Mission 4- Subject Verb Agreement Flashcards
What is a good strategy for checking for subject-verb agreement in case there is a prepositional phrase in the sentence?
Ignore the prepositional phrase.
Eg: The dispute about whether or not to preserve the books has the family in an uproar.
When checking for subject-verb agreement, you can ignore any ____ and any ___
You can ignore any appositives in a sentence:
EG: The candles, (delicate creations made of berry wax), add a nice touch of decor to the room.
You can ignore relative clauses in a sentence
The candles, (which are delicate creations made of berry wax), add a nice decor to the room
What are compound subjects?
When multiple nouns come together to form the subject. Usually joined by AND.
The boy and the girl walk regularly to school.
SIDENOTE: Do not confuse this with subjects such as Bed and Breakfast/ Rice and Beans which are expressions/just one subject
Unlike compound subjects, ____ _______ do not create a plural subject.
What is wrong with the following phrase:
The mayor, in addition to the council members and city planners, were ready to meet the opposition.
‘Additive phrases’ do not create a plural subject.
What is wrong in that sentence is that the verb should be was. was ready to meet the opposition.
When the compound subject is joined by the conjunctions, nor, or neither, nor, who does the verb agree with?
The verb agrees with the subject that comes closest to it.
Neither her dogs nor Astrid enjoys walking in the rain.
Neither Astrid nor her dogs enjoy walking in the rain.
