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Underline the subjects once and
the verbs twice in each of the
following sentences. Then,
indicate if the sentences are
correct ( C ) or incorrect ( I )
I
1. Last week went fishing for trout at the nearby mountain lake.______
C
2. A schedule of the day’s events can be obtained at the front desk.____
I
3. A job on the day shift or the night shift at the plant available.______
4. The new computer program has provides a variety of helpful
applications.______
I
C
5. The box can be opened only with a special screwdriver.______
6. The assigned text for history class it contains more than twenty
chapters.______
I
7. The papers in the wastebasket should be emptied into the trash can
outside.______
C
I
8. Departure before dawn on a boat in the middle of the harbor.______
9. Yesterday found an interesting article on pollution.______
I
10. The new machine is processes 50 percent more than the previous
I
machine.______
The subject of a sentence or clause determines the verb
form that goes with it. This correspondence of form
between these related words is called agreement or
concord.
In English this problem arises only with present tense
verbs and with the past of BE
He knows
He was
A guest arrives
He knew
A guest arrived
They know
They were
The guests arrive
They knew
The guests arrived
A compound subject is made up of two or
more words, phrases, or clauses joined
by and, or, nor. The number of the verb
depends on which conjunction is used
and on the meaning of the subject.
SUBJECTS JOINED BY
The conjunction and is used to join coordinate items, to
add them together. So, subjects joined by and usually
take a plural verb:
Beckett, Ionesco, and Genét appeal to those interested
in experimental theater.
The text of the poem and the commentary following
were assigned last week.
Who should be elected and what his duties should be
are the central issues.
Exception: When the words of a compound subject
refer to the same person or are considered as a unit,
the verb is usually singular:
His warmest admirer and severest critic was his wife.
The Stars and Stripes still waves overhead.
Blood, vengeance and silence is the ancient law of the
lawless Mafia in Italy.
SUBJECTS JOINED BY
Compound subjects joined by or, nor, either...or,
neither...nor sometimes take singular verbs and sometimes
plural:
1. When both subjects are singular and considered as
separate, the verb is singular:
One or the other is certainly to blame.
Neither chance nor political maneuvering has
been the main factor in the drift of Italy’s
political situation.
Exception: In questions General usage tends to use a plural
verb:
General: Are either Mr. Davidson or Mr. Parrish
attending the public meeting?
Formal: Is either Mr. Davidson or Mr. Parrish attending
the public meeting?
2. When both subjects are plural, or when both are
singular but are not considered as separate, the verb is
plural:
No artificial colorings or presevatives are used in
this beverage.
Neither his acting style nor his delivery are
adequate to the role.
3. When one subject is singular and the other plural,
in Formal usage the verb usually agrees with the
nearer subject; in General usage, the verb is
ordinarily plural:
General and Formal:
One major accident or several minor ones seem to occur at this
corner each weekend.
Formal:
Neither the revolutionists nor their leader was to blame for the
slaughter.
General:
Neither the revolutionists nor their leader were to blame for the
slaughter.
4. When the subjects are personal pronouns, in Formal
usage the verb ordinarily agrees in person and number
with the nearest subject. In General usage the verb is
plural:
Formal:
Neither you nor she is using the proper color.
General:
Neither you nor she are using the proper color.
This problem of agreement is usually
avoided by using another construction:
You are both using the wrong color.
Words that refer to a group of people or objects but
are singular in form are called collective nouns: army,
audience, choir, committee, crowd, faculty, gang,
group, government, jury, mob, orchestra, public, team.
Verbs and pronouns used with collective nouns are
either singular or plural, depending upon the meaning
of the group word.
REFERRING TO THE GROUP
AS A UNIT
Singular verbs and singular pronouns are used with
collective nouns that refer to the group as a unit:
Class is dismissed.
The committee has already held its first meeting of the
year.
The audience is requested to remain seated during
intermission.
REFERRING TO THE INDIVIDUALS
When the reference is to the individuals of the group,
especially when they are represented as acting
individually, collectives take plural verbs and plural
reference words:
The graduating class have all agreed to have their
pictures taken in caps and gown.
The committee are arguing among themselves.
The audience have now returned and are taking their
seats.
Sentences like these often sound rather unnatural. In
most cases it is better to substitute a clearly plural
subject:
The committee members are arguing among themselves.
VERBS WITH MEASUREMENTS AND FIGURES
Expressions signifying quantity or extent (miles, gallons,
years, pounds) take singular verbs when the amount is
considered as a unit:
Five dollars is too much to pay for a book in that condition.
Four quarts of oil is all the tank holds.
Three months passes in no time at all when you spend your
vacation in a ranch.
When the plural amount is considered as a number of
individual units, a plural verb is used:
Two more dollars are missing from the piggy bank.
There are three quarts of milk in the refrigerator.
The last three months have been the driest in California’s
history.
DATA, NUMBER, PUBLIC
Data is a plural form (and is generally so considered in
Formal, particularly scientific, writing), but since the
singular datum is rarely used, data is used for both
singular and plural in General writing.
Singular idea:
The actual data of history (a body of facts) consists of
contemporary facts in the form of remains and documents.
Plural idea:
When the data (the individual facts) have been secured the
task is to analyze, to sift, to select and to arrange those data
which bear upon each particular phase of the object or event
examined until at the end the scientist has what one might
call a logical construct.
Number as a collective noun may be either singular or
plural: preceded by the, it refers to the total sum and
takes a singular verb; preceded by a, it refers to the
individual units and takes a plural verb.
A number of pages are badly torn.
The number of pages assigned for daily reading was
gradually increased to twelve.
Physicians were disturbed to find that an alarming
number of bacteria were developing a tolerance to
penicillin.
Public takes a singular verb if the writer wishes to
signify the whole group
The public is invited
It takes plural verb if the writer is considering the individual
members
The public are invited
WORDS ENDING IN –ICS
Physics, mathematics, economics, civics, linguistics, and
similar –ics words that refer to a science, art, or a body of
knowledge are usually considered singular; other words
ending in –ics that refer to physical activities or qualities
(athletics, acrobatics, tactics) are generally treated as
plurals.
Singular Forms
Physics was my most difficult subject in
high school.
Ballistics is the study of the motion
of projectiles.
Plural Forms
Athletics have been virtually abolished from
some small schools.
His motives may be good, but his tactics
are deplorable.
Some words ending in –ics (ethics, politics, acoustics) may be
used either in a singular or plural sense:
Singular Idea
In almost every group, politics is a
subject that will arise controversy.
Acoustics is a branch of science that
is growing fast.
Plural Idea
Radical politics were offensive to
the Federalism.
The acoustics in this room are not
all they might be.
When you are in doubt about the number of a word
ending in –ics, consult a dictionary.
The tendency to make a verb agree
with a nearby expression rather
than with its actual subject is
called “Blind Agreement.” This
error occurs most frequently in the
following situations
PLURAL NOUNS BETWEEN SUBJECT AND VERB
A singular subject followed by a phrase or clause
containing plural nouns is still singular:
Here and there a man (subject) such as Columbus,
Galileo, and others has (not have) ventured into the
unknown physical and intellectual worlds.
The lumberman (subject) who previously sold only to
carpenters and builders now finds (not find) hundreds
of amateurs eager to build their own homes.
I decided to see exactly how one of those new cars
is (not are) put together.
ONE OF THOSE WHO
In formal English, the verb in clauses that begin one of those
who ( or that) is plural:
He is one of those men who never care how they look
(The verb is plural because its subject who refers to men,
not to one.)
“The Lottery” is one of those stories that leave you more
puzzled when you finish than when you began. (Stories is
the antecedent of that)
Although a singular verb is common in spoken English
(“one of those girls who talks all the time”) and in a
good deal of published material, the plural verb is
customarily used in Formal English and should
therefore be used in college writing.
Exception:
When only precedes one of those who the verb is
singular since the pronoun who then refers to a
single person or thing:
She is the only one of those women who plays bridge well.
THERE IS , THERE ARE
When a sentence begins with the introductory word there
(sometimes referred to as an “anticipating subject”), the
number of the verb is determined by the subject which
follows:
There are conflicting opinions (subject) about
smoking in the classrooms.
There is great narrative and dramatic power
(subject) in the first part of this novel.
At our camp there were at least a dozen men (subject) who
were familiar with the mountain trail.
There was at least a group (subject) of men in the place.
VERB AND COMPLEMENT
A verb agrees with its subject and not with its complement or
its object:
Our chief trouble (subject) was (not were) the black flies.
The black flies (subject) that swarmed about us on our trip
were (not was) our chief trouble.
The material (subject) that was most interesting to me when
I worked on my paper was (not were) the books that stated
the facts forcefully.
When subject and complement differ in number, the
sentence usually sounds less awkward if the subject and
verb are plural.
VERB AND COMPLEMENT
Subjects like type, part, poriton, a series before a phrase
with plural nouns take singular verbs:
The most interesting part of the investigations was the
discovery and identification of the forged letters.
A substantial portion of the reports is missing.
A series of panel discussion is scheduled for the
convention.
Write “C” if the subject agrees with the verb. Write “I” if
the subject does not agree with the verb.
1. Deer are frequently seen in the meadow at dusk.
2. Physics are my favorite subject.
3. Neither her sons nor her daughter plays the piano.
4. Nowadays, crossing Puget Sound in ferries are fast
and convenient.
5. Each river and ravine create an obstacle in the crosscountry race.
6. The president, together with his cabinet members, are
meeting the African Trade Delegation.
7. Two weeks is plenty of time to finish the course.
8. A lion and a lioness from Kenya is arriving at the
Metropolitan Zoo today.