Download Making sure that your verbs agree with your subject

Making sure that your verbs agree with your subject
We are going to 'surf' a couple of websites which explain how to use verbs and nouns correctly. The first one we shall
look at is a site constructed by Tod Jones and is called English grammar and punctuation. If you click on the link below
you will be taken to the site - when you have finished reading it, return to this page
Subject and verb agreement
As you can see, the basic idea of subject and verb agreement is simple: you must make sure that both the subject and
verb are singular, or that both are plural.
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A singular subject must have a singular verb - "Father always drives to work."
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A plural subject must have a plural verb - "The engineers drive to work."
Most nouns form their plural by adding -s, but there are exceptions (such as, geese and children) that you will need to
learn as you encounter them. Have a look at this next website, found at 'fortunecity.com', which helps you to form plurals
for different types of nouns:
The formation of noun plurals
Follow up exercises
Using the common subject/verb agreement errors suggested by the Subject and verb agreement website, complete the
following exercises:
Hint - Don't forget to use the second website, The formation of noun plurals, to help you choose correct plural nouns.
And remember to check your answers with your teacher after each section.
Exercise A - Intervening clauses
"The stamps [collected by Ayesha last year] were all from Europe."
Even though Ayesha is singular, this does not affect the subject/verb rule - the plural stamps needs the plural form of the
verb 'to be' = (they) were. The clause (shown in brackets) does not interfere with the rule.
Complete the following sentences to show that you understand this rule:
1. The teacher [most admired by
students] ....................................................................................................................................................................
2. My sister-in-law [who is liked by all of my
family] ...............................................................................................................................................
Exercise B - Indefinite pronouns
Remember, most indefinite pronouns are singular, including: each, everything, everyone, either, and neither. Plural
indefinite pronouns include: all, many, few, both, and several.
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"Cairo and Delhi are very busy cities, but each is unique in many ways."
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"Cairo and Delhi are very busy cities, but both are unique in many ways."
It is usually clear whether the indefinite pronoun is plural or singular. In the first sentence 'each' is used to refer to one
city at a time. In the second sentence 'both' refers to both cities at the same time.
Using subjects (nouns) from the The formation of noun plurals web page write three sentences of your own using the
following indefinite pronouns:
Either ........................................................................................................................................................................................
Few ...........................................................................................................................................................................................
Some .........................................................................................................................................................................................
Hint - 'Some' can be singular and plural.
Exercise C - Compound subjects
A compound subject has two or more subjects usually joined by or or and. Four rules apply to compound subjects:
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Two or more singular subjects joined by or or nor must have a singular verb - "A car or a bus is the only means of
travelling between those two towns in Botswana."
Two or more plural subjects joined by or or nor must have a plural verb - "Cars or buses are the only means of
travel available to us today."
If one or more singular subjects are joined to one or more plural subjects by or or nor, the subject closest to the
verb determines agreement - "Neither David nor my parents are going with us."
A compound subject joined by and is generally plural - "Two boys and one girl were chosen." However, there are
two exceptions to this rule: A) If the parts of the compound add up to one thing, e.g. "Toast and eggs is a hearty
breakfast", and B) If the words 'every' or 'each' precede the subject, the singular form is required, e.g. "Every dog
and cat is inoculated by the local vet."
Fill in the gaps using one of the words in brackets to complete the sentences correctly:
1. Both my boss and her partner ........................................................................................................................................
coins. [hoard, hoards]
2. Neither Jack nor Tim ................................................................................................................................ to collect
stamps. [want, wants]
3. The two sons and their father ..................................................... keen collectors of old agricultural implements. [dislike,
dislikes]
4. Spaghetti and meatballs ............................................................................................................ her favourite dish.
[constitute, constitutes]
5. Every third and fourth team ................................................................................... invited to compete for promotion. [is,
are]
Exercise D - Plural-looking nouns
It can be confusing when you see subjects which are plural-looking nouns that end in -s, but are singular in meaning.
Some examples are: news, politics, mathematics, physics, measles, series. These words always agree with singular verbs:
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"The television series that I most like is 'The X-Files'."
"The news is often too depressing for me to watch."
"Science is my least favourite subject at school."
Form your own sentences by using the remaining examples:
Politics ......................................................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................................................................
Mathematics .............................................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................................................................
Measles .....................................................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................................................................