AGREEMENT

THE CORE SENTENCE

 also known as or

 is limited mostly to
and

 AGREEMENT OF
DETERMINER AND NOUN
the determiner must agree in number with the noun
Examples:
• this examination other tales
• another story
• either/neither her competitor
• those books
 is processed at least twice.

are filed in the archives.

can learn how to run this

program.
is willing to answer any
questions from the floor.
The determiner some, when used with a
singular noun, functions as a nondefinite
article, midway in definiteness between the
definite the and the indefinite a/an. Used with
a plural noun, it functions as a quantifier (or
adjective, as other analysis contend.)
Example:
 Some pompous old professor interrupted our
workshop.
 Some participants resented his arrogance.
Some quantifiers (except every
and no) also functions as
pronouns and can be used singly
or as modified by an of phrase.
These quantifiers also dictate the
grammatical number of the noun
in the modifying of phrase.
EXAMPLES:
centered
on women’s rights.

We had to deliver
personally.
 TAKES ONLY A
SINGULAR NOUN
question on the witness’
statement will weaken our case.
The cardinal numbers, even one, are
modified by an of phrase with plural
noun.
 One of the solutions to the problem of
tardiness is to lock the gates and
doors to prevent latecomers from
entering.
 Eleven of the candidates made it to
the presidential list.
Negatives and near negatives
attached to noun phrases generally
require such noun phrases to be
singular, unless these are modified
by quantifiers indicating plural.
 EXAMPLES:
 Hardly any dancer can take that role.
 Very few dancers can take that role.
 No other company wants to invest in
derivatives.
 Other companies do not want to invest in
derivatives.
 Some combinations of negatives and noun
phrase, though are idiomatically plural:
 No dogs are allowed.
 The Philippines and Taiwan have no diplomatic
ties/relations.
(In this context, ties and relations do not have
singular forms.)
Predeterminers vary in the
grammatical number of the noun or
noun phrase they require.
Many a + N-sg

A little + NP-sg

A lot of + NP-pl(or, informally, lots of)

A number of+ NP-pl

Many of + NP-pl
None of and some of take plural noun;
these may also take noncount noun.
Some of the proto-humans are now
delivered to have moved out of Africa
at an earlier date.
None of the oil was lost in storage.
Without the word of, some
predeterminers functions as quantifiers
and appear just before the noun stem,
replacing the article, yet still entailing
the same grammatical number for the
noun:
many candidates a few buffons
a little bribe (not a few bribe) some funds
 AGREEMENT OF ADJECTIVE
AND NOUN
Some prenominal adjectives, i.e., adjectives placed in front of
nouns, require their modified nouns to have a particular
grammatical number:
another + N-sg: I have . (< one other)
other + N-pl: He has .
Some grammar books state that the must take only a
singular noun. However, this rule is more often breached than
observed.
The Miss Universe contest brings together the

Note the awkwardness of substituting the more beautiful

women in this sentence, or loss in meaning if the superlative is
deleted.
Other , by virtue of their meaning,
dictate the grammatical number of the nouns
they modify, e.g.:

is my .
is my .
are .
Some of these adjectives, with sample nouns, are:
Plural Singular
 arrayed items respective cars
 combined data congruent figures only child
 correlative conjunctions
singular achievement
 joint exercises
 multiple meanings topmost level
 opposite ideas unique experiment
 paired responses
 parallel lines
 perpendicular lines
The takes a singular noun
if preceded by an article or an
indefinite plural noun:
oEntire nations capitulated to the hordes of Genghis
Khan.
oIn the ad, the demure-looking lady swallowed
muffin.
world mourned the untimely demise of
Princess Diana.
The verb of a sentence must agree in number with
the subject. The difference between the singular
and plural forms of the verb appears only in the
present tense( except for be); even then, problems
with agreement of subject and verb arise because
many types of academic writing use the present
tense more than any other tense.
 AUXILIARY VERBS
When the auxiliary verb do is used, as in the negative or
interrogative sentence, it is the one which agrees with the
simple subject, and not the main verb.
Example:
Policy sometimes don’t reflect public opinion.
 sometimes reflect public opinion.
 PERSONAL PRONOUNS AS
SUBJECT
The linking verb be must also agree in person
with the subject. A special form for the 1st
person appears in the present tense form of
be.

I am, I was We are, We were

You are, You were
He/she/it was They are, They were
  The personal pronoun you always takes a
plural verb. It is the context which
communicates whether you is singular or
plural.
The first person singular pronoun I, in the negative tag question
(q.v) with the verb be, may take the plural contracted form. In
formal communications, the full form of the negative with the
singular form is preferred.
Example:
After all, I'm the president here, aren’t I? (informal, spoken)
After all, I am the president here, am I not? (formal, written)
 INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
AS SUBJECT
The indefinite pronouns everyone, everybody, everything, little,
and much, although indicating many people or things, are
always singular.
Examples:
Everyone/everybody/everything is accounted for.
Little is known about the Shakespeare’s life.
Much has been said, but nothing has been done.
The indefinite pronouns all, most, and some may
be singular or plural depending on the grammatical
number of the nouns they refer to.
Examples:
All the singers are here. > All are here.
Most of the water has subsided. > Most has subsided.
“Iraq returned the gold to Kuwait which claimed that some was
missing.”
One grammar book offers the “trick” that
when these variable indefinite pronouns
refer to count nouns, they are plural; when
to noncount ( nouns which must be
“measured,” not counted), singular. Still, it
is important that you know which particular
noun you are referring to, and deliberately
omitting since it is already understood in
context.
 The indefinite pronoun some should be
differentiated from the plural indefinite
article some and the singular nondefinite
some.
Examples:
Some singers are auditioning. (plural indefinite article)
Some are auditioning. (indefinite pronoun)
Some singer claims he can hit the high C!
(singular nondefinite some)
 None is another variable indefinite pronoun which may
present problems in agreement. While none usually
means not one, and thus treated singular, it is alo used
to mean not any or no people, making it plural. Such
frequent in the existential (“there is/are”) sentence
 There are none so stupid as those who will not learn.
We wanted some more handouts, but there were none
left.
In the other sentence constructions where
none appears before the verb, its use as
plural seems awkward.
 The handouts were all distributed earlier.
None are left.
 The awkwardness may stem from the fact that
sentences using none as simple subject may be treated
as ellipses of sentences with none modified by the
prepositional phrase of + det + N ( to explain the
singular interpretation). This is alternatively analyzed
as the the predeterminer none of followed by a noun
phrase ( to explain the singular or plural interpretation,
depending on the grammatical number of the noun
phrase involved).
None of the handouts is/are left. = None is/are left.

 None of the duties is/are mine. = None is/are mine.

 This manual suggests to treat none by itself as singular , and
none of as a predeterminer , whose modified noun may be a
singular noncount or collective noun, or a plural count noun.
Also, none may be interpreted as singular or plural depending
on the grammatical number of its immediate referent.
None is in danger as yet.
None of the crew is alarmed.
None of the sailors are putting on life vests.
The only extant copy of Blumentritt’s map is in the main
library. There is none anywhere else.
 Note that even if none of and not one of are semantically
equivalent, their grammatical behaviors are different. Not one
of remains a negative of one of in which one is modified by
the following of phrase; the following verb agrees with one.
In contrast, none of (as suggested here) is better treated as a
predeterminer; the verb agrees with the noun after none of.
One of the hostages was able to escape.
None of the hostages was able to escape.
None of the hostages were able to escape.
  Either or neither as subjects are
singular; these are short for either
one(among/of NP) and neither
one(among/of NP).
 Neither (one among the tax incentives) is good for the
country’s economy.
 Either (one of the Siamese twins) is going to suffer
health problems if they are separated surgically.
COLLECTIVE NOUNS AS SUBJECT
 Collective nouns(not be confused with mass
or count nouns, i.e., nouns with no plural forms q.v.),
such as audience, Cabinet, commission, commmitte,
council, couple, crew, family, group, jury, majority,
minority, pair, personnel, and staff are treated as
singular if the reference is to group altogether, and as
plural if the reference is to the members of the group
as individuals.
Collective Nouns

army council minority

audience department navy
board faculty public
cabinet family school
class firm senate
committee group society
company jury team
corporation majority troupe
 The committee is debating on
This manual recommends the proposal.
treating the collective All office personnel are
noun as singular unless required to wear IDs.
other parts of the The crew is quite efficient.
sentence require The crew, consisting of
its plural sense. Theatre Arts and Music majors,
have never objected to their
long and late working hours.
 The ad hoc commission
A plural noun-object presented its reports. ( The
in the predicative may commission as a whole
signal the plural meaning presented several reports)
of the collective The ad hoc commission
noun-subject, but the sense present their reports today.
of the entire sentence ( The commission members
is still the ultimate present their individual reports)
deciding factor.
In referring to a collective …my family members/the
noun-subject in plural, the members of my family enjoy
brushing their teeth.
use of members maybe
…my wife and kids enjoy
awkward. If possible rephrase
brushing their teeth. [But this
the sentence by using other sentence, as the original, still
equivalent words. excludes the speaker!]
all of us in the family
…
For the first time, my enjoy brushing our teeth.
family enjoys brushing
their teeth.
 AVOID THE AWKWARD REFERENCE TO
PEOPLE WITH IT JUST TO BE CONSISTENT
WITH THE SINGULAR TREATMENT OF A
COLLECTIVE NOUN.
The crew is seated at the table,
waiting for its dinner.
The crew members are seated at the
table, waiting for their dinner.
IF THE COLLECTIVE NOUN IS TREATED AS SINGULAR,
ALL REFERENCES TO IT IN THE SENTENCES SHOULD BE
CONSISTENTLY SINGULAR.
The choir faces their musical problems
squarely.
The choir faces its musical problems
squarely.
OCCASIONALLY YOU MAY FIND NAMES OF
GROUPS OF PEOPLE TREATED AS PLURAL,
ESPECIALLY WHEN THE NAME IS RELATED TO
A COLLECTIVE NOUN:
In 1979 the Clash were the best band in the
world. And that year at London’s Vanilla
studio’s, they began work on their classic,
London Calling.
The Philippine Madrigal Singers are again
embarking on a European concert tour.
The words data and media (the latter especially with
reference to the mass media) are entered in current dictionaries
as either singular or plural.
For formal writing, particularly for academic reports and
papers, this Manual still advises data as plural avoids its confusion
with information, which is singular, while using media as plural
maintains its sense of multiple references to various types of print
and broadcast media.
 EXAMPLES:
Your data show a bias for foreign capitalists.
The media have been lacking in good research
methods, relying heavily on self-serving reports
and press releases.
 THE WORD SPORT, REFERRING TO A
COMPETITIVE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, IS
OFTEN USED IN THE PLURAL FORM SPORTS.
Sports teaches respect.
Sports teach respect.
Any kind of sport involves some training.
THE WORDS FORMER AND LATTER TAKE THE
GRAMMATICAL NUMBER OF THE NOUN THEY
REFER TO.
Universal grammar is a body of
principles and parameters which is
an innate component of the mind.
The former are operative in all
languages, while the latter allow a
limited amount of variation
between languages.
THE WORD POLITICS IS EITHER SINGULAR OR
PLURAL, BUT WITH DIFFERENT SENSES.
Three collegiate dictionaries list it as
singular or plural in context, without
differentiating:
MERRIAM- WEBSTER’S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY, 10TH ED. (1993)

Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 3rd ed. (1996)

OTHER DICTIONARIES ARE MORE SPECIFIC:

Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of English

Usage(1989)

Cambridge International Dictionary of English

Usage(1995)

Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2008)

Oxford English Reference Dictionary (1996)

OTHER DICTIONARIES ARE MORE SPECIFIC:

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2000)

The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage (1996)

Encarta World English Dictionary (1999)

Encarta Webster’s College Dictionary (2005)

 AS A SINGULAR NOUN, IT MEANS ANY OF
THE FOLLOWING:
Political life as a profession [ENCARTA];the job
of holding a position of power in the government
(The group is campaigning to get more women into
politics.)[CAMBRIDGE]
The activities of the government, members of the
law-making organizations or people who try to
influence the way a country is governed. (I’m not
interested in politics-I think its boring.)[CAMBRIDGE]
 AS A SINGULAR NOUN, IT MEANS ANY OF
THE FOLLOWING:
 the art and science of government (Politics is a popular
subject at many universities.) [FOWLER’S]; the theory and
practice of forming and running organizations connected
with government[ENCARTA] ; the study of the ways in
which a country is governed. (Politics is the art of the possible.
– Prince Otto von Bismarck, 1987.) [CAMBRIDGE]
 But OXFORD lists the last meaning
above as either singular or plural

As a plural noun, it means

any of the following:
A particular of ideas, etc.,in politics(what are their
politics?) [FOWLER’S]; political persuasions or beliefs
[ENCARTA]; a person’s political opinions or
sympathies. ( Mr. Trumbo’s politics were not mine. –
Harper’s, Mar 71;…his somewhat doctrinaire politics offer
a refreshing contrast. Times Book Rev., 20 Jul 75)
[MWDEU]; a particular set ideas, principles or
commitments in politics ( what are their politics?)
[OXFORD]; a person’s opinions about how a country
should be governed. (Her politics have become more
liberal over the past few years.) [CAMBRIDGE]
Political activity at any level
[ENCARTA]; activities concerned with the
acquisition or exercise of authority or
government [OXFORD] (The politics of
reform are awkward.- Hamish McRae,
Fortune, 25 Oct 99)
 relationships within a group which allow
particular people to have a power over
others. ( I don’t like to get involved in office
politics.) [CAMBRIDGE]; an organizational
process or principle affecting authority,
status, etc, etc.( the politics of the decision )
[OXFORD]
But ENCARTA lists “calculated advancement: the use of
tactics and strategy to gain power in a group or
organization,” quite similar to the last meaning above,
as either singular or plural.
 Then, other meanings are either singular or plural,
depending on the context:
policymaking activity: activity within a political party or
organization that is concerned with debate and the creation
and carrying out of distinctive policies rather than merely
the administration of the state [ENCARTA]
Public life and affairs as involving authority and
government. [OXFORD]
Interrelationships in a specific field: the totality of
interrelationships in a particular area of life involving
power, authority, or influence, and capable of
manipulation [ENCARTA}
 Proper Nouns as Subject
 proper nouns, even if in the plural form, are generally treated as
singular. This rule applies as well to titles of books, stories, musical
compositions, and other creative works, as well as to names of
countries.

0
0 The United Nations was forced to vote on the issue.
The UP Madrigal Singers is featured in the concert.
“The Rites of Spring” is by Stravinsky.
  names of countries regions may be used as plural
to refer to their representatives or delegates.
 The Philippines are now in the Asian Games semifinals. [NB:
Although there is no singular form *Philipppine, the term
Philippines is really the short form for Philippine Islands and
echoes the plural Spanish adjective in the phrase las islas
filipinas]
 Overall, the United States are the winners at the Olympiad.
 Reportage on the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Cricket
Champions Trophy had the following:
China eclipse the error-prone US team to grab the gold in women’s
gymnastics, while the host nation completes its monopoly in
synchronized diving.
South Africa have withdrawn from next month’s Champions Trophy
in Pakistan due to security fears.
Players from England and New Zealand have also expressed
reservations about visiting Pakistan, although South Africa are the first
of the eight participating nations to officially withdraw.
The other nations contesting the trophy are India, who
are backing Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
China, where millions play table tennis across the
country, have never lost the women’s singles crown
since the sport was introduced at the 1988 Olympics.
Afghanistan win first ever Olympics medal.
For academic and professional papers, this Manual advises
the traditional treatment of names of countries as singular,
since such is still more prevalent in international media. Even
so, recognize the plural, in its special sense of referring to
“delegation” as acceptable.
Names of mountain ranges and groups of islands which are
in the plural form are plural in number.
 Singular Nouns ending in -s
Some nouns ending in “-s” are actually singular. Note that
removing the “-s” will not produce a singular noun.
 Subjects with of phrase
Somewhat confusing are subjects with an of phrase, since the word
of may be the last word of a predeterminer (e.g., a number of the
survivors) or the first word of a prepositional phrase (e.g., the number of
the survivors). If the former, the verb agrees with the noun after of, if the
latter, the verb agrees with the noun before of:
A number of the survivors suffer from amnesia.
The number of the survivors is more than expected.
A noun phrase with one of presents a problem when
embedded and followed by a relative pronoun:

One of the hostages has escaped.

We interviewed one of the hostages who has escaped. (Who
refers to one)
 We interviewed one of the hostages who have escaped. (Here,
who refers to hostages)
Sometimes, when the subject noun phrase is
already understood in context, it may be deleted,
resulting in an ellipsis that still maintains the plural
in the verb.
A number are late to work.
A lot are clamoring for higher wages.
 COMPOUND SUBJECTS
 Noun phrase joined by and are plural.
 The above rule does not apply when and is followed
by not. The noun phrase that follows the negative
morpheme does not figure in the agreement rule;
the verb agrees with the first noun phrase:
Love and hate makes the world go around.
People and not policy are the focus of his
analysis.
 Subject NPs joined by which are taken as one
unit constitute a singular subject. These are usually
idiomatic combinations and should
may be joined by and
.
is my favorite snack.
is a common meal in the rural
areas.
I assure the disaster victims that
is on its way.


 Either you or mad.

 Either she or mad.
 There to be no nor tables in
this report.