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SubjectVerbAgreement

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SelfTeachingUnit:
SubjectVerbAgreement
2000,1978MargaretL.BennerAllrightsreserved.

Althoughyouareprobablyalreadyfamiliarwithbasicsubjectverbagreement,thischapterbegins
withaquickreviewofbasicagreementrules.
SubjectsandverbsmustAGREEwithoneanotherinnumber(singularorplural).Thus,ifa
subjectissingular,itsverbmustalsobesingularifasubjectisplural,itsverbmustalsobeplural.
Inthepresenttense,nounsandverbsformpluralsinoppositeways:nounsADDanstothe
singularformverbsREMOVEthesfromthesingularform.

Theseagreementrulesdonotapplytoverbsusedinthesimplepasttensewithoutanyhelping
verbs.

Theagreementrulesdo,however,applytothefollowinghelpingverbswhentheyareusedwitha
mainverb:isare,waswere,hashave,doesdo.

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TheagreementrulesdonotapplytohashavewhenusedastheSECONDhelpingverbinapair.

TheydoNOTapplytoanyotherhelpingverbs,suchascan,could,shall,should,may,might,will,
would,must.

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ThesubjectverbagreementrulesapplytoallpersonalpronounsexceptIandyou,which,
althoughSINGULAR,requirePLURALformsofverbs.

Nowclickonthelinkbelowtodoexercise1.
LinktoExercise1
Theremainderofthisteachingunitdealswithsomemoreadvancedsubjectverbagreementrules
andwithexceptionstotheoriginalsubjectverbagreementrule
CompoundSubject
Thewordcompoundmeansmadeupoftwoormoreparts.Twoormorewordscanbe
compoundedorlinkedbyjoiningthemwithanyofthreewords:
and,or,andnor
Herearesomeexamplesofcompounding:

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Compoundnounscanfunctionasacompoundsubject.Insomeinstances,acompoundsubject
posesspecialproblemsforthesubjectverbagreementrule(+s,s).

However,insteadofusingtwosentences(asabove),wemaychoosetogivetheaboveinformation
inonesentence.

Thissentencemakesuseofacompoundsubject(twosubjectnounsjoinedbyand),illustratinga
newruleaboutsubjectverbagreement.
Althougheachpartofthecompoundsubjectissingular(rangerandcamper),takentogether
(joinedbyand),eachonebecomesapartofapluralstructureand,therefore,musttakeaplural
verb(see)toagreeinthesentence.
SUBJECTVERBRULE#1Twoormoresingular(orplural)subjectsjoinedbyandactasa
pluralcompoundsubjectandtakeapluralverb(singular+singular=plural).
Youcanchecktheverbbysubstitutingthepronountheyforthecompoundsubject.

Orandnorasjoinersworksomewhatdifferentlyfromand.WhilethewordandseemstoADD
thingstogether,orandnordonot.TheysuggestaCHOICE.
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Lookatthissentence.

Thissentencemakesuseofacompoundsubject(twosubjectnounsjoinedtogetherbyor).
Eachpartofthecompoundsubject(ranger,camper)issingular.Eventhoughbothwordsfunction
togetherassubject(joinedbyor),thesubjectstillremainsSINGULAR(rangerorcamper)sincea
CHOICEisimplied.
Thiscompoundsubject,therefore,requiresasingularverbtoagreewithit.
SUBJECTVERBRULE#2TwoormoreSINGULARsubjectsjoinedbyor(ornor)actasa
singularcompoundsubjectand,therefore,takeasingularverbtoagree.
Note:Twoormorepluralsubjectsjoinedbyor(ornor)wouldnaturallytakeapluralverbto
agree.

However,orandnorcanposeamoredifficultproblem.
Thusfarwehavebeenworkingwithcompoundsubjectswhoseindividualpartsarebotheither
singularorplural

Whatifonepartofthecompoundsubjectissingularandtheotherpartisplural?
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Whatformofaverbshouldbeusedinthiscase?Shouldtheverbbesingulartoagreewithone
word?Orshouldtheverbbepluraltoagreewiththeother?
Solution:
1.Iftheindividualpartsofthecompoundsubjectarejoinedbyand,alwaysuseapluralverb.

2.Iftheindividualpartsofthecompoundsubjectarejoinedbyorornor,usetheverbform
(singularorplural)whichwillagreewiththesubjectclosertotheverb.

Nowclickonthelinkbelowtodoexercise2.
LinktoExercise2
GroupNouns
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Somenounswhichnamegroupscanbeeithersingularorpluraldependingupontheirmeaningin
individualsentences.

Becausetheycandescribeeithertheindividualsinthegroup(morethanoneplural),orthe
groupasasingleentity(oneonlysingular),thesenounsposespecialproblems.
However,therearesomeguidelinesfordecidingwhichverbform(singularorplural)tousewith
oneofthesenounsasthesubjectinasentence.
Ifwerefertothegroupasawholeand,therefore,asasingleunit,weconsiderthenoun
singular.Inthiscase,weuseasingularverb.

If,ontheotherhand,weareactuallyreferringtotheindividualswithinthegroup,thenwe
considerthenounplural.Inthiscase,weuseapluralverb.

Ofcoursegroupnouns,likeothernouns,canalsoappearinpluralforms(withans).

Whenusedinthepluralform,groupnounsmeanMORETHANONEGROUP.Thus,itusesa
pluralverb.

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Thus,therearethreeimportantsubjectverbagreementrulestorememberwhenagroupnounis
usedasthesubject:
1.Groupnounscanbeconsideredasasingleunit,and,thus,takeasingularverb.
2.Groupnounscanbeconsideredasindividualmemberswithinasingleunitand,thus,takea
pluralverb.
3.Groupnounscanbegivenpluralformstomeantwoormoreunitsand,thus,takeaplural
verb.
Nowclickonthelinkbelowtodoexercise3.
LinktoExercise3

PluralForm/SingularMeaningNouns
Somenounsareregularlypluralinform,butsingularinmeaning.

EventhoughthesenounsAPPEARtobepluralbecausetheyendins,theyactuallyrefertoonly
onethingmadeupofsmaller,uncountedparts.Therefore,theyareconsideredsingular.

Youcanseethatsubstitutingthatpronounitinsteadoftheymakesmoresensehere.
Anothergroupofpluralformnounsendinics.
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Similarly,itisamoresuitablesubstituteforanyofthesewordsthanisthey.
Thesenounsappeartobeplural(endins),butgenerallyrefertoonlyonethingandare,therefore,
generallyconsideredsingular.

NOTE:Occasionally,however,theicsnounscanhaveapluralmeaning:Wecanspeakabout
individualpartsofthesewholes.Inthiscase,weapplythesameruleasappliestogroupnouns
whenweconsidertheindividualmemberswithinthegroup(seeSection3.3):Weuseaplural
verb.
Notethedifferenceinmeaningand,therefore,intheverbchosen(singularorplural)betweenthe
twousesoftheicsnoun,statistics.

Nowclickonthelinkbelowtodoexercise4.
LinktoExercise4
Indefinitepronounscanposespecialproblemsinsubjectverbagreement.
Thedifficultyisthatsomeindefinitepronounssoundpluralwhentheyarereallysingular.
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Assubjects,thefollowingindefinitepronounsALWAYStakesingularverbs.Lookatthemclosely.

Theseshouldbeeasytoremember.

However,thefollowingindefinitepronounsALWAYStakepluralverbs.

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EXCEPTIONS:
Athirdgroupofindefinitepronounstakeseitherasingularorpluralverbdependingonthe
pronounsmeaninginthesentence.Lookatthemclosely.

(SANAM)

Nowclickonthelinkbelowtodoexercise5.
LinktoExercise5
Sofarwehaveconsideredsubjectsthatcancausesubjectverbagreementconfusion:compound
subjects,groupnounsubjects,pluralformsingularmeaningsubjects,andindefinite
subjects.
Theremainderofthisteachingunitexaminessubjectverbagreementproblemsthatcanresult
fromwordplacementinsentences.Therearefourmainproblems:prepositionalphrases,clauses
beginningwithwho,that,orwhich,sentencesbeginningwithhereorthere,andquestions.

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Hereisalistoffrequentlyusedprepositions:

Aprepositionalphrasemaybeplacedbetweenthesubjectandverb.

Intheaboveexample,thesingularverbisagreeswiththesingularsubjectboy.
Sometimes,however,aprepositionalphraseinsertedbetweenthesubjectandverbmakes
agreementmoredifficult.

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Caristhesingularsubject.Wasisthesingularhelpingverbwhichagreeswithcar.Ifwearent
careful,however,wemaymistakenlylabelridersasthesubjectsinceitisnearertotheverbthan
caris.Ifwechoosethepluralnoun,riders,wewillincorrectlyselectthepluralverbwere.

SolutiontothePrepositionalPhraseProblem
1.Learnthemajorprepositions(seepage28).
2.Bealertforprepositionalphrasesplacedbetweenthesubjectandverb,andidentifythenoun
inthephraseimmediatelyastheobjectofapreposition:Anobjectofaprepositioncan
NEVERbeasentencesubject.
3.Locatethetruesentencesubjectandchooseaverbwhichagreeswithit.

4.RemembertheindefinitepronounEXCEPTIONSconsideredinSection3.5,p.18:Some,Any,
None,All,andMost.ThenumberofthesesubjectwordsISaffectedbyaprepositionalphrase
betweenthesubjectandverb.
Nowclickonthelinkbelowtodoexercise6.
LinktoExercise6
Aclausebeginningwithwho,that,orwhichandcomingBETWEENthesubjectandverbcan
causeagreementproblems.
Liketheprepositionalphrase,thewho/that/whichclausenevercontainsthesubject.

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TOAVOIDSUBJECTVERBAGREEMENTERRORS...
1.Identifywho/that/whichclausesimmediately.

2.Locatethetruesentencesubjectandchooseaverbthatagreeswithit.

Nowclickonthelinkbelowtodoexercise7.
LinktoExercise7
Whenasentencebeginswiththereisthereare/hereishereare,thesubjectandverbare
inverted.Afterallthatyouhavelearnedalready,youwillundoubtedlyfindthistopicarelatively
easyone!

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Theverbinsuchconstructionsisobviouslyisorare.Thesubject,however,doesnotcome
BEFOREtheverb.
Instead,thesubjectinthiskindofsentencecomesAFTERtheverb,soyoumustlookforitAFTER
theverb.

Inthisexample,becausethesubject,book,issingular,theverbmustalsobesingular.
Ifthesubjectisplural,however,thentheverbmustbeplural.

Inthisexample,becausethesubject,books,isplural,theverbisalsoplural.
Remember:Inhereishereare/thereisthereareconstructions,lookforthesubjectAFTER
theverbandchooseasingular(is)oraplural(are)verbtoagreewiththesubject.
Andfinally,sometimescreatingaquestionwillcausethesubjecttofollowtheverbaswell.Here,
identifythesubjectandthenchoosetheverbthatagreeswithit(singularorplural).

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Nowclickonthelinkbelowtodoexercise8.
LinktoExercise8

ClickonthelinkbelowtodothePostTest.
LinktoPostTest

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