GRAMMAR FOR TOEFL PREPARATION

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