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HLPUSVA0816
In English, there should be an agreement between the subject and the verb in a sentence.
All verbs must agree with their subjects in person and number.
When we construct sentences our goal is to effectively communicate to our audience. Having structural errors such as
subject-verb agreement in our writing may prevent our audience from understanding our ideas.
Traditionally speaking, there are eight parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions,
conjunctions, and interjections.
We should be able to identify all of these words in any sentence.
You __________ .
He __________.
It __________.
Only verbs make sense after personal references: I, you, he, she, it, we, they; other words don't. Study the following
examples of verbs and other parts of speech.
Verbs
I see
He walks
I with
He book
You feel
It is
You carefully
It desk
Sometimes, you may find two or more words in your sentence that can be verbs because they fit in the blanks
above. For example,
The lost document was part of the legacy.
In this case, both lost and was fit in the blanks above. To figure out which one of the two is the verb, change the verb
tense of the sentence, and see which word changes; the one that changes is the verb of the sentence.
Past
Present
To change "The lost document was part of the legacy" to the present tense, I must write "The lost document is part of
the legacy." Since lost stays the same but was changes to is, I know that was is the verb in the original sentence.
Identify Subjects
In order to distinguish the subject of your sentence, ask "Who?" or "What?" in front of the verb. The following
examples illustrate this strategy.
Example
Answer
What caused
investigation?
delay
in
the
Remember that sometimes the subject comes after the verb, but it still will answer "Who?" or "What?"
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2. Agreement of Quantity
Fractional expressions such as half of, a part of, a percentage of, a majority of are sometimes singular and sometimes
plural, depending on the meaning. The same applies to the words all, any, more, most, a lot of and some, when they act
as subjects.
Sums and products of mathematical processes are expressed as singular and require singular verbs. The expression
"more than one" (oddly enough) takes a singular verb: "More than one student has tried this."
Some of the voters are still angry.
A large percentage of the older population is voting against her.
Two-fifths of the troops were lost in the battle.
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3. Collective Nouns
Collective nouns are names for a group of individuals or a number of animals, places, things, objects, concepts or ideas,
for example:
Examples
club
company
government
Family
jury
team
army
group
These nouns which name groups can be either singular or plural depending upon their meaning in individual
sentences. Because they can describe either the individuals in the group (more than one plural), or the group as a
single entity (one only singular), these nouns pose special problems.
If we refer to the group as a whole and, therefore, as a single unit, we consider the noun singular. In this case, we
use a singular verb.
The club is meeting today.
If, on the other hand, we are actually referring to the individuals within the group, then we consider the
noun plural. In this case, we use a plural verb.
The couple are separating this week.
When used in the plural form, group nouns mean MORE THAN ONE GROUP. Thus, it uses a plural verb.
The clubs are having a meeting today.
Thus, there are three important subject verb agreement rules to remember when a group noun is used as the subject:
I. Group nouns can be considered as a single unit, and, thus, take a singular verb.
II. Group nouns can be considered as individual members within a single unit and, thus, take a plural verb.
III. Group nouns can be given plural forms to mean two or more units and, thus, take a plural verb.
4. Compound Subjects
A compound subject is one which consists of more than one noun. (This includes pronouns, noun phrases, and noun
clauses.)
When the subject of a sentence is made up of two or more elements, it's called a compound subject.
The individual elements in a compound subject are joined by words like and and or (called coordinate conjunctions)
or pairings like either/or and neither/nor (called correlative conjunctions).
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5. Pronouns
The difficulty is that some indefinite pronouns sound plural when they are really singular.
As subjects, the following indefinite pronouns take singular verbs.
either
neither
other
anybody
anyone
anything
somebody
someone
something
everybody
everyone
everything
nobody
no one
nothing
Each
one
few
many
several
others
any
none
all
most
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6. Modifiers
Sometimes modifiers will get between a subject and its verb, but these modifiers must not confuse the agreement
between the subject and its verb.
The mayor, who has been convicted along with his four brothers on four counts of various crimes but who also seems, like
a cat, to have several political lives, is finally going to jail.
A modifier may be placed between the subject and verb.
Prepositional phrase as modifier
The boy (at the door) is my brother.
The car (with many riders) was speeding around the curve.
We may mistakenly label riders instead of the car as the subject as it is nearer to the verb.
So, remember to locate the true subject of the sentence before choosing a verb.
Who/that/which clauses as modifiers
The boy (who topped the class) received the prize.
The movie (that we saw) is an old one.
Watch out for these types of clauses and identify the true subject.
here is here are / there is there are as modifiers
These constructions look for the subject AFTER the verb and choose a singular (is) or a plural (are) verb to agree with
the subject.
There is a book on the table.
Here are few books.
question words as modifiers
Here, identify the subject and then choose the verb that agrees with it (singular or plural).
What is the problem?
Where are the caves?
How has the package reached so early?
When have these friends taken to enmity?
SINGULAR SUBJECT
Exercises
Directions for Q1 to Q30: Each Sentence below contains a Choice for Correct Subject-Verb Agreement. Choose the
correct form.
1. Annie and her brothers (is, are) at school.
2. Either my mother or my father (is, are) coming to the meeting.
3. The dog or the cats (is, are) outside.
4. Either my shoes or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.
5. George and Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that movie.
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87. A seemingly insatiable demand for luxury apartments in New York, created in large part by wealthy Europeans,
have caused land prices to soar and made affordable housing projects nearly impossible in Manhattan.
(a) created in large part by wealthy Europeans, have caused land prices to soar and made
(b) has been created in large part by wealthy European, caused land prices to soar, and made
(c) the creation of which is in large part due to wealthy Europeans, have caused land prices to soar and made
(d) created in large part by wealthy Europeans, has caused land prices to soar, making
(e) in large part created by wealthy Europeans, causing land prices to soar and making
88. The results of the company's cost-cutting measures are evident in its profits, which increased five percent
during the first three months of this year after it fell over the last two years.
(a) which increased five percent during the first three months of this year after it fell
(b) which had increased five percent during the first three months of this year after it had fallen
(c) which have increased five percent during the first three months of this year after falling
(d) with a five percent increase during the first three months of this year after falling
(e) with a five percent increase during the first three months of this year after having fallen
89. The three friends, Max included, was supposed to meet for dinner later that night.
(a) was supposed to meet
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(b) needs
97. Not only the students but also their instructor ________ been called to the principal's office.
(a) have
(b) has
(b) seems
99. Each and every student and instructor in this building ________ for a new facility by next year.
(a) hope
(b) hopes
100. Carlos is the only one of those students who ________ lived up to the potential described in the yearbook.
(a) has
(b) have
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