Phrases can be separated
by dashes
The tony award winning plays-Sunset Boulevard,
Rent, The Lion King and The Producers- was
performed by the local theater throughout the
summer and autumn seasons.
A. was performed by the local theater
throughout
B. is performed by the local theater throughout
C.Were performed by the local theater
throughout
D. Are being performed by the local theater
throughout
c
Short prep can disguise the
subject
The scent of apples and cinnamon sticks permeate
throughout the cider mill, causing most visitors to
purchase snacks while on the tour.
A. sticks permeate throughout the cider mill,
causing
B.
sticks permeates throughout the cider mill,
causing
C. stick permeate throughout the cider mill, causing
D. sticks permeate throughout the cider mill, the
cause of
b
 The
number of car accidents A. involving
deer, up seventeen percent B from 10
years ago and continuing C. to rise
throughout the country, D. have
decreased. E. no erroR
D
s/v agreement

The number of Americans living in rural
areas have decreased (A)
to unprecedented levels, with (B)most
farmers saying that their days (C)in
the country are numbered. D) No Error.
(E) -
 1.
A (number has decreased)
THE SUBJECT FOLLOWS THE
VERB
 Usually
the sent starts with there or here.
There are many reasons for the tax
increase.
Here is the map.
Invert the sentences
Many reasons for the tax increase are there.
The map is here.
Possible Pitfalls
Sometimes, the subject will come after the verb, in
questions or when sentence begins with there.
Examples
 Does Rose go to camp?
 Behind the door was a prize.
 Why are they falling asleep?
 There is no excuse for such behavior.
 There are no excuses for such behavior.




According to the press release issued last
month, there is more than 100 million users on
the social networking website, a statistic that
doubled in just two years.
A. no change
B. there is more than 100 million users on the
social networking website, a statistic that has
grown by twice
C. there are more than 100 million users on
the social networking website, a statistic that
doubled
C
 “There
Is” or “There Are”?
 Whether to use “there is” or “there are”
depends on the singularity or plurality of
the noun that the phrase is pointing out. If
you have five grapes, you should say:
“There are five grapes.” If you have a cat,
you should say: “There is a cat.” The “is”
and the
Compound Subjects
 Most
compound subjects (subjects joined
by “and”) should be plural:
 Kerry and Vanessa live in Nantucket.
The blue bike and the red wagon need
repairs.
 Hemingway
and his contemporaries, all of
A. WHOM B. WERE authors born at the turn
of the Century, C. WAS REVERED for
describing the sense of aimlessness D.FELT
by their generation. E. No ERROR
C
“Or” and “Nor”
 If
one of the subjects is plural and the
other is singular, the verb agrees with the
subject closer to it. For example,
 Neither the van nor the buses were
operating today.
Either the dogs or the cat is responsible for
the mess.
 Once
the flight landed, neither the
flight attendants or the captain,
who even tried using a hammer,
were able to open the emergency
exit door.
A. or the captain, who even tried
using a hammer, were
B. or the captain, who even tried
using a hammer, was
C. nor the captain, who even tried
using a hammer, were
D. nor the captain, who even tried
using a hammer, was
D
Each and Every
 If
each and every are attached to a
compound subject, the verb needs to be
singular.
 Each child, adult, and teenager was
wearing a seatbelt.




At the museum, each painting and sculpture,
some purchased for millions of dollars and
others found discarded at garage sales, have
its history displayed on a board beside each
piece.
A. found discarded at garage sales, have its
history displayed
B. found discarded at garage sales, has their
history displayed
C. found discarded at garage sales, has its
history displayed
C
Collective nouns


(such as committee, family, group, number, and
team) can be either singular or plural. The verb
depends on whether the collective noun is being
treated as a single unit or as divided individuals.
For example:
SINGULAR: The number of people living in Florida
varies from year to year.
PLURAL: A number of people living in Florida wish
they had voted for Gore.
SINGULAR: The committee decides on the annual
program.
PLURAL: The committee have disagreed on the
annual program.
Total, majority, number
 The
usually means singular
 A usually means plural especially iif of
comes after

The committee meets in the conference room
every Friday morning.
 The
committee disagree on the budget
plans.
 The band practices in Leon’s basement.
 The band practice their individual
instruments.
Collective noun will be
separate from verb
 The
herd of wild horses living in Colorado
A. WERE going to be B. REMOVED from
the range until a federal court judge C.
RULED that the plan D. WAS in violation of
the Wild Horse Act. E. NO ERROR
A
Deceptive nouns that are
singular
 Basis
molasses
 Billards
mumps
 Civics
news
 Diabetes physics
 Linguistics rabies
 Measels series
 Although
many notices were sent home,
the news of the child’s frequent
suspensions were not successfully
communicated to the parents.
 A. were not successfully
 B. was not successfully
 C. were not being successfully
B
Deceptive words that can be
singular or plural
 Acoustics
 Athletics
 Dynamics
 Gymnastics
 Mathematics
 Politics
 Acoustics-
the branch of physics that (a)
studies sound waves- (b)were used (c) to
plan the office environment, as the
proper placement of desks and insulating
fabric (d) dictated the level of noise
pollution. (e) no error
b
 2.
According to (A) a recent study, an
increasing number of people in their
30’s choose (B) to remain single, a finding
that (C), despite reports to the contrary
(D), suggest (E) that fewer (F) people
plan to have children. No Error. (G)
 2.
E (suggests)
Anyone over the age of 21 is eligible to
vote in the United States.
Each has its own patch of grass.
:
Indefinite pronouns
 Singular:,
anybody, anyone, anything,
each, either, everybody, everyone,
everything, little, much, neither, nobody,
no one, nothing, one, other, somebody,
someone, something
 Plural: both, few, many, others, several
 Singular or Plural: all, any, more, most,
none, some
 Each
of the fossils, some more A. THAN ten
thousand years old and B, ADMIRED by
archeologists around the globe, C. WERE
destroyed D. BY the fire that engulfed the
science laboratory. E. NO ERROR
C
Clause
 Clauses
that begin with who, which, that
depend on the antecedent.
 The student who sells the most fruit wins a
trip to Disney World.
 The boxes which contain our dishes were
packed last night.
s/v agreement in dependent
clauses
 Because
a hive of European honeybees
produce much more honey than the
bees can consume, beekeepers harvest
the excess for human consumption.
 A. produce much more honey than
 B. produce much more honey then
 C. produces much more honey than
 cproduce
much more honey than


The correct answer is D. The subject (Help) is singular and therefore requires a
singular verb (is, not are). The prepositional phrase (for improving test-taking
skills and reading skills) is meant to trick you because it’s plural. It’s also long so
that by the time you reach the verb, you’ve lost track of the subject, so be
careful! It may help to actually bracket out (or cross out) all the stuff that
comes between the subject and the verb to make it easier to check
agreement. For example: Help [for improving test-taking skills and reading
skills] are also available.
Help for improving test-taking skills and reading skills are also available.
The correct answer is A. There is no error in the sentence as it is written. It’s
difficult to look for something that isn’t there (i.e., an error), so eliminate the
other answer choices one by one. Choice B changes were to was, or a plural
verb to a singular verb. This is a good tip-off to check the subject. In this case,
you have two subjects — the cruise (singular) and the sights (plural) — joined
by nor. The subject closest to the verb determines whether the verb should be
in singular or plural form. In this case, it must be plural. This same mistake is
repeated in choices D and E, so you just have to check out choice C. Choice
C changes we visited to we had been to visit which is unnecessarily wordy as
well as passive. Choice A is best.