subject verb agreement x

subject verb agreement x - Transcript

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT Welcome to the PowerPoint Presentation on Subject Verb Agreement the

of grammar

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
A singular subject demands a singular verb a plural subject demands a plural verb That is the simple principle behind subject verb agreement This presentation will explore some of the difficulties we have with subject verb agreement and provide some notes about avoiding agreement problems in our own writing Hyperlinks to the Guide to Grammar and Writing are provided in this color Links between subjects and verbs will be shown with red lines

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
Indefinite pronouns such as everyone and everybody feel plural to some writers but they are always singular and take a singular verb Everyone associated with the project is proud to be part of the effort Someone has to be responsible Don t be confused by phrases that come between the subject pronoun and its verb phrases that may contain plural words Each of the project partners is responsible for writing a chapter summary

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
The verb that accompanies pronouns such as all and some will be determined by whether the pronoun is referring to something that is COUNTABLE or not Some of the students in the cafeteria have voted already Some of the grain was ruined by the flood
Students is countable but we cannot count the grain it is one lump one quantity

None is usually regarded as singular but it can be used as a plural pronoun None of the representatives has indicated how he or she will vote OR None of the representatives have indicated how they will vote

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
With fractional expressions fractions or decimal equivalents the verb will be determined by what is being measured is it COUNTABLE or not Two fifths of the grain is ruined One half of the students were convinced that there would be no final exams this year

Of all the returns we have counted so far fifty percent are in favor of the referendum A majority of the student body is in favor of asking the Dean to stay another year

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
Phrases such as together with along with and as well as seem to join subjects but they do not work the same as and they are not conjunctions Some of the hay in the barn as well as some major pieces of farm equipment was ruined in the flood
The major spending bill before Congress together with some other bills that are awaiting action is going to cost taxpayers plenty

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
In formal writing when either and neither appear as a subject alone without their sidekicks or and nor they are singular This is true even though the subject seems to be two things Neither of these choices appears to be satisfactory

The purchasing office will lend me a company car or compensate me for travel expenses Either is fine with me
When either and neither act as correlative conjunctions however life becomes a bit more complicated

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
When either and neither act as correlative conjunctions the subject that is closer to the verb determines the number singular or plural form of the verb Neither the principal nor the teachers are at fault Either the teachers or the principal has to be responsible for the year end festival Has either the President or his aides been in touch with you

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT

When an expletive construction there is there are here is etc begins a sentence the subject which determines the number of the verb comes after the verb There are several explanations for the Civil War We were looking down the street when all of a sudden here come Joe and his two brothers If the management team takes this attitude there is very little latitude for negotiation

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
Be careful when lengthy or numerous modifying phrases come between the subject and its verb Tim Berners Lee one of America s most prominent computer scientists and as a founder of the World Wide Web Consortium one of the most important figures in the development of the Internet has been working quietly at M I T for many years
The fact that the plural scientists and figures appear in this sentence has no effect on our choice of a singular verb has

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
With of phrases try turning the sentence inside out to find the right subject verb combination Connecticut is one of those states that HAVE HAS adopted a state income tax
Turn this around to

Of those states that have adopted a state income tax Connecticut is one This makes it easy to figure out the verb that belongs in a relative clause

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
Review the rest of the material on subject verb agreement in the Guide to Grammar and Writing and don t forget to take the relevant quizzes listed on the List of Interactive Quizzes The sore thumb of grammar will never be seen in your writing again

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
This PowerPoint presentation was created by Charles Darling PhD Professor of English and Webmaster Capital Community College Hartford Connecticut copyright November 1999