Verbal - Subject Verb Agreement Flashcards
Any English Sentence must contain
At least one subject and at least one finite verb serving as the main verb of the sentence
Finite verbs are special
In the sense that they allow us to determine when in time a subject performs an action
What is a main verb
The finite verb found in an independent clause
In any clause in a sentence, the subject of that clause must
Agree in number with that subject’s finite verb in that clause.
If the subject of a clause is singular, the subject’s finite verb in that clause must be singular. Same for if the subject of a clause is plural.
What is the subject of a clause?
The noun that is doing or being what the main verb expresses.
How to determine which noun is doing or being what the finite verb expresses, and is thus the subject?
First identify the action word in the clause, which is the main verb.
What is the rule for regular verbs?
Place an s at the end of a singular verb, and drop the s at the end of a plural verb.
What is a prepositional phrase?
A type of modifying phrase that begins with a preposition, such as “by”, “for”, or “in”.
In December, I always spend time walking along the river bank.
The preposition “in” begins the prepositional phrase “in December”, which tells us when the action in the sentence occurs. The preposition “along” begins the prepositional phrase “along the river bank,” which tells us where the action in the sentence occurs.
What is the general good strategy for checking for subject-verb agreement?
Ignore a prepositional phrase that comes between a subject and its finite verb.
Ignore any appositives that separate a subject and its finite verb.
Ignore any relative clauses that separate a subject and its finite verb.
What is an appositive?
An element of a sentence that modifies or further describes another element of a sentence by renaming it. For example:
My brother John loves hiking in the Omari mountains.
John is the appositive.
What is a compound subject?
A subject composed of multiple nouns joined by a coordinating conjunction such as “and,” or,” or “nor”.
What is an additive phrase?
Phrase that begins with structures such as “along with,” “as well as,” “in addition to,” accompanied by,” or “together with,” do not create plural subjects. A singular subject followed by an additive phrase remains singular.
What must happen if the verb in a clause or sentence containing a compound subject joined by the connections “or,” “nor,” “either…or,” or “neither…nor”?
They must agree with the subject noun which it is closest.
Neither the bread nor the potatoes look very appealing.
Neither the potatoes nor the bread looks very appealing.
What happens in an inverted sentence?
The main verb precedes the subject. But the subject and verb must still agree.
Ex.
Found in many suburban areas are coyotes, medium-sized, dog-like animals.
What are collective nouns?
Nouns that refer to groups of people or things. When collective nouns appear as subjects on GMAT SC questions, they are almost always considered singular.
Ex.
“Team,” “crowd,” “litter,” “choir,” “crew,” “band,” “pack,” “gang,”
