Chapter 5

Question 1

Subject-Verb Agreement

Answer 1

A singular subject needs a singular verb.

A plural subject needs a plural verb.

Question 2

Conjunction

Answer 2

connects words, phrases, and clauses

Question 3

And

Answer 3

connects two or more items in a subject and makes the verb plural.

exception is when the words are connected are part of a single thing

Question 4

Or

Answer 4

connects two or more items in a subject and makes the verb singular unless one of the items is plural.
the verb should agree with the nearest noun or pronoun

Question 5

not only…but also

Answer 5

the verb should agree with the nearer subject and there should be no comma before but also

if connecting a dependent and independent clause, the verb after but also should agree with the subject of the independent clause.

Question 6

Collective Nouns

Answer 6

singular in form but plural in meaning
generally take singular verbs
the names of associations, boards, companies

Question 7

Using Collective Nouns

Answer 7

singular verb when a single group works in agreement

plural verb if the noun is used to name a group operating as individuals or in disagreement

Question 8

Couple

Answer 8

Often plural rather than singular.
Singular when referring to a unit.
Plural when referring to two individual people.

Question 9

Uncountable Nouns

Answer 9

nouns that have no plural, although many of them look plural

some take singular and some take plural forms

Question 10

Uncountable Nouns with Singular Verbs

Answer 10

advice, apparatus, athletics, civics, courage, economics, fun, health, information, jazz, kudos, linguistics, mathematics, measles, mumps, news, remainder, shambles, summons, and whereabouts

Question 11

Uncountable Nouns with Plural Verbs

Answer 11

assets, barracks, earnings, goods, odds, pants, pliers, proceeds, remains, remain, riches, scissors, shears, tactics, thanks, tongs, wages

Question 12

Uncountable Nouns that take both Singular and Plural Verbs depending on context

Answer 12

ethics, gross, headquarters, mechanics, politics, savings, series, species, and statistics.

Question 13

Plural Nouns ending in on or um

Answer 13

Criteria, data, media are plural, not singular

Question 14

Units of Measurement

Answer 14

take a singular verb even though they are plural

Question 15

Number and Total

Answer 15

usually singular if preceded by the
plural if preceded by a
The number of people expected is small.
A total of 50 people are expected to attend.

Question 16

Fractions and Percentages

Answer 16

are singular or plural depending on the noun or pronoun following them.
One-third of the book is a flashback.
One-third of the customers are regulars.

Question 17

Indefinite Pronouns

Answer 17

both, few, many, others, several, another, anybody, anyone, anything, each one, either, everybody, everyone, everything, little, many a, more than one, much, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, other, somebody, someone, something, all, any, each, more, most, none, plenty, some, such

Question 18

Both, few, many, others, several

Answer 18

plural

Question 19

another, anybody, anyone, anything, each one, either, everybody, everyone, everything, little, many a, more than one, much, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, other, somebody, someone, something,

Answer 19

are singular, even though some of those words seem to refer to more than one

Question 20

all, any, each, more, most, none, plenty, some, such

Answer 20

either singular or plural depending on the context

Question 21

Each

Answer 21

singular

Question 22

Either and Neither

Answer 22

singular pronouns

but if either…or then they are conjunctions, not pronouns

the verb following is singular or plural depending on whether the noun or pronoun following the or or nor is singular or plural

Question 23

Intervening Nouns and Pronouns

Answer 23

a noun or pronoun that comes between the subject and verb

verb still agrees with the subject, not the noun or pronoun that intervenes

Question 24

Prepositional Phrases Agreement

Answer 24

the noun or pronoun following the preposition is almost never the subject. the verb agrees with the noun or pronoun before the preposition.

Question 25

One of the/One of these/One of those

Answer 25

if followed by a relative clause, the relative pronoun (who, which, that) is the subject of the dependent clause takes as its antecedent the noun or pronoun following of

Question 26

one is preceded by only

Answer 26

one is usually the antecedent and the construction becomes singular

Question 27

Subject and Predicate Nominative in Disagreement

Answer 27

the number of the verb should always agree with the number of the subject

Question 28

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Corporations, associations, government, or businesses

Answer 28

don’t say they, their, or theirs!

use it or its

Question 29

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Male or Female

Answer 29

do not use they, their, or theirs to refer to a singular antecedent that could be either male or female

ex. A reporter should check their facts.
–> A reporter should check his facts. (sexist)
–> A reporter should check his or her facts. (wordy)
–> Reporters should check their facts
(make it plural^)

Question 30

Parallel Sentence Structure

Answer 30

ideas that are similarly written.
A series of items that should be alike whether all nouns, all gerunds, all infinitives, all phrases, or all clauses. Same tense, voice, and mood

Question 31

Make Verbs Parallel

Answer 31

Verbs in a sentence or longer piece of writing should agree with each other in tense unless you have a reason to shift to a different time period.

Verbs should agree with each other in voice and not needlessly shift from active to passive.

The mood of the verbs should be as consistent as possible.