Download Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb Agreement
Agreement in Number
 Verbs must agree with their subjects in number.
 number refers to whether a word is singular or plural.
 Singular subjects take singular verbs. Plural subjects take
plural verbs.
 A ferocious fistfight looks real in a film.
 The fighters look as if they were really being punched.
 A stunt person knows many tricks to avoid being hurt.
 Stunt people know they must make a scene appear real.
Agreement with Helping Verbs
 In a verb phrase, it is the first helping verb that must agree
with the subject.
 Some movie stars have been trained to do stunts early.
 Often an untrained star has been replaced by a stunt double.
Phrases Between Subject and Verb
 When a phrase comes between the subject and verb, the
number of the subject is not changed.
 Focus on the subject when deciding whether the verb should
be singular or plural.
 Prepositional Phrases
 The success of Hollywood films is based on the grosses.
 Filmgoers at the box office give a financial thumbs up to a
film.
 Appositive Phrase
 Jurassic Park, a high-grossing film, has made many millions.
 Sequels – The Lost world and others – generally make less.
Compound Subjects
 A compound subject contains two or more simple subjects.
 Compound subjects can take either singular or plural verbs.
Parts Joined by And
 A compound subject whose parts are joined by and requires a
PLURAL verb.
 Pictures and movement come together in animated films.
 Jack and Jill see the hill.
Parts Joined by Or or Nor
 When the parts of a compound subject are joined by or or
nor, the verb should agree with the part closest to it.
 Neither animation cells nor celluloid film was used for that
movie.
 Neither celluloid film nor animations cells were used for that
movie.
Indefinite Pronoun Subjects
 When used as subjects, some indefinite pronouns are always
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singular, some are always plural, and some can be either singular
or plural, depending on how they are used.
Everyone has a favorite film star.
Nobody is without opinions on films.
Many of the films are nominated for Oscars. Few win, however.
Some indefinite pronouns take singular verbs when they refer to
one person or thing. They take plural verbs when they refer to two
or more people or things.
Most of the Oscar show is broadcast from Hollywood.
Most of the winners appear at the Oscars.
Nouns in Plural Form
 Some nouns ending in –s or –ics appear to be plural but are
singular in meaning. Use singular verbs with these subjects.
 Civics; mumps; physics; news; politics
 Politics is a major theme