MCOM Agreement and Reference Flashcards
Agreement and Reference
Refers to consistency among sentence parts
Noun / pronoun
Noun / verb
Subject / rest of clause
Must occur in
Number (singular or plural)
Person (first, second, third)
Gender
- When a subject and verb are separated by a prepositional phrase ending with a plural word, make the verb agree with the subject, not with the plural word in the prepositional phrase
One of our owners is planning to retire next year.
- Use plural verbs with all compound subjects (two or more subjects) joined by the word and.
The computer and the printer are on sale.
- If two subjects are joined together by either-or, neither-or, or not only but also conjunctions, the latter subject governs the verb form. If a singular and a plural subject are used, place the plural subject nearer the verb to avoid awkward-sounding construction
Either Dale or Wally is up for promotion.
Neither Dale nor Wally is up for promotion.
Roger Anderson or the Smiths are going to host the meeting.
- Treat collective words as singular or plural, depending on how they’re used in the sentence; e.g., all, any, more, most, none, some, who, that, and which
The following words are always singular - anybody, each, everybody, everyone, much, no one, nobody, and one
Use relative pronouns properly
Who, That, Which
Who
Refers to people
Introduces essential and nonessential clauses.
That
Refers to things or to groups
Introduces essential clauses.
Which
Refers to things or to groups
Introduces nonessential clauses.
Noun / pronoun agreement
Find the true antecedent of the pronoun
Make the pronoun agree with (refer back to) its antecedent
Sentence agreement
Find the subject of the clause
Make the rest of the clause agree with the subject
The noun/verb agreement rule:
If you can count it, it’s plural.
If you can’t count it, it’s singular.
