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Title: Subject-Verb Agreement


1
Subject Verb Agreement
  • Presented by Ms. S Andrewin

Sites.google.com/site/classplantbelize
2
A Subject and its verb must agree in number!
  • But who remembers whats number anyway?

3
Number
  • Number means singular (one) or plural (more than
    one).

4
Number Agreement
  • Singular nouns and pronouns, such as she,
    director, lake, and freedom, refer to one person,
    place or thing and therefore make up a singular
    subject.
  • Singular Subjects Need Singular Verbs
  • Plural nouns and pronouns, such as they,
    directors, lakes, and freedoms, refer to more
    than one person, place, or thing
  • Use plural verb forms with plural subjects
  • Singular
  • Plural

5
Although nouns ending in s are usually plural,
NB
  • Verb forms ending in s are usually singular.

6
Examples
  • Camille lives on Kelly Street.
  • That student is a member of the basketball team.
  • The contractor was reviewing the blueprints.
  • Those children dont live near the library.
  • The students were members of the glee club.
  • The contractors were reviewing the blueprints.

In a verb phrase, use an auxiliary verb that
agrees in number with its subject.
  • Singular
  • Plural

7
The Tricky Ones
  • If were not careful, some subjects, such as
    compounds and indefinite pronouns might catch us
    off guard...

8
Compound Subjects
  • Two factors determine the verb form that agrees
    in number with a compound subject

2) whether the words in the compound subject are
singular or plural.
1) the conjunction
9
Rules
  • Use a plural verb with most compound subjects
    connected by and.
  • Use a singular verb with a compound subject that
    refers to one person or thing, or that is
    generally considered a unit.
  • Use a singular verb with a compound subject made
    up of singular nouns or pronouns connected by
    or or nor...unless one of those pronouns or
    nouns is plural.

NB If part of a compound subject connected by
or or nor is plural, the verb agrees with
the subject that is closest to it in the
sentence.
10
Indefinite Pronouns
  • Some are always singular, while others are always
    plural

11
Easy Indefinites
  • Most common
  • Several
  • Both
  • Few
  • Many
  • Anybody, anyone, anything, each, either
  • Everybody, everyone, everything, much neither
  • Nobody, no one, nothing, one, other
  • Somebody, someone, something
  • Plural
  • Singular

12
Tricky Indefinites
  • These indefinite pronouns are singular when they
    refer to a portion or a single person, place, or
    thing.
  • They are plural when they refer to two or more
    individuals persons, places, or things.

Are singular or plural depending on their
antecedent
13
Collective Nouns
  • A collective noun names a group or collection of
    people or objects.
  • Although they are singular in form, these may
    take a singular or a plural verb, depending on
    their meaning in the sentence.

Singular or plural??
  • If the sentence speaks of the group as a unit,
    use a singular verb.
  • If the sentence speaks of individual members of
    the group, use a plural verb.

14
Amounts Time
  • Use a singular verb with a subject that refers to
  • a single unit
  • A fraction
  • A measurement
  • An amount of money
  • A distance
  • Or a specific interval of time
  • Use a plural verb when the subject expresses
  • a length of time
  • an amount that is considered as a number of
    separate units.
  • Singular
  • Plural

15
sites.google.com/site/classplantbelize/ topics/par
ts-of-speech
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