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2. Phrases / Agreement
Phrases
• A phrase is a group of words that cannot stand
alone as a sentence.
• Unlike the clause, a phrase does not have a
subject-verb pair within it.
– A phrase behaves like the kind of word that
names it. For example, an adjective phrase works
like a lone adjective and an adverb phrase works
like a lone adverb.
– Adjective and adverb phrases are usually quite
short:
• Adjective phrases – very thin, loud enough
• Adverb phrases – clearly enough, too slowly
Noun and verb phrases
A phrase can also act like a noun. As a matter of fact, the
subject of any given clause is a noun phrase.
• The noun phrase can be either very short or quite long.
It can be as short as a pronoun (e.g. I, it). On the other
hand, it can include a noun and multiple groups of
words that are modifying it.
A phrase can also act like a verb. In fact, the main verb in
any clause should be thought of as part of a verb phrase.
• The verb phrase can be rather long because it includes
the verb plus any completers that come after it (object
or objects, adverbs and phrases, etc).
Two key concepts
In academic writing, with very few exceptions, the subject comes
before its verb phrase.
The subject must agree with its verb phrase in number. This
means that if the subject noun phrase has singular or plural
meaning, the verb phrase must correspond.
• In the simple tenses, agreement is marked on the main verb,
but in forms with an auxiliary verb (such as the progressive
and perfect tenses), agreement is marked on the auxiliary
verb be or have.
Examples
– Simple tense:
The interviewer prepares the questions.
The interviewers prepare the questions.
– With auxiliary: The interviewer has prepared the questions.
The interviewers are preparing the questions.
Phrase heads
Every independent clause has at least one noun
phrase (subject) and one verb phrase (verb).
The head of each of these phrases corresponds to the
part of speech it is named after – noun or verb. The
head can be simple or compound:
•
•
•
•
Simple noun head: The researcher
Compound noun head: The researcher and her assistant
Simple verb head: gathered [e.g., “gathered some data”]
Compound verb head: gathered and analyzed [e.g.,
“gathered and analyzed some data”]
Complications
Subject-verb agreement can be complicated
because the form of the noun closest to the verb
can be singular but the whole noun phrase can be
plural. Simply looking at a noun form close to the
verb can be deceiving.
Consider one of the examples from the last slide:
The professor and her assistant
Both nouns in this compound head are singular, but
the compound is plural; therefore, the verb needs
to be plural.
The professor and her assistant have gathered the data.
Exception! Each and every
The words each and every create an exception
to the rule. The noun phrase containing them is
considered to have singular meaning even if the
head is compound. The verb must therefore be
singular as well.
– Every book, magazine, and newspaper is about
politics.
Expressions of Quantity
• With most expressions of quantity, the verb
depends on the noun that follows the word “of”.
As a general rule, if the noun is in a plural form,
the verb is plural. If the noun has no plural form
or is not using one, the verb is singular.
–
–
–
–
Half of the money is mine. (singular)
Half of the students are here. (plural)
Some of the fruit is rotten. (singular)
Some of the strawberries are rotten. (plural)
Still more exceptions!
• One of / each of / every one of....all of these
expressions take singular verbs.
– Every one of my friends is on vacation.
• Expressions of time, money, and distance
require singular verbs.
– Fifty dollars is too expensive.
– Seven hours of sleep is enough for me.
– Five kilometres is a short distance on a bike.
Two special types of noun
A gerund is the -ing form of a verb used as a
noun. Gerunds are singular.
• Swimming is among the most effective
exercises.
An adjectival noun is an adjective used as a
noun. These nouns are normally preceded by
“the” and have plural meaning.
• The poor are always with us.
A final complicating factor
• It is easy to misidentify the subject of a
sentence if a prepositional phrase comes
between it and the verb. Consider the
following examples:
– The scientists at the conference were annoyed.
– The owner of the labs has sold all his holdings.