Subject-Verb Agreement M Flashcards
What is wrong with the below sentence?
- The electron named in 1894
- Because the dog was never mine
The sentence lacks a verb, in a sentence both sentence and verbs must exist. The sentence currently is a fragment
The second sentence has a similar issue as described above it starts with a subordinate clause ‘because’ which means it only contains a subordinate clause and not the main clause
What is wrong with the below sentence?
- The development of a hydrogen car based on expected performance parameters
will be able to travel hundreds of miles without refueling.
This is the first rule that is Subject-Verb must make sense together at first glance sentence seems okay. It is not the development that will be able to travel. We want to say that the hydrogen car will be able to travel
Once developed, a hydrogen CAR based on expected performance parameters
WILL BE able to travel hundreds of miles without refueling.
‘And’ and ‘Additive’ phrases
- The word and can unite two or more singular subjects, forming a compound plural subject e.g.
Joe AND his friends ARE going to the beach
Many other words and phrases besides and can ‘add’ to a subject. These words and phrases are called Additive phrases e.g.
along with Polly; as well as the mayor
These additive phrases function as modifier and therefore cannot change the no. of subject
Joe, as well as his friends, IS going to the beach.
Mathematics, in addition to history and science, IS a required subject
What is the difference between the below two sentences?
- Neither the coach nor the players ARE going to the beach.
- Neither the players nor the coach IS going to the beach.
Both the sentences contain ‘Neither…nor’ the rule for such is, if the sentence contains both a singular noun and a plural noun then the verb will take the form of a noun which is closer to it. In sentence 1 players being plural is closer so it uses ‘ARE’ in sentence 2 coach is closer to verb so it uses ‘IS’
What are the rules in ‘SV’ agreement pertaining to indefinite pronouns
Indefinite pronouns that end in ‘one’, ‘body’, ‘thing’ are always singular.
There are 5 pronouns that can either be singular or plural which can be remembered by the acronym S.A.N.A.M - Some/Any/None/All/More/Most
What are the exceptions of findings subject in the sentence
We have earlier established that subject of the sentence can never be in the prepositional phrase, however, with the SANAM pronoun we look for the subject in the prepositional phrase e.g.
- Some of the money WAS stolen from my wallet. (money is singular)
- Some of the documents WERE stolen from the bank, {documents is plural)
The other exception to this rule is when we are talking about quantities in a sentence e.g.
- The number of hardworking students in this class IS quite large.
2, A number of students in this class ARE hard workers.
The reason being ‘A number of’ is an idiomatic expression. It has become equivalent to some or many as a result we consider students as the subject. one more e.g. below
Half of the pie IS blueberry, and half of the slices ARE already gone
What are subject-verb rules for Each and Every
Each and Every used as pronouns are always singular. The same is true for any subject preceded by the word each or every e.g.
Each dog and cat has paws - Note even though the sentence has ‘dog and cat’ we have still used ‘has’ instead of ‘have’ because of each
What is wrong with the below sentences?
- Near those buildings SIT a lonely house, inhabited by squatters
- There IS a young man and an older woman at the bus stop
In both sentences, the subject comes after the verb so the best way in such cases is to flip the sentence as below
Flipped sentence: A lonely house, inhabited by squatters, SITS near those buildings.
Flipped sentence: A young man and an older woman ARE there at the bus stop
