The trick is in knowing whether the subject is singular or plural. The trick is recognizing which verb is singular and which one is plural. If subjects are joined by or look at the word closest to the verb to choose the correct form.
The trick is in knowing whether the subject is singular or plural. The trick is recognizing which verb is singular and which one is plural. If subjects are joined by or look at the word closest to the verb to choose the correct form.
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The trick is in knowing whether the subject is singular or plural. The trick is recognizing which verb is singular and which one is plural. If subjects are joined by or look at the word closest to the verb to choose the correct form.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
The basic rule states that a singular subject takes a singular
verb while a plural subject takes a plural verb.
The trick is in knowing whether the subject is singular or plural. The next trick is recognizing a singular or plural verb.
Hint: Verbs do not form their plurals by adding an s as
nouns do. In order to determine which verb is singular and which one is plural, think of which verb you would use with he or she and which verb you would use with they. Example talks, talk
Which one is the singular form?
Which word would you use with he?
We say, "He talks." Therefore, talks is singular. We say, "They talk."
Therefore, talk is plural.
Making Subjects and Verbs Agree
Rule 1
Two singular subjects connected by or or nor require a
singular verb. Subject/Verb Agreement 1. If a subject is plural, the verb must have a plural form, and if the subject is singular, the verb must have a singular form. Ignore prepositional phrases. a. The rose in the vase is wilted. b. The roses in the vase are wilted. c. The man in the woods lives alone. (ignore in the woods) d. The length of these boats is twenty feet (ignore of these boats) 2. If subjects are joined by and you will use a plural form unless the two items describe the same person or thing. a. The coach and the umpire were at home plate. b. The creator and director of Schindler’s List is Stephen Spielberg. c. Both the cha-cha and the rumba are Cuban dances. d. Macaroni and cheese is my favoruite snack.
3. If the subjects are joined by or look at the
word closest to the verb to choose the correct form. a. The teacher or the students are bringing snacks. b. The students or the teacher is bringing snacks. c. Neither the coach nor the players know the umpire. d.Neither the players nor the coach knows the umpire.
4. Each, either, one, everybody, and anyone
are considered singular and require singular verbs. a. Either of them is willing to shovel the driveway. b. Each has brought a ticket to the counter. c. Everybody has a parking spot.
5. All, any, some, none, and most can be
singular or plural; it depends on the sentence. a. Some of the books are very valuable. b. Some of the tea is left in the pitcher. c. All of the players were angry. d.All of the ice is gone.
6. If the subject follows the verb, simply
reverse the order in your mind to figure out the correct usage. a. Where are Sara and Julia? b. Here are the girls. c. Where is that yellow chalk? d.Here is the reason. http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/RSpriggs/gram mar.cfm?subpage=606715
Subject-verb agreement
A reader sent me the following sentences and
asked if the underlined words are the subjects. They are, and here's why:
1. Neither of my two suitcases is adequate for
this trip. "Neither" means "not this one and not that one." "of my two suitcases" is just a prepositional phrase, explaining what "neither" means, but a prepositional phrase can't be the subject. (However, as we'll see, it can So when "neither" refers to two, the subject has to be singular.
2. Neither the teacher nor the students seem
to understand this assignment. Here, "neither" introduces two possible subjects, "teacher" and "students." In this case, the subject is either singular (teacher) or plural (students). In this case, the verb has to agree with the closer of the two possible subjects...in this case, "students." So "seem" is the correct verb form.
3. Some of the grain has gone bad.
"Some" can be singular or plural depending on the number of the noun in the prepositional phrase that follows it. "Grain" is singular, so the verb is "has gone." But if we wrote "Some of the students ___ gone home," the verb would be "have," to agree with "students."
4. John or his brother is going to be
responsible for this. The subject is "John" or "brother," but not both. Each is singular. So a singular subject takes a singular verb.
5. Has either my father or my brothers made a
down payment on the house? Like #2, the verb agrees with the closer noun, which in this case is the singular, "father." Turn it around, and the verb is plural: "Have either my brothers or my father made a down payment on this house?" 6. A few of the students are doing so well they can skip the next course. "Few" is plural, so the verb is "are." But here are some variations: "One of the students is doing so well that he or she can skip the next course." (If we know that the student is male or female, however, we can use just the right pronoun.) "A number of students are doing so well that they..."
But if we need to use "The number," we switch
to singular: "The number of students who can skip the next course is very small."