Subject Verb Agreement Flashcards
Every sentence should include
Subject+Finite verb
Finite Verb: When did the action take place
When identifying subject verb agreemnt,
1) Find what the main verb is (action word)
2) What the noun is
Verb Rule
1) For singular verb, we place an s at the end of a singlualr verb
2) For plural verb we place an s at the end
In many cases subject and verb are
very close to each other but there are other times where there are prepostional phrases
Prepostional phrase example
The dispute about whether to get rid of the old books has the family uproar
When checking subject verb agreement with prepostional phrase
In most cases: Ignore a prepostional phrase that comes between a subject and its verb
i. e:
- -> The once beautiful house with the black shutters and the grey, sloping roof made of marble and numerous other composotes has been neglected for some time, but the right buyer could return the house to its previous splendor
- -> The once beautiful house has been neglected for some time, but the right buyer could return the house to its previous splendor
Apositive
An element of a sentence that modifies or further describes another element of a sentecne by renaming.
- > Type II diabetes, a condition now thought to result, al least in part, from the consumtion of animal products such as milk, eggs, and various meats, are becoming more prevalent in America.
- > Type II diabetes are becoming more prevalent in America.
Appositive: When checking for subject-verb agreement
Ignore the appositive and just look at the subject-verb agreement portions
Relative Clause
Clause that begins with relative pronoun such as that which, when, who, whom
When checking subject verb agreement, realtive clause can be
ignored
- > The horse that has spot on its chest and long, muscular legs is moving quickly
- > The horse that has spot is moving quickly
Compound subjects
composed of multiple nouns joined by a cordinating conjuction as “and”, “or” or “nor”
Verbs for compound subject
Sometimes compound subject require plural verbs but other times they do not
When two singular nouns are joined by “and”
they form a plural subject (there are cases where nouns joined by and form a singular verb)
-> The boy and the girl walk hand in hand school every day
Two nouns joined by AND may form a singluar subject
but actually name one entity and in such case, subject requires a singlur verb
- > The bed and brekfast is completely booked for the holiday weekend
- > rice and beans is
Additive phrase: “along with”, “including”, “accompanied by”, or “together with
begin with words such as “along with”, “including”, “accompanied by”, or “together with”, do not create plural subjects.
-> A singular subject followed by an additive phrase remains singular
i.e: RINGO, as well as the other members of the band, HAS requested that there be no flash photography at the press conference
Subject-Verb Agreement for neither nor, either or ..
Must agree with the noun closest to the subject noun to which it is closet (closet to or)
i. e: Neither the potatoes nor the bread looks very appealing -> the nearest subject is bread so you use books.
- > Either the manager in charger of the project or the members if the team have to claim responsibility for the oversight
Inverted Senteces
verb precedes the subject
-> Through those trees lives a creepy old man
Often inverted sentences being with words such as
“here”, “there”
Collective Nouns
- refer to a group of things
- team, crowd, litter, choir, crew, band, troupe, pack, staff, army, regiment, tribe, panel, gang, flock, board, company
- > singular
Collective nouns: singluar or plural
Singluar (almost all the time)
Collective nouns: plural
When the member of the group in question act individually. The group is not acting as a single unit but rather as individual members of the unit, a plural verb is required
i.e: The crew sometimes argue among themselves over who should handle each of the tasks -> the crew is acting differently
: The crew is scheduled to arrive in the afternoon -> acting together
Collective nouns followed by prepostional phrase
collective noun can appear followed by prepostional phrases
- pack of wolves -> pack is the noun followed by of
i. e The flock of geese flying overhead was the largest that I have ever seen
Sentence contaning a subject made up of a collective noun followed by a prepostional phrase makes it clear that the group is acting as signle
Need a singluar verb
Groups not acting together in a collective noun
if the group is not acting together then you will need a plural verb -> a group of dogs were chasing each other in the park earlier -> because we are focusing on individuals dogs who are fighting against each other
Collective nouns: Majority and Minority
Can be concluded singular or plural depending on the context they appear
Plural: A majority of the students are already applying for jobs
Singluar: A large enough minority is sufficent for blocking passage of a new amendment
: A two-thirds majority of the minister was required for the passage of a new amendement
: The pair of students are expected to compete with each other in two events
There are cases when collective noun are not clear whether the noun is singluar or not
so you look at other clues i.e: Since a group of high school students was expected to attend the introductory economics class the next day, the professor, along with his assistants, was racing to put togther together a lesson that would both fit the curriculum and capture the interest of novices
Every
Singular
Each
Singular
Many
Singular
Indefinite Pronoun
A prounoun that doesn’t refer to any one thing in particular
Singular Indefenite Pronouns are always
singular
Singular Pronoun
- anybody
- anyone
- anything
- each
- either*
- everybody
- everyone
- everything
- neither*
- nobody
- no one
- nothing
- one
- somebody
- someone
- something
- whoever**
- = when either is used with or and neither is used with or, we will need to follow a different rule
Indefiite Pronouns that are always plural
- both
- few
- many
- several
i.e: Both of my sister like to watch cartoons on the weekends
-
Indefinte pronoun that can be singluar or plural depending on their referents
- SANAMM . Some . Any . None . All .More .Most
SANAMM Pronoun refers to singluar noun
- takes the singular verb
i. e All of the class wants the teacher to extend the deadline
SANAMM Pronoun refers to plural noun
- takes the plural verb
i. e: All of the students want the teacher to extend the deadline
When a subject begins with one of the indefinite pronouns “some”, “any”, “none”, “all”, “more”
we can’t ignore the prepositional phrase that comes between the subjects and the verb
i. e Most of the project that the class had neglected while socializing were turned in late
- > when we have more than one indefinite pronouns, we look at the one that is closest to the indefinite pronouns
The number
Singular
- The number of students who apply for summer internship has been increasing
A number
Plural
- A number of students have applied for a summer internship at the Rainforest Alliance
The percentage
- Singular
i. e: The percentage of people in America who are overweight is astounding
A percentage
- Can be plural or singular -> takes a verb that agrees in number with what the percentage is a percentage of
i.e: A percentage of the water is not contaminated -> water
: A percentage of the lakes are relatively unpolluted -> lakes
Subjects involving fractions (half, one fourth..)
Take a singular or plural verb depending on what the fractions are fractions of
i. e:
- Half of the class is going on a field trip (the class is the subject)
- One-third of the students have shown some interest in geology (students)
* so we need to be careful with the prepositional phrase
Portion described using the word percentage
depends whether the portion is singular or plural
i.e: Ninety percent of the board was present
: Fifty percent of the board members are in favor of the acquisition
Relative pronouns: who, that, which
can be singular or plural depending on their referents
- > The dresser that is on sale is still expensive
- > The curtains that are on sale are beautiful
- > Jurors are sometimes more sympathetic toward a defendant who claims to have committed a “crime of passion”
Alumnus
Singular
Criterion
Singular
Datum
Singular
Fungus
Singular
Medium
Singular
Phenomenon
Singular
Nucleus
Singular
Syllabus
Singular
Alumni
Plural
Criteria
Plural
Data
Plural
Fungi
Plural
Media
Plural
Phenomena
Plural
Nuclei
Plural
Syllabi
Plural
Brach of study:
Mathematics, Statistics, linguistics, politics, economics, ethics, statistics
Singular
i.e: Mathematics is my worst subject
- but can be plural when it’s a belief
i.e: His politics get in the way of his personal relationships
: There aren’t any statistics to bolster the claim
Subject in the form of infinitives gerund, nouns phrases/clauses always take
Singular verb
-> Riding in car without a seatbelt on increases the likelihood of suffering injuries during a crash
i.e: Riding in car without a seatbelt on increases the likelihood of suffering during a crash
: To know you is to love you
: Where is spend my afternoon is none of your business
