BASIC SUBJECT –VERB AGREEMENT :
|
SINGULAR VERB. |
PLURAL VERB. |
|
|
(a) My friend lives in |
(b) My friends live in |
verb Verb+s / -es =
third person singular in the simple present tense. noun + -s
/ -es =
plural. |
|
(c) That book on
political parties is
interesting. |
(d) The ideas on
that book are interesting. |
A
prepositional phrase that comes between a subject and a verb does not affect
the verb. |
|
(e) My brother and
sister live in |
Two
(or more) subjects connected by and take a plural verb. |
|
|
(f) Every man, woman and child
needs love. (g) Each book and
magazine is
listed in the card catalog. |
|
EXCEPTION:
Every
and each are always followed immediately by singular nouns. In
this case, even when there are two (or more) nouns connected by and, the verb is singular. |
|
(h) Growing
flowers is her hobby. |
|
A gerund used as the subject of a sentence takes a singular verb. |
II ) SUBJECT –VERB
AGREEMENT :
|
SINGULAR VERB. |
PLURAL VERB. |
|
|
(a) Some of the book is good. (c) A lot of the equipment is new. (e) Two third of the money is mine |
(b) Some of the books are good (d) A lot of my friends are here. (f) Two-thirds of the pennies are mine. |
The verb is determined by the noun (or pronoun) that
follows of in most expression of quantity. Notice: in (a) and (b) : Some
of + singular noun + singular verb. Some of + plural noun + plural verb. |
|
(g) One of my friends is here. (h) Each of my friends is here. (i) Everyone of my friends is here. |
|
EXCEPTION
: One
of, each of ,and every
one of, take singular verbs. One of+plural noun+singular verb. Each of+plural noun+singular noun Every one of + plural noun +
singular noun. |
|
(j) None of the boys is here. |
(k) None of the boys are here. (informal) |
Subjects with none of
are considered singular in very formal English, but plural verbs are often
used in informal speech and writing. |
|
(l) The number of the students is fifteen. |
(m) A number of students were late for class. |
COMPARE : In (l): The number is the subject. In (m): A number of is an expression of quantity meaning “a lot of.” It is
followed by a plural noun and plural verb. |
II) SUBJECT –VERB
AGREEMENT :
USING THERE + BE
.
|
(a) There is
a book on the shelf. |
(b) There are some books on the shelf. |
The subject follows be when there
is used.* In (a): the subject is book. In (b): the subject is books. |
I)
SOME IRREGULARITIES.
1) SINGULAR VERBS
|
(a) The news is interesting. (b) The (c) The (d) The United Nations has its headquarter in (e) Sears is a department store. (f) Mathematics is easy for her. Physics is easy for her, too. |
Sometimes a noun that ends in -s is singular. Notice the examples: If the noun is changed to a pronoun, the
singular pronoun it
is used (not the plural pronoun they) because the noun is singular. In (a): news = it (not they). In (b): the Note: Fields of study, as in (f), that ends in -ics take singular verbs. |
|
(g) Eight hours of
sleep is enough. (h) Ten dollars is too much to pay. (i) Five thousand
miles is too far to travel. |
Expressions of time, money, and distances
usually take a singular verb. |
2) PLURAL VERBS / VERB AGREEMENT
|
(j) Those people
are from (k) The police
have been called. |
People* and police do not end in -s but are plural nouns and take plural verbs. |
3) SINGULAR VERBS -
PLURAL VERBS
|
(l) English is spoken in many countries. (n) Chinese is his native language. |
(m) The English drink tea. (o) The Chinese have an interesting history. |
In (l): English = language In (m): the English = people from Some nouns of nationality that end in -sh, -ese, and -ch can mean either
language or people; e.g., English, Spanish, Chinese,
Japanese, Vietnamese,
Portuguese, French. |
|
|
(p) The poor have many problems. (q) The rich
get richer. |
A few adjectives can be proceeded by the and used
as a plural noun (without a final -s) to refer to people who have this quality. Other examples:
The young, the old, the living, the
dead, the blind, the deaf, the handicapped. |
