SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT

1. FOCUS 6 - Agreement with Fractions, Percentages, and Quantifiers

   • 1) Use a singular verb when the subject is: * a singular noun * a noun clause * a noncount noun With plural nouns, use a plural verb. 2) With collective nouns after percentages and fractions, the singualr verb is usually used in American English. However, a plural verb is used when the collective noun follows quantifiers such as 'a lot of' or 'many'. 3) *With quantifiers 'each, every, and every one' use SINGULAR verb. *With 'a number of' use a PLURAL verb. *'The number of'', however, takes a SINGULAR verb. *With 'none of', use a singular verb in formal written English.

2. FOCUS 1 - Overview of Subject-Verb Agreement

   • 1) All verbs in the present tense must agree in a number with the subjects of sentences. 2) If the verb is complex, the first part or auxiliary agrees with the subject. 3) If the subject has more than one part, the verb is PLURAL. 4) In formal English, when the grammatical subject is there, the verb agrees with the logical subject, the noun phrase that follows the verb.   

3. FOCUS 2 - Identifying Head Nouns in Long Subjects

   • 1) Find the verb for the clause or sentence to determine the subject. 2) If the subject has a prepositional phrase, locate the head noun to the left of the first preposition. 3) Use the same strategy with subjects followed by compound prepositions, such as together with, along with, and as well as. Look for the head noun to the left of these phrases. 4) Locate the head noun before not+ a noun phrase. 5) Similarly, look to the left of relative clauses to identify the head noun.

4. FOCUS 5 - Subjects Requiring Singular Verbs

   • Some type of subjects always take SINGULAR verbs. 1) Some common or proper singular nouns that end in -s. 2) Plural unit words of distance, time, and money. 3) Arithmetical operations. 4) Items that have two parts when you use the noun PAIR. 5) Clause subjects have subject and a verb embedded within them. They may begin with "what" or "that". (Even when they reffer to plural) 6) Gerund and infinitive clauses.

5. FOCUS 4 - Agreement with Nouncount Nouns, Collective Nouns, and Nouns Derived from Adjectives

   • 1) Noncount Nouns in English include mass nouns and abstract nouns. These nouns take singular verb. 2) Some Collective Nouns define groups of people, animals, or things. If the group is considered as a whole, use a singualr verb.  3) Noun phrases derived from adjectives that describe people, such as the young, the rich, and the homeless, take plural.

6. FOCUS 3 - Agreement in Sentences with Correlative Conjunctions: Both...and; Either...or; Neither...nor

   • 1) Both....and : Use plural verb. 2) Either...or/ Neither...nor : The verb should agree with the head noun after 'or' or 'nor'. 3) You can determine the verb form when one or more of the subjects is a pronoun.