Grammar

I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.

Subject-Verb Agreement
Pronoun Agreement and Reference
Modifiers
Parallel Construction
Avoiding Shifts in Time and Person
Active and Passive Voice

I. Subject-Verb Agreement
In a sentence, a verb should agree with a subject in person (first, second, or third) and in
number (singular or plural). So, what does that mean? Say, we have the verb work. The verb
form changes depending on the subject: we say "I work", but we say, "he works". We call this
subject-verb agreement.
Agreement is easy when the subject is clear and is placed right beside the verb, but
occasionally the writer can misidentify the subject or lose sight of it completely.
Tricky Plural Forms
Look at the example, which is incorrect. The subject and verb are in italics.
Incorrect:
In judging managerial style, the most important criteria is concern for relationships with
people.
In this sentence, the subject and verb do not agree. Why? Because "criteria" is a plural word.
The singular is "criterion". If you were to replace the word "criteria" with an pronoun, the
pronoun would be "they", not "it". Would you write, "They is"? No, it would be "They are". So, in
the above sentence, the subject would have to be "criterion" to match the verb form "is".
Correct:
In judging managerial style, the most important criterion is concern for relationships with
people.
Picking the Correct Verb Form
Most times, our ear will tell us what is the correct verb form for a subject without us
even having to think about it consciously. But when the tricky forms occur, how do
we figure out what is the correct verb form for the subject?
One way to do this is to ask yourself, would I replace this subject, for example
"criterion", with " he", "she", "it" or with "they"?
In this case, "criterion" would be replaced by an "it". Then try asking yourself, what
verb form would I use with "it" as the subject? Would I say "It is" or "It are"? We
usually know right away using the pronoun.

Compound Subjects
Look at the example, which is incorrect. The subject and verb are in italics.
Incorrect:
Computers, film and television influences the attention span of adolescents.
In this sentence, the subject and verb do not agree. In fact, the above sentence has more than
one subject, or a compound subject: computers, film and television.

Would you replace "computers, film and television" with "it" or "they"? Clearly, with "they".
Would you write, "They influences"? No, but you would write, "They influence". So, "influence"
is the correct form of the verb.
Correct:
Computers, film and television influence the attention span of adolescents.
Collective or Entity Subjects
Nouns like family, government, group, audience, staff, faculty, team, and company are usually
considered to be singular words. A government may be made up of people, but together these
people form one unit or entity: the government. Therefore, government is a singular word, and
the pronoun you would use to replace it is "it" not "they". So, the following sentences are
correct.
Correct:
My family is crazy.
This government runs full page ads in major daily newspapers.
The faculty is happy with the new contract.

Occasionally, one of these collective or entity words may be used in a context that emphasizes
or denotes the individuals making up the entity.
Correct:
My family are taking holidays at different times of the year.
"Family" is not an "it" in this sentence, but a "they". So, as we would write, "They are taking",
this sentence is considered correct.
Lost Subjects
Writers occasionally lose track of the subjects of their sentences, making subject-verb
agreement difficult.
Incorrect:
The most difficult thing about living in the barrens are the sudden snowstorms.
The subject is not "barrens" but "thing".
Correct:
The most difficult thing about living in the barrens is the sudden snowstorms.
One reason why writers may lose track of their subjects is that occasionally words intervene
between the subject and the verb, distracting the writer, who reacts by making the verb agree
with an adjacent noun that is not the subject. Look at the following:
Incorrect:
In The Rape of the Lock, Pope implies that stiffened hoops bound with whalebone is not
enough to guard a lady's virtue.
The writer has made the verb agree with "whalebone" not with the actual subject, "hoops".

Correct:
In The Rape of the Lock, Pope implies that stiffened hoops bound with whalebone are not
enough to guard a lady's virtue.
Singular Indefinite Pronouns as Subjects
Idefinite pronouns are pronouns that do not by themselves refer to a specific person or thing.
Indefinite Pronouns that are Singular:
each, each one
anybody, anyone, anything
everybody, everyone, everything
somebody, someone, something
nobody, no one, nothing
one, another, other
either, neither
much

In the following correct sentences, a singular indefinte pronoun is the subject and the verb that
agrees with the subject is in the singular form.
Correct:
Each child is special in his or her own way.
Is anybody there?
Everybody is happy.
Either Jim or Martin is telling a lie.
Neither you nor I is completely right in this argument.
Incorrect:
Neither of these organizations deliver effective aid to developing countries.
The subject in this sentence is not "organizations", the word right before the verb. The subject
is "neither", the singular indefinite pronoun. Think of it as as "it" not a "they". You would write,
"It delivers" not "It deliver".
Correct:
Neither of these organizations delivers effective aid to developing countries.
Web Link: Exercise 1 Subject-Verb Agreement
http://www.trentu.ca/history/workbook/documents/Exercise1Subject-VerbAgreement.pdf

II. Pronoun Agreement and Reference

A pronoun is a word such as I, you, he, she, it, they, who that takes the place of a noun. If we
are talking about Brenda, we don't always have to use the noun, Brenda, we can use a pronoun
to replace the word: she or her. We do this after we have used the noun, so we know exactly
who or what the pronoun is referring to.

This noun is called the antecedent, and we say that the pronoun must agree with its
antecedent. (We use she for Brenda to make the pronoun agree in gender with its antecedent,
and we use she instead of they to make it agree in number.) When writing, we must also make
sure that it
is clear to what noun the pronoun is referring.
Agreement of Pronouns
1. A pronoun must agree with its antecedent.
Incorrect:
Our son was born on May 1st. It weighed seven pounds.
Correct:
Our son was born on May 1st. He weighed seven pounds.
2. Use a singular pronoun after such words as each, either, neither, one, no one, everyone,
someone, anyone, nobody, everybody, somebody, anybody.
Incorrect:
Not one of the students received an A on their paper.
(The above is something we might say, but it is wrong in formal, grammatically correct writing
because it doesn't make logical sense. One is singular and their is plural.)
Correct (but awkward):
Not one of the students received an A on his or her paper.
In the above example, what is correct is also awkward. Sometimes it may be best to revise the
sentence so that the antecedent is in the plural so the pronoun can also be plural:
Correct:
All of the students received less than A on their papers.
3. Use a singular pronoun to refer to a collective or entity noun such as crowd or committee
when the group or entity is considered as a whole.
Correct:
The crowd, venting its anger, smashed the police car.
Use a plural pronoun to refer to a collective or entity noun when the members are thought of
singly.
Correct:
The committee are agreed that they must present their report to Parliament this month.
4. Use a plural pronoun to agree with two antecendents joined by and.
Correct:
The owner and the manager of the business quickly made their fortunes.
Pronoun reference
Every pronoun should refer clearly to a specifice antecedent that has been mentioned and is
close by. There are three problems in pronoun reference that sometimes arise:
ambiguous reference
general reference

weak reference

1. Ambiguous reference: If a pronoun could refer to more than one noun, the noun it is
referring to is unclear or ambiguous.
Incorrect:
John told Gordon that Mr Walsh did not remember him.
In the above example, we do not if the him refers to John or Gordon.
Such ambiguity can be avoided by using direct speech or by avoiding a pronoun and using a
noun instead.
Correct:
John said to Gordon, "Mr Walsh does not remember me."
or
John said to Gordon, "Mr Walsh does not remember you."
John told Gordon that Mr Walsh did not remember Gordon.
2. General reference: Pronouns replace nouns only, that is they replace one noun: a person,
place, thing, concept: him replaces Gordon, for example. General reference means the pronoun
is being used by the writer to refer to a general idea in a preceding phrase or sentence rather
than to a specific, identifiable noun.
Incorrect:
The school can no longer raise money by selling lottery tickets because it is now forbidden by
school board regulations.
In the above example, the pronoun it does not have an antecedent. It is referring to the
phrase, selling lottery tickets. This is more than a pronoun can do.
Correct:
The school can no longer raise money by selling lottery tickets because this sale is now
forbidden by school board regulations.
or
The school can no longer raise money through the sale of lottery tickets because it is now
forbidden by school board regulations.
3. Weak reference: This happens when there is no antecedent at all for the pronoun to refer
to.
Incorrect:
As she watched the sailboat, it suddenly got up, filling the sails.
In the above example, the pronoun it would seem to refer to the adjacent noun sailboat. But
the sentence doesn't make sense. The pronoun does not have an antecedent.
Correct:
As she watched the sailboat, the wind suddenly got up, filling the sails.

Finally, take a look at the following incorrect sentence.

Incorrect:
Before publishing her recipe book, Liz personally tested them all.
The pronoun them does not have an antecedent in this sentence, although clearly the writer
meant them to refer back to recipe. Although recipe is a noun, in this sentence it is being used
as an adjective, a word that modifies or describes a noun. As such, it cannot be an antecedent
to a pronoun (a word that replaces a noun not a modifier).
Correct:
Before publishing her recipe book, Liz personally tested all the recipes.
or
Before publishing her recipes, Liz personally tested them all.
Web Link: Exercise 2 Pronoun Agreement and Reference
http://www.trentu.ca/history/workbook/documents/Exercise2PronounReference.pdf

III. Misplaced, Squinting and Dangling Modifiers

A modifier is a word, phrase or clause which speaks about or describes another word in the
same sentence. Confusion results when a reader cannot tell to which word a modifier is
attached. A modifier must, therfore, clearly modify a word in the sentence.
Misplaced Modifiers
A misplaced modifier is a word or expression not placed closely enough to the word it
modifies. The result may be confusing or unintentionally humourous.
Incorrect:
The minister chatted informally about the cost of living with several women.
Correct:
The minister chatted informally with several women about the cost of living.
In the first sentence, the writer reports the minister as talking about the "cost of living with
several women," which was not the actual subject of conversation. In the correct sentence, the
phrase "with several women" has been moved closer to the verb, "chatted," which it was
meant to modify and, as a result, the meaning becomes clear.
Squinting Modifiers
Occasionally, a word or phrase can be placed so that it could refer to either one of two
sentence elements. This is known as a squinting modifier.
Incorrect:
Post offices are open on Saturdays only in the country.
Correct:
Post offices are open only on Saturdays in the country.
or
Post office are open on Saturdays in the country only.

Dangling Modifiers
A dangling modifier is usually a phrase, frequently found at the beginning of a sentence, which
refers to a word that is not actually stated in the sentence at all.
Incorrect:
Waking in the night, the fire engine could be heard.
Correct:
Waking in the night, I could hear the fire engine.
In the first sentence, the phrase "waking in the night" modifies "the fire engine," technically
saying that the fire engine woke in the night. The modifier is dangling at the beginning of the
sentence with nothing to modify. To avoid a dangling modifier, the writer must clearly express,
right after the comma that comes after the dangling modifier, the word the phrase actually
modifies.
Note: in conversation, we often use dangling modifiers. But we should avoid them in correct,
formal writing.
There are different ways to correct danglers. Examine the following examples.
Incorrect:
Staying in England in March, the crocuses were in bloom.
Correct:
Staying in England in March, I enjoyed the crocuses, which were in bloom.
or
When I stayed in England in March, the crocuses were in bloom.
Incorrect:
To climb mountains safely, good equipment is essential.
Correct:
If one wants to climb mountains safely, good equipment is essential.
or
To climb mountains safely, mountaineers require good equipment.
Incorrect:
By missing ten lectures, the exam seemed difficult.
Correct:
By missing ten lectures, I found the exam difficult.
or
Because I had missed ten lectures, the exam seemed difficult.
Incorrect:
When six years old, my mother died.
Correct:

When six years old, I lost my mother.

or
When I was six years old, my mother died.
Web Link: Exercise 3 Modifiers Exercise
http://www.trentu.ca/history/workbook/documents/Exercise3Misplaced.pdf

IV. Parallel Construction

When writing sentences with lists or series, use parallel construction, which means putting the
elements of the list or series in a grammatically equal form. Look at the following examples of
parallel construction to get an idea of what this means; the elements in grammatically equal
form are in bold.
His writing was neat and legible.
not
His writing was neat and I could read it easily.
The car was equipped with a radio but not with a CD player.
not
The car was equipped with a radio but there was no CD player.
He told us to pack up all our belongings and to leave the country within twenty-four
hours.
not
He told us to that we must pack up all our belongings and to leave the country withing twentyfour hours.
Parallel construction gives balance and continuity to writing, making sentences clearer and
easier to understand.
Parallel construction is also handy when using colons followed by numbered, itemized or
bulleted lists. In labs, resumes and other documents, make sure that items following a colon
are in parallel construction.
Awkward:
Your report must cover the following topics:
the reason for the experiment
what will it demonstrate?
how the exhibit will be set up
what materials will be used?
Parallel:
Your report must cover the following topics:
the reason for the experiment
the proof of the experiment

the construction of the demonstration

the materials for the experiment

Using Parallel Construction with Addition and with Comparison and Contrast
Elements that are being added to or are being compared or contrasted by the use of pairs of
conjunctions, like both...and, either...or or not only...but, can be expressed more clearly and
emphatically by the use of parallel construction.
Awkward:
We judge our friends not only by their words but also by what they do.
Parallel:
We judge our friends not only by their words but also by their actions.
Parallel construction is frequently used in proverbs and epigrams to emphasize an idea or to fix
it in the reader's mind. It is also frequently used in speeches for the same reason.
Early to bed and early to rise make a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the the love or
ourselves. --William Hazlitt
Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.
--John F. Kennedy
Web Link: Exercise 4 Parallel Construction
http://www.trentu.ca/history/workbook/documents/Exercise4ParallelConstruction.pdf
V. Avoiding Shifts in Time and Person
Look at the following sentences.
Awkward:
The industrial designer gave a brief description of her new design, and then she demonstrates
the product.
When a person fails to dress warmly, you can expect to get a cold.
In the first sentence, the reader expects demonstrates to be demonstrated because the first
verb of that sentence, gave, is in the past tense. The verb tense, or time, of the sentence has
shifted in a confusing way. There is no logical reason for it.
In the second sentence, the writer starts off referring to a person but then shifts to you. The
shift in person creates awkwardness.
Both sentences sound less awkward when the shifts are eliminated.
Correct:
The industrial designer gave a brief description of her new design, and then she demonstrated
the product.
When a person fails to dress warmly, that person can expect to get a cold.
or
When a person fails to dress warmly, he or she can expect to get a cold.

VI. Shifting Verb Tense

A shift in verb tense indicates a shift in time. Sometimes more than one verb tense is used in a
sentence, paragraph or essay when the meaning calls for such a shift. The shifts in tense may
be necessary to explain changes or continuities over time or for other reasons.
Shifting verb tense is only a problem when there is no logical reason for it.
The present tense is used to describe action in works of literature or other art forms such as
film, opera, television shows etc.
Logical Shifting Verb Tense:
We went to see Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, in which the three main characters die:
Mercutio, Romeo and Juliet.
Also use the present tense when writing about what other writers, scholars, historians,
scientists etc are writing or saying.
Ferguson argues that colonialism was not all bad.
Also use the present tense when describing general truths.
Research indicates that second hand smoke increases the risk of cancer.
Active and Passive Voice
What is the difference between active and passive voice?
Look at the following examples.
Active:
Rules and models destroy genius and art.
Passive:
Genius and art are destroyed by rules and models.
Active:
Little Jack Horner sat in a corner.
Passive:
A corner was sat in by Little Jack Horner.
In a sentence in which a verb has an active voice, the subject of the verb is acting, that is, the
subject is the noun or pronoun doing the action of the verb: rules and models are destroying
and Little Jack Horner is sitting.
In a sentence in which a verb has a passive voice, the subject of the verb is being acted upon
or is passive. Genius and art are not doing anything, they being acted upon, they are being
destroyed. A corner is not doing anything, it is being acted upon, it is being sat in.
As you can see, in these two examples, the passive voice makes meaning unnecessarily
indirect. That is why the usual advice is to use the active voice.

The active voice is less wordy and indirect, but it also forces clearer and more precise thinking:
the writer must name a subject and say what that subject is doing.
The passive voice, on the other hand, allows the actor or doer in a sentence to remain
invisible. The actor or doer does not even have to appear:
Genius and art are destroyed.
A corner was sat in.
An error was made.
People were killed.
These passive sentences don't tell us who made the error or who killed the people. Active
sentences would.
Even when the actor is present in a passive sentence, he, she or it seems not particularly
responsible for the action because they are distanced from it by being positioned after the
verb.
An error was made by two Canadian pilots.
People were killed by the bombs.
Notice how changing these passive sentences into active sentences makes them both more
direct and less wordy.
Two Canadia pilots made an error.
The bombs killed people.
Reasons for Choosing the Passive Voice
Use the passive voice when the actor is unknown or irrelevant.
It may be that in a time of widening uncertainty and chronic stress, the historian's voice is the
most needed.--Barbara Tuchmann
Although this sentence doesn't tell us who needs the historian's voice, we assume that all
people, humanity at large, have this need. Because we are able to make this assumption, the
passive voice is useful here.
Use the passive voice when you want to focus on the action or the thing being acted upon, not
the doer. In lab reports, passive voice can be appropriate, especially in the methods and
materials sections.
The seeds were dispersed.
The results were then analyzed.
Web Link: Exercise 5 Active and Passive Voice
http://www.trentu.ca/history/workbook/documents/Exercise5ActiveandPassiveVoice.pdf