Download Grammar Unit 6 PowerPoint

Subject-Verb
Agreement
match the subject and its verb
Intermediate Writers Workshop
Rode 2010
Step 1
Identify the subject
Subject
Verb?
Example
One person ? going to a party in the evening.
Two people ? going to a party in the evening.
Step 2
Count the subject(s)
Ask:
Ask:
“How Many?”
Singular or Plural
“Singular
Plural?”
Sarah
1 ? going to a party.
Sarah and
2 Jim ? going to a party.
Step 3
Consider the correct verb form
Singular
• Is
• Was
• Likes
Sarah is ...
Sarah and Jim are …
Plural
• Are
• Were
• Like
Prepositional
Phrases
Identify the noun that is the subject
Ignore the noun in the prep phrase
Count the subject(s)
The person in the house s
is
are
The people in the house
is
are
Subjects with And
Subjects with AND are always plural
Their parts can be singular or plural
1
1
The apple and the orange
is
are
The apple and the oranges
is
are
1
2
Subjects with
Or/Nor
Subjects with OR/NOR can be singular
Subjects with OR/NOR can be plural
OR/NOR means NOT Both
The apple
1 or the orange
1
is
are
The apple
1 or the oranges
2
is
are
The oranges
or the apple
2
1
is
are
Collective Nouns
Can be Singular or Plural
Ask: One Group or Many Individuals
Individuals?
• group
• faculty
• jury
• class
• committee
• family
• public
• herd
• army
• assembly
• club
• swarm
• audience
• team
Amounts
Can be singular or plural
Ask: amount or individuals
The price is twenty dollars.
Twenty dollars is the price.
one price
The wallet holds twenty dollars.
Twenty dollars are in the wallet.
several dollars
The class lasts four hours.
is too long to sit still.
Four hours is
one amount
Titles
Whether one or several items are in a title,
titles are always singular
Great Expectationss
is
a good book.
“The Owl and the Pussycat”
is
a good poem.
“Gypsies, Tramps &Thieves”
is
a good song.
Words Ending -ics
Words that end in –ics
-ics are always singular
economics
acrobatics
physics
civics
ethics
academics
The mathematics
ics on the test
is
are
The politics
ics of their conversation
is
are
The athletics
ics required in school
is
are