2. Subject-Verb Agreement Flashcards
What does it mean to have subject-verb agreement?
(1) Subject and verb must both exist
(2) Subject and verb must make sense together
(3) Subject and verb must agree in number (i.e. the number can be singular or plural)
What is the key to making subjects and verbs agree in GMAT sentences?
Find the subject that goes with the particular verb. To find the subject, you must ignore all the words that are not the subject
What are the common types of middlemen and warm-ups (i.e. words in between or words in front of the subject and verb)
(1) Prepositional Phrases
(2) Subordinate Clauses
(3) Other modifiers
What is a prepositional phrase?
- Group of words headed by a preposition that modify or describe other parts of the sentence
- Prepositions are followed by nouns or pronouns, which complete the phrase
- You can generally eliminate them to find the subject
Examples of prepositions: of, in, to, for, with, on, by, at, at, from
What is a subordinate clause?
- A subordinate clause cannot stand by itself
- often modify other parts of the sentence, acting as “big adjectives” or “big adverbs” or “big nouns”
- Begin with subordinators
Examples of subordinators: because, which, when, who, that
What are other modifiers?
Modifiers, which modify or describe other portions of the sentence
- Present participles (-ing forms derived from verbs)
- Past participles (-ed and -en forms derived from verbs)
- Appositives (nouns, pronouns or noun phrases that are placed next to nouns to further describe them)
What are the rules of “and” and other additive phrases?
- “And” is the only word that can unite two or more singular subjects, forming a compound plural subject
Example: Joe AND his friends ARE going to the beach.
-Additive phrases do not form compound subjects; rather they function as modifiers and therefore cannot change the number of the subject
Example: Joe, as well as his friends, IS going to the beach.
What are examples of additive phrases?
(1) Along with
(2) Accompanied by
(3) In addition to
(4) Together with
(5) As well as
(6) Including
Are subjects (e.g. Mathematics) singular or plural?
Singular
Are some activities (e.g. aerobics) singular or plural?
Singular
Are diseases (e.g. diabetes) singular or plural?
Singular
What is the rule for “either…or” and “neither…nor”?
The verb must agree in number with the noun nearest to the verb
Example:
- Neither the coach nor the players ARE going to the beach
- Neither the players nor the coach IS going to the beach
What is a collective noun? Is it considered to be singular or plural?
Almost always singular. Noun that looks singular (ie it usually does not end with an “-s”) but can refer to a group of people or objects (e.g. army)
Example: Our ARMY of a hundred thousand soldiers IS attacking the enemy
NOTE: In some RARE circumstances, collective nouns can be considered plural (e.g. when you emphasize the individual actors, not their unity)
What are examples of collective nouns?
People: agency, army, audience, class, committee, crowd, orchestra, team
Items: baggage, citrus, equipment, fleet, fruit, furniture
What is an indefinite pronoun? Is it considered to be singular or plural?
Usually singular.
- pronouns are words that replace other nouns or pronouns
- indefinite pronouns are not specific about the thing to which it refers (e.g. anyone)
- note that all pronouns that end in “-one”, “-body”, or “-thing” fall into this category
Example: Everybody is going to come to the party.
What are examples of indefinite pronouns?
(1) Anyone, anybody, anything
(2) each, every
(3) everyone, everybody, everything
(4) no one, nobody, nothing
(5) someone, somebody, something
(6) whatever, whoever
What are the five unique indefinite pronouns? What is the rule?
Acronym: SANAM Some Any None All More/Most
- Five indefinite pronouns that can be either singular or plural depending on the context of the sentence
- Noun object of the “Of-phrase” can help you determine the number of the subject
Some of the money WAS/WERE stolen from my wallet. Choose the correct verb. Why?
WAS stolen. Money is singular
Some of the documents WAS/WERE stolen from the bank. Choose the correct verb. Why?
WERE stolen. Documents is plural
Is “one” singular or plural?
“One” is ALWAYS singular
Example: Not one of my friends IS here this weekend.
Every dog HAS/HAVE paws. Choose the correct verb. Why?
HAS paws. Any subject preceded by the word “each” or “every” requires singular verb form
Each of these shirts IS/ARE pretty. Choose the correct verb. Why?
IS pretty. Any subject preceded by the word “each” or “every” requires singular verb form
They each IS/ARE great tennis players. Choose the correct verb. Why?
ARE great. “each” following a subject has no bearing on the verb form
“The number of” versus “A number of”. Singular or plural?
“The number of” = singular verb Example: The number of hardworking students in this class IS quite large.
“A number of” = plural verb Example: A number of students in this class ARE hard workers
Half of the pie IS/ARE blueberry, and half of the slices IS/ARE already gone. Choose the correct verb. Why?
IS blueberry…ARE already gone. Treat quantity phrases (eg fractions and percentages) in the same way as SANAM pronouns: the noun in the “Of-“ prepositional phrase will indicate whether the verb is singular or plural
Are “majority”, “minority”, and “plurality” singular or plural?
They are singular or plural depending on their context
Example: The majority of the students in this class ARE hard workers. Example: In the Senate, the majority HAS coalesced into a unified voting block.
Are subject phrases and clauses (“-ing” phrase) singular or plural?
ALWAYS singular
Example: Having good friends IS a wonderful thing
Example: Whatever they want to do IS fine.
Pong is a classic game from which HAS/HAVE descended many current computer pastimes. Choose the correct verb. Why?
HAVE descended. Subject does not always have to appear before the verb
What are the general rules for singular subjects, plural subjects, and it depends?
Singular subjects
(1) a singular subject linked to other nouns by an additive phrase
(2) collective nouns
(3) most indefinite pronouns
(4) subjects preceded by “each” or “every”
(5) subjects preceded by “the number of”
(6) subject phrases or clauses
Plural subjects
(1) subjects joined by “and”
(2) subjects preceded by “a number of”
It Depends
(1) subjects joined by “or” or “nor”
(2) SANAM pronouns
(3) other numerical words and phrases
