SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
Every sentence at least consist of one subject
and one verb. The subject usually placed place before the verb, but sometimes
subject separated from the verb. Subject and verb in a sentence must agree in a
person and number.
1. Subject Placed
before Verb
-
He is the new director of the institute.
S
V
The singular
subject he placed before the singular verb is.
2.
Subject Separated from the Verb
-
The boy in the room is studying.
singular S singular V
-
The boys in the room are studying.
plural S plural V
The sentences
above show that the subject placed separately with the verb.
It is very
often if the subject and verb are separated, they will be separated by a
prepositional phrase and it has no effect on the verb.
Examples:
-
The view of these disciplines varies
from time to time.
singular S prepositional P
singular V
-
The study of languages is very interesting.
singular S prepositional P singular V
-
Several theories on this subject have been proposed.
plural S prepositional P Plural V
The following expressions also have no effect on the
verb.
|
together with along with
accompanied by
as well as
|
-
The actor, along with his assistants is going to a party
tonight.
singular S singular V
-
The man together with his ten children is leaving soon.
singular S singular V
3. Word That
Always Take Singular Verb and Pronouns
When the following words are used as subject, they are always singular.
Some of these words are plural in meaning, but they always require singular
verb in formal written English.
everyone someone anyone no
one each
everybody somebody anybody no
body either
everything something anything nothing neither
-
Everyone is here.
singular S singular V
-
Neither of these
books is very new
singular S singular
V
-
Nobody works harder than I do.
singular S singular V
4. None/ No
None or no can take either s singular or plural verb depending on the noun
which follow it.
-
None of the counterfeit money has been found.
singular singular V
-
None of the students have finished the exam yet.
plural N plural V
-
No example
is relevant to this
case.
singular singular V
-
No examples are relevant in this
case.
plural Plural V
5. Either/Neither
When either and neither are followed by or and nor the verb
maybe singular or plural depending of the noun which follow or and nor.
-
Neither Nisa nor Anis
is going to the beach.
singular singular
-
Either Jim or his friends are going to the
beach.
plural plural
6. Gerund as
Subject
If a sentence begins with gerund, the verb must be singular.
-
Writing many letters makes her happy.
-
Dieting is very popular today.
-
Not studying has caused him many problems.
7. Collective Noun
Word that indicate a number of people are always singular.
Congress family group commitee class
Organization team army minority crowd
government jury public majority club
-
The family was elated by the news.
-
The majority believes that we are in no danger.
-
The crowd was wild with excitement.
-
The organization makes an event.
8. Noun that Are
Always Plural
There are some nouns that always considered plural. They cannot be
singular.
scissors shorts pants jeans trousers glasses pliers tweezers
-
The pants are in the cupboard.
-
The scissors are dull.
-
The jeans were new
Exercise 1: choose the correct form of the verb in the
following sentences!
1. The picture of the soldiers (bring/bringss)
back many memories.
2. Mr. Tom, accompanied by several members of
commitee, (have/has) proposed some changes of the rules.
3. Neither Frans nor Mary (is/are) going to the
play tonight.
4. Anything (is/are) better that going to another
movie tonight.
5. The jury (is/are) trying to make a decision.
Exercise 2: Choose the letter of the underlined word or
group of words that is not correct!
1. Each of the nurses reports to
the operating room when his or her name
A B C
is called.
D
2. The athlete, together with his
coach and several relatives, are traveling
A B C B
to the Olympic Games.
3. A lunch of soup and sandwiches do
not appeal to all of the students.
A B C
D
4. Mrs. Steve , along with her cousins
from new Mexico, are planning to
A B D
attend the
festivities.
5. Neither of the scout leaders know
how to trap wild animals or how to
A B C
prepare them for mounting.
D
