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Subject-Verb Agreement -- portions
• With words that indicate portions—percent, fraction, part, majority,
some, all, none, remainder, and so forth —look at the noun in your
of phrase (object of the preposition) to determine whether to use a
singular or plural verb. If the object of the preposition is singular, use
a singular verb. If the object of the preposition is plural, use a plural
verb.
•
• Examples:
• Fifty percent of the pie has disappeared.
– “Pie” is the object of the preposition “of.”
• Fifty percent of the pies have disappeared.
– Pies is the object of the preposition “of.”
• One-third of the city is unemployed.
• One-third of the people are unemployed.
• NOTE: Hyphenate all spelled-out fractions.
Subject-Verb Agreement -- portions
•
•
•
•
•
•
All of the pie _____
is gone.
are gone.
All of the pies _____
is missing.
Some of the pie _____
are missing.
Some of the pies _____
One-third of the garbage _____
is picked up.
are punctuated
One-third of the sentences _____
correctly.
• Of all her books, none _____
have sold as well as the
first one
Subject-Verb Agreement – portions
Practice
• Write three pair of sentences using the
same beginning but yielding verbs of
different plurality
– EX:
• Most of the puppies are gassy.
• Most of the puppy is brown.
Subject-Verb Agreement – singular
indefinite pronouns
• The words each, each one, every one, either,
neither, everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone,
nobody, somebody, someone, and no one are
singular and require a singular verb.
• Ex:
–
–
–
–
Each of these hot dogs is juicy.
Everybody knows Mr. Jones.
Neither of them is available to speak right now.
Either of us is capable of doing the job.
Subject-Verb Agreement – singular
indefinite pronouns
• Everyone in the hallway _____
walks slowly
slowly(to
(towalk)
walk)
• Neither of the students ________
forgets hishis
or or
herher
homework (to forget)
• Each of the crocodiles ______
cries fake
fake
tears
tears
(to (to
cry)cry)
Subject-Verb Agreement – singular
indefinite pronouns
• Write five sentences using the indefinite
pronouns and present tense verbs.
S/V Agreement – Intervening Phrases
• Do not be misled by a phrase that comes
between the subject and the verb. The verb
agrees with the subject, not with a noun or
pronoun in the phrase.
– EX:
•
•
•
•
One of the boxes is open.
The people who listen to that music are few.
The team captain, as well as his players, is anxious.
The book, including all the chapters in the first section, is
boring.
• The woman with all the dogs walks down my street.
S/V Agreement – Intervening Phrases
• The doctors at the local hospital __________
to find a
race
cure for the deadly infection that has appeared among
the region’s population. (To race)
• The locals , who are scared beyond rational thought,
__________
the hospital demanding immediate
storm
treatment. (To storm)
• The county morgue , which is not designed to handle
full to bursting
is
this many deaths at once, __________
with corpses. (To be)
• The owner of the local chain of grocery stores
opens
__________
up his inventory to help people during the
time of crisis. (To open)
S/V Agreement – Intervening Phrases
• Practice: Write five sentences with phrases that
intervene between the subject and the verb.
The sentences should be written in PRESENT
tense.
Subject/verb Agreement -- And
• When the subject of a sentence is
composed of two or more nouns or
pronouns connected by “and,” use a plural
verb.
• She and her cow are at the fair.
Subject/verb Agreement -- And
• 1. He and I _________
hate
swimming. (To hate)
• 2. She and he __________
in the park in the
walk
afternoons. (To walk)
• 3. John and his father __________
to get a
want
puppy for Christmas. (To want)
• 4. Umkulthoum and her sister __________
kill
kittens. (To kill)
• 5. Umkulthoum and her sister __________
are
sociopaths. (To be)
Subject/verb Agreement – Or/Nor
• When a compound subject contains nouns
or pronouns joined by “or” or “nor,” the
verb should agree with the part of the
subject that is nearer the verb.
• The boy or his friends run every day.
• His friends or the boy runs every day.
Subject/verb Agreement – “or/nor”
• Either you or he _________
hates swimming. (To
hate)
• Neither she nor we __________
in the park in
walk
the afternoons. (To walk)
• John or his father __________
wants to get a puppy
for Christmas. (To want)
• Umkulthoum or her sisters __________
kittens.
kill
(To kill)
is
• Umkulthoum or her sister __________
sociopathic. (To be)
Subject/verb Agreement –
“And/Or/Nor” Practice
• Write three (present tense) sentence pairs
(one wrong version, one correct version)
using “and” to join subjects of a sentence.
• Write three (present tense) sentence pairs
(one wrong version, one correct version)
using “or” or “nor” to join subjects of a
sentence.
Subject/Verb Agreement – There
• In sentences beginning with there is or there
are, the subject follows the verb. Since there is
not the subject, the verb agrees with what
follows.
• There are many questions.
• There is a question.
Subject/Verb Agreement – There
• There ______
is/was an explosion at the plant. (To be)
• There _______
are/were many injuries as a result. (To be)
• There ______
exists no reason for you to be hired. (To
exist)
exist several varieties of dog. (To exist)
• There ______
Subject/Verb Agreement – There
• Write three (present tense) sentence pairs
(one wrong version, one correct version)
beginning with the word “there.”