Subject Verb Agreement Pz

8/22/2019 Subject Verb Agreement Pz

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SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT


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LESSON 1

SINGULAR/PLURAL


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THE BASIC RULE OF

THUMB

(This is the easy part!)

Singular subjects take singular verbs

Plural subjects take plural verbs

Heres a hint to help find the subject:

The subject will never be found in the

prepositional phrase.


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NEXT ISSUE


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Remember your math

One + one = two

Singular + singular = plural

+ = AND

The ugly lawn gnome AND the lovely

plastic elf belong together.

Gnome (singular) AND elf (singular)

belong (plural)


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LETS PRACTICE!!


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Singular or plural?

The ugly lawn gnome loves the lovely

plastic elf.

The lovely plastic elf is pining after the ugly

lawn gnome.

The weeds are a problem to this unhappy

couple.

The hedge clippers are their only hope!

Gnome loves = singular

Elf is pining = singular

Weeds are = plural

Clippers are = plural


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OR, EITHEROR,

NEITHERNOR

Now what???


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Grab your ruler The verb choice depends on the

closest subject

(Either the students or the teacher has the right

answer.)

(Either the teacher or the students have the right answer.

If the subject closest to the verb is singular, use a singular verb.

If the subject closest to the verb is plural, use a plural verb.


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Either, Neitherwithout their

partners Or and Nor


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The subjects EITHER and NEITHER with no

partner are ALWAYS SINGULAR.

Eitherof the two teams is good enough to win the championship.

Neitherof the dogs has a collar.

Youll be tempted to use teams and dogs and choose pluralverbs. Resist the temptation!!


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A couple of other points to

remember..


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The number of requires a singular verb.

A number ofrequires a plural verb.

The number of cases of West Nile Virus is growing

every year.

A number of students are protesting on Friday night.


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Lets Practice!!!

The sheriff along with two of her deputies (were, was)checking licenses at the North Road exit.

WAS

Some of the lots in our subdivision (was, were) not for sale. WERE

Here (is, are) the transistors and diodes that youpurchased for your repair shop.

ARE Genetics (is, are) very difficult for beginning students to

understand.

IS


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More Practice!!!

The number of girls in my football club (was, were)surprising.

WAS

A number of the swimmers (is, are) going to the statecompetition.

ARE

There (is, are) some error messages showing up in myprogram.

ARE Neither Betty nor Jane (type, types) more than fifty

words per minute.

TYPES


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LESSON 2

WORDS BETWEEN THE

SUBJECT AND VERB


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Dont let words between the

subject and verb trip you up!These interrupters may include:

Prepositional phrases Appositive phrases


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Prepositional phrases

Prepositional phrase = preposition+object

of the preposition

The files of any computerare vulnerable toelectronic-age thieves.

Ignore the prepositional phrase

The subject = files (pl)

The verb = are (pl)


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Appositive phrases

Appositive phrases contain extra information and

are set off from the sentence with commas.

Computer thieves,people like the hackerKevinMitnick, steal government and industry secrets.

Ignore the appositive phrase

The subject = thieves

The verb = steal


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Interrupters may also be clauses

and participles But those are for another day!!!!


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REMEMBER

IGNORE THE INTERRUPTERS.

CROSS OUT (at least mentally)

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES ANDAPPOSITIVE PHRASES.

FIND THE SUBJECT AND VERB IN THE

BASIC SENTENCE.


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PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT


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Which sentence is correct?

Why?


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The boy in the first row, along with all the

other students in the class, are beleaguered

by the worksheets. The boy in the first row, along with all the

other students in the class, is beleaguered by

the worksheets.

**

boy is


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The girl with the blue ribbons in her hair,

but not the other girls in the class, throws

spitballs at the teacher. The girl with the blue ribbons in her hair,

but not the other girls in the class, throw

spitballs at the teacher.

**

Girl throws


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The ugly lawn gnome with 10,000 eyes and

only five toes love the lovely plastic elf.

The ugly lawn gnome with 10,000 eyes andonly five toes loves the lovely plastic elf.

**

gnome loves


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The lovely plastic elf, fascinated with

folktales, imagines herself as a beautiful

princess in love with the ugly lawn gnome. The lovely plastic elf, fascinated with

folktales, imagine herself as a beautiful

princess in love with the ugly lawn gnome.


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LESSON 3

INDEFINITE-PRONOUN

SUBJECTS


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An indefinite pronoun refers to

an unspecified person or thing.Some indefinite pronouns are always

singular.

Some indefinite pronouns are always plural.

Some indefinite pronouns can be singular or

plural depending on how they are used.


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Singular indefinite pronouns take singular verbs.

Plural indefinite pronouns take plural verbs.

Everyone has heard of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson

Few realize that Arthur Conan Doyle solved real-life cases.

Indefinite Pronouns


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Indefinite Pronouns

SINGULAR

(The ones, things, bodies)

So everybody is happy

because no one has caused

any trouble, and anythinggoes.

anyone, everyone, no one,

someone, one,

anything, everything,nothing,something

anybody, everybody

nobody, somebody

another, either, neither, each

PLURALBoth authors horses are show

jumpers.

Both, few, many, several

SINGULAR OR

PLURAL

All, any, more, most, none,

some


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Six indefinite pronouns take singular

verbs when they refer to one thing.

They take plural verbs when they referto two or more people or things.

To decide whether the pronoun takes a

singular or plural verb, find the noun in theprepositional phrase that follows theindefinite pronoun.

Mostof the storytakes place in England.

Mostof the storiestake place in England.


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More examples of the 6 indefinite

pronouns than can be singular or plural

Anyof the bookisinteresting.

Anyof the magazinesare interesting.

Allof the pieis gone.

Allof the shoesare on sale. Noneof the pollutionis blamed on the factory.

Noneof the factoriesare to blame for thepollution.

Someof the speechis appropriate.

Someof the politiciansare giving speechestonight.


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BY THE WAY.


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EACH and EVERY change

whatever follows into a singular

idea.

EACH shoe and sockis in need of mending.

EVERY dress and skirt in that store is onsale.

EACH of those Halloween pumpkins was

rotten by December. EVERY one of the atomic secrets has been

stolen.


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REMEMBER

EACHmistaken subject and verb is

a problem, andEVERYgrammar rule

and example is important.

Indefinite Pronouns


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Indefinite Pronouns

SINGULAR

(The ones, things, bodies)

So everybody is happy

because no one has caused

any trouble, and anythinggoes.

anyone, everyone, no one,

someone, one,

anything, everything,nothing,something

anybody, everybody

nobody, somebody

another, either, neither, each

PLURAL Both, few, many, several

SINGULAR OR

PLURAL

All, any, more, most, none,

some


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GIVE IT A TRY!!(Grammar for Writing 2008)


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1. Many of Arthur Conan Doyles fans enjoyreading about the real-life cases Doyle

solved.2. One of these cases involve George Edalji,

a young man from a small English village.

3. Someone among the villagers areviciously killing animals.

4. Nearly all of the animals are killed at nightin open fields.

5. According to police, most of the evidencepoint to Edalji.

Correct

involves

is

Correct

points


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6) Everyone on the jury find him guilty.

7) Someone writes Doyle, asking him to help

Edalji.8) One of Doyles tests reveal Edaljis night

blindness.

9) No one with night blindness are able tochase and kill animals in the dark.

10) After hearing Doles evidence, all of the

commissioners pardons Edalji.

finds

Correct

reveals

is

pardon


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Subject-Verb Agreement With

Inverted Sentences


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IN AN INVERTED SENTENCE The verb (or part of the verb) comes before the

subject.

Inverted sentences:

may be questions DOES the bankWANT therobber punished?

or

may begin with there, here, where Here IS a

bookabout dumb criminalsor

may begin with a phrase Right by the policeSPEEDS the truck.


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To decide whether to use a

singular verb or a plural verb FIRST, find the subject

THEN, make sure the verb agrees with the

subject.


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THERE IS AN EASY WAY TO

FIND THE TRUE SUBJECTOut of the bank(come, comes) the two robbers.

1) Turn the sentence around so that the subject

comes before the verb. The two robbers(come,comes) out of the bank.

2) Determine whether the subject is singular or

plural. Robbers (plural)

3) Make sure the subject and verb agree. The two

robberscome out of the bank.


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REWRITE THESE SENTENCES SO THEY

ARE IN NATURAL WORD ORDER.

There are nine players on a baseball team.

Is your coat in the closet?

Were we surprised!

There are still season tickets available.

Nine players are on a baseball team.

Your coat is in the closet.

We were surprised!

Season tickets are still available.

NOW WRITE THE SUBJECT


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NOW, WRITE THE SUBJECT

AND VERB FOR EACH

SENTENCE There are nine players on a baseball team.

Is your coat in the closet?

Were we surprised!

There are still season tickets available.

playersare

coatis

wewere

ticketsare


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LESSON 5

Subject/Verb Agreement with

collective nouns, nouns ending in s,

titles, amounts, time

AGREEMENT WITH


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AGREEMENT WITH

COLLECTIVE NOUNS

Collective nouns are singular when theyrefer to the group as a unit.

Collective nouns are plural when they refer

to the individual members of the group.

The flock of birds is covering the sky.

(The flock is one unit.)

The jury is still deliberating. (The jury is one

unit)

The flock of birds were grooming themselves. (The flock are

thought of as individual birds.)

The jury argue about the case. (The individuals argue.)


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SOME COMMON

COLLECTIVE NOUNSFlock

Committee

ClassClub

Team

FamilyPride

Staff

Jury

HerdPolice

Majority

CrowdPublic


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AGREEMENT WITH NOUNS

ENDING IN S Certain words end in s and look plural but

have a singular meaning.

Use a singular verb with these words.


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SOME COMMON SINGULAR

NOUNS THAT END IN S


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The news is on at 6:00

Molasses is a very sweet syrup.

Mumps is very dangerous so a vaccine was

developed.

Politics has a big effect on rural communities.

Physics is my favorite class.

Genetics determines hair color.

Forensics is a popular science because of

popular T.V. shows like CSI.


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AGREEMENT WITH TITLES

AND EXPRESSIONS OF

AMOUNT AND TIME


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TITLES OF WORKS OF ART,

LITERATURE AND MUSIC

ARE SINGULAR Language NetworkAnother genuineMona Lisahas been

discovered.

The Twelve Chairsis a comic mysterystory.

Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes, 100 GreatDetectivesis a very interesting book.

WORDS RELATING TO WEIGHTS


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WORDS RELATING TO WEIGHTS,

MEASURES, NUMBERS ARE USUALLY

SINGULAR SUBJECTS SO REQUIRE

SINGULAR VERBS.

Fifty thousand dollarshas been raised to ransomthe missing painting.

Overtwo-thirds of the money comes from privatedonations.

Eighty pounds of food has been donated to thefood pantry.

(Dont confuse these numbers with numbers usedas adjectives before a noun. - ex. Nine players areon a team.)


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KEEP THIS IN MIND,

THOUGH Measurements are consideredplural when meant

as individual components. (Six moremilesareahead of us.)

When an amount tells how much, use a singularverb. (Halfof the money comes from donations.)

When an amount tells how many, use apluralverb. (Halfof the guards are on duty.)

BTW When a sentence begins with a number, thenumber is ALWAYS SPELLED OUT.

LENGTHS OF TIME ARE


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LENGTHS OF TIME ARE

USUALLY TREATED AS

SINGULAR Twelve yearsis a long time for an

investigation to continue.

Fifty yearswas the maximum sentence for

the crime.

Thirty minutesis a long time to wait for a

table in a restaurant.


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Lets practice

Ch th t b d t t th l th t


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Choose the correct verb and state the rule that

determines your choice.1. War and Peace (is, are)a novel by the Russian

writer Tolstoy.

2. Physics (is, are) an exciting college major.

3. Susanna (dont, doesnt) believe in astrology.

4. The jury (has, have) finally returned to thecourtroom.

5. There (are, is) usually two players on each side.

6. Hard Times (are, is) my favorite novel by

Dickens.

is

is

Doesnt

has

are

is


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7. The pride of lions (were, was) resting neara stream.

8. (Do, Does) your soccer team play duringthe fall and spring of the season?

9. Ten dollars (is, are) too high a price forthat.

10. The majority of the students (prefers,

prefer) take-home exams.

was

Does

is

prefers

Subject Verb Agreement Pz

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