Download Grammar Chapter 14 Subject

GRAMMAR CHAPTER 14
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
BASIC INFO.
2+ words must correspond with each other to
make sense of a sentence
 Gender + # of a pronoun or possessive
adjective must match the gender & # of the
noun it refers to
 Ex: John is putting on his new shirt. (Masculine
singular subject/masc. sing. poss. adj.)

LOST MEANING

Changing the gender or # of the subject

John is putting on his new shirt.
 Mary
is putting on his new shirt.
 John is putting on our new shirt.
 The boys are putting on my new shirt.
3RD PERSON SINGULAR & PLURAL
In most cases: a plural subject has a different
present-tense verb ending from a singular
subject
 The boy plays tag in the street.
 The boys play tag in the street.

She learns a lot about English.
 They learn a lot about English.

3RD PERSON SINGULAR & PLURAL: HAVE

When HAVE is used in the present perfect
tense, there is also a difference between the
singular and plural.
My brother has been in Ireland for two weeks.
 My parents have been in Ireland for two weeks.

14.1 UNDERLINE THE APPROPRIATE VERB
FORM & CIRCLE THE CLUE IN THE SENTENCE
1. There is/are many reasons for voting.
 2. Angela writes/write lots of e-mails, but she
doesn’t save any.
 3. Peter and I was/were playing poker the other
night.
 4. The people in Madrid is/are very well
dressed.
 5. Susan’s mother always wakes/wake her up
in time for school.

14.1
6. My grandmother’s friends likes/like to go to
church at noon.
 7. There was/were many children playing in the
park.
 8. Does/Do you like those movies?
 9. Mother Teresa, Gandhi, and Camus
was/were socially engaged.
 10. He is/are a very good speaker.

AUXILIARIES

Must be conjugated to agree with the subject of
the sentence.
A child is playing in the garden.
 Many children are playing in the park.

Does the woman understand English?
 Do the tourists understand French?

14.2 COMPLETE EACH SENTENCE WITH AN
APPROPRIATE FORM OF THE VERB IN
PARENTHESES.
 1. They_______(run) up and down the stairs
when the accident took place.
 2. My aunt______(not+work) in a hair salon.
 3. The house_______(have) a fence around it.
 4. Our village huts________(be) exotic.
 5. Everybody________(scream) really loud.
THE VERB: BE

Only verb with more than 2 forms in simple
present tense.


In the past it has 2 forms.


I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, you are, they are
I was, you were, he/she/it was, we were, you were, they
were
If the subject of be is a noun, the 3rd person form
is used.
They boy is at school.
 Mary and Jane were named co-chairpersons.

14.3 COMPLETE EACH SENTENCE WITH THE
APPROPRIATE PRESENT-TENSE FORM OF BE
1. I________extremly tired.
 2. You_______very noisy.
 3. We________from Rwanda.
 4. They________going to Merida.
 5. He_______a pilot.
 6. She_______always smiling.
 7. It _______a photo of my grandparents.
 **Now change the forms to the past-tense form of
be

EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY

For many, the verb form is determined by the
noun/pronoun that follows “of.” “Some of” or “most of”
followed by a singular noun/pronoun uses a singular
verb form.



If those phrases an “many of” are followed by a plural
noun, the verb form is plural.


Some of the icing is running.
Most of the equipment was sold.
Many of these people are my friends.
This applies to many other expressions of quantity.


A number of people miss the bus.
Two thirds of the diamonds are mine.
EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY

If the number is used instead of a number, the
verb form is singular, because a specific number is
being referred to.


The number of people on the bus is 53.
“One of, each of, and every one of” take a singular
form.
One of my parents is about to arrive.
 Every one of my cousins is here.


“None” is singular, “none of” is plural.
None of the boys is here. (formal)
 None of the boys are here. (casual)

14.4 UNDERLINE THE APPROPRIATE VERB
FORM IN EACH SENTENCE
1. Every one of the soldiers is/are required to pass
an obstacle test.
 2. Each girl on the team has/have her own tennis
racket.
 3. One of my best friends is/are suffering from
migraines.
 4. A lot of shoes on those racks is/are on sale
tomorrow.
 5. A lot of women in the class is/are active
feminists.

14.4
6. Half of this strawberry cake belongs/belong to
you.
 7. Half of the students in this course is/are from
Belgium.
 8. Some of the kiwis I bought is/are really sweet.
 9. Some of the fruit I forgot in my car trunk is/are
rotting.
 10. Every one of the parts is/are closely examined
for quality control.

THERE IS/ARE
Both expressions are singular & plural,
respectively
 The noun that follows determines the verb form

 There
is a man standing in the parkway.
 There are men standing in the parkway.
 There is someone I want you to meet.
14.5 WRITE IN THE CORRECT FORM OF BE.
THEN, EXPLAIN WHY
1. There______hundreds of types of tea in
China.
 2. There______a mosquito in my tent!
 3. There ______many ways to get downtown.
 4. There________a message for you.
 5. There______a report on the incident.
 6. There_______ laws against free speech.

14.5
7. How many kinds of frogs________there in
South America?
 8. Why______there a public school in town?
 9. There________a ruler in my bag.
 10. There_________some erasers and
highlighters in my drawer.

COLLECTIVE NOUNS

Occasionally, a noun ending in –s is singular,
especially for those considered “indivisible units”
The United States is an important country.
 The new is televised.


If such noun is changed to a pronoun, “it” is used.
This can be applied to expressions of time,
distance, and money.


Ten hours of flying is too long.
People and police are plural.
All those people are trapped inside their homes.
 The police have intervened swiftly.

COLLECTIVE NOUNS

Several adjectives preceded by “the” are used
as plural nouns
 The
old are not well taken care of in this country.
 The rich keep getting richer.

Other adjectives used as plural nouns:
 The
blind, dead, deaf, wrongly accused, injured &
wounded, handicapped, living, young
14.6 UNDERLINE THE APPROPRIATE VERB
FORM IN EACH SENTENCE
1. Ten dollars is/are a reasonable price for an
ink pen.
 2. Five minutes is/are all the time allocated for
the exam.
 3. The number on that car’s license plate is/are
fake.
 4. Mathematics is/are used to calculate
everything.
 5. Physics tries/try to explain motion.

14.6
6. Massachusetts is/are 200 miles away from the
border.
 7. The news about the plane crash is/are pretty
alarming.
 8. The United Nations is/are an important
international institution.
 9. Many people in the world does/do not own a
home.
 10. The police is/are paid for by tax money and
federal funds.

14.7 COMPLETE THE SENTENCES WITH THE
CORRECT FORM OF THE VERB
1. Be:_______July and August the hottest months
of the year in Houston?
 2. Be: The interest rates for the house
loan_______cheap, because it is a small house.
 3. Be: A blue parrot and a yellow
parrot_______perched in the cage.
 4. Be: A yellow and blue car______ parked in the
driveway.
 5. Do:________ most of the children take a nap
after lunch?

14.7
6. Do:_______John’s dog always bark that loudly?
 7. Be: My spare key________in my back pocket.
 8. Be: Each dollar, quarter, dime, and cent_______
carefully accounted for in our company.
 9. Make: Attentiveness to other people’s
reactions_________an efficient salesman.
 10. Keep: One of my sisters________ a hairbrush
in her purse at all times.

AUXILIARY VERBS

The auxiliary verb must agree with the subject of a
sentence.
He is singing.
 He is to be freed.


They are singing.
They are to be freed.
Examples with HAVE follow:
He has learned.
They have learner.
 He has been jogging.They have been jogging.


Examples with DO follow:
Does he understand?
 He did not care.

Do they understand?
They did not care.
COMPLEX SENTENCES

Dependent clause: relative clause when it
begins with who, which, or that.
 The
man, who was walking down the street, was
poor.
 Do you see the plane that is flying away?

When 1 of those words is followed by a verb
phrase, the relative pronoun (who, which, or
that) becomes the SUBJECT of the clause.
COMPLEX SENTENCES

If who, which, or that is the subject of the relative
clause, the verb must reflect the # of the subject (sing.
or pl.)


John found a pen that is made of silver.
Mary found two pens that are made of silver.

If the antecedent of who, which, or that is singular, the
relative pronoun is singular. If the antecedent is plural,
the relative pronoun is plural.

The verb will agree in gender & # of both the antecedent
and relative pronoun.
COMPLEX SENTENCES

Whose cannot be a subject. The subject of the
clause is the noun that immediately follows
whose.
 He
is the architect whose mother comes from a
poor country. (singular)
 He is the architect whose parents come from a poor
country. (plural)
14.8 UNDERLINE THE ANTECEDENT(S) OH WHO,
WHICH, OR THAT
1. Frank plays tennis with Mark and Pamela,
who are his best friends.
 2. She works in Manhattan, which is the most
densely populated borough in New York City.
 3. People who live in a house are fortunate.
 4. Do you see the cars that are parked at the
end of this street?

14.9 UNDERLINE THE APPROPRIATE FORM IN
EACH SENTENCE
1. The book that was/were on the table is mine.
 2. Tyler, who is/are already finished with law
school, is 22 years old.
 3. Tour guides who talks/talk too much are
annoying.
 4. The government must support people who
is/are poor.
 5. Sophie ate the brownies that was/were on the
plate.
