Elements of Language Ch. 16 Agreement

Polyphemus says “Watch Out!” “Verbs must agree in number (singular or plural) with their subjects.

Correct the mistakes: 1)The houses on the street looks pretty. 2)Justinius Castor, one of many bards, sing well. 3)The epic poem that I recited two months ago are still in my head. 4)The number of teams in each division are determined by the commissioner. 5)Many students in the school sleeps in class.

Singular Indefinite Pronouns Anybody Anyone Anything Each Either Everybody Everyone Everything Neither Nobody No One Nothing Somebody Someone Something

Plural Indefinite Pronouns Both Few Many Several

Some Indefinite Pronouns Singular or Plural Depends on the meaning: Some of the homework is easy. Some of the students play Call of Duty: Modern Grammar on their Ipads. All of the building is closed. All of the suitors are in trouble with Odysseus. Was any of the work done correctly? Were any of the Death Stars fully armed and operational?

Which is correct? 1)Each of the bards speak/speaks Greek. 2)Neither of the suitors is/are worthy of Penelope. 3)Do/Does everyone know the German word for “dishwasher”? 4)Both of my parents work/works downtown. 5)No one listen/listens to Justinius Castor songs except Phemius. 6)Neither of the boys play/plays Skyrim. 7)Most of the team is/are in the locker room. 8)Most of the players love/loves Pete Carroll. 9)Most of the players abhor/abhors Bill Belichick. 10)Is/Are more Capri-Suns in the fridge, Mom?

Sprechen Sie Englisch? “Step up your game, grammatically speaking.”

Compound Subject ( ) Not to be confused with compound nouns like Geschirrspülmaschine! Subjects joined by the word “and” and take a plural verb. Note: Singular subjects joined by “or” or “nor” take a singular verb! But plural subjects joined by “or” or “nor” take plural verbs. zum Beispiel: Either Pete Carroll or Bill Belichick is happy with the team performance. Neither the Seahawks nor the Patriots are nervous about the game. They are big time players.

Achtung! A special Case When a singular subject and a plural subject are joined by “or” or “nor”, the verb agrees with the subject nearer the verb: Ejemplos: Neither the boys nor their father wants to hug Mickey Maus because he is so darned “unheimlich.” Neither the father nor his sons want to visit Donald Ente because he is, in a word, “böse.”

Athena says: “Get ‘er done.”

Collective Nouns May be either singular or plural, depending on its meaning in the sentence Zum Beispiel: army audience class family flock herd mob (of emus) crash (of rhinoceres) murder (of crows) sleuth (of bears) intrusion (of roaches) pod (of dolphins) charm (of finches) cloud (of grasshoppers) escargatoire (of snails)

Poe says: “Grammar is cray-zeee good.”

Singular or Plural? Whether one uses singular or plural with collectives depends on what needs to be emphasized. To emphasize the group as a unit, use the singular: The murder of crows scares the heck out of me. I fear it! The intrusion of roaches is lovely to Medusa. She blushes at the sight of it. To emphasize the individual parts of the group, use the plural (more typical of British English) The government have decided to change the law. The pod of dolphins swim in different directions.

Agreement of Pronoun Antecedent Ante (Latin=before) Antecedent=Comes before something. Every pronoun has an antecedent. The antecedent comes before a pronoun (either in the sentence or in a prior sentence). Example: He is coming to dinner. (We have to have some context to know who “he” is. Without an antecedent, the “he” is meaningless.)

Examples of Antecedents The Seahawks were very upset with their coach. (possessive pronoun=their; antecedent=The Seahawks) Charles Dickens wrote his novels by waking up extremely early. Joseph Conrad is considered a great author. He wrote several important novels. The game was amazing. It shocked everyone.

Many Types of Pronouns Subject Pronouns (Nominative) : I, You, He, She, It, We, Y’all, They Object Pronouns (Direct or Indirect Object): Me, You, Him, Her, It, Us, Them Possessive Pronouns: My, Your, His, Her, Its, Our, Their Reflexive Pronouns: Myself, Yourself, Himself, Herself, Itself, Ourselves, Yourselves, Themselves

Practice 1.Please give me Ronald’s address so that I can send ___ a letter. 2.The uniform company finally sent Jerome and Ken the shirts that ___ had ordered. 3.Claire or Ida will go to the nursing home early so ___ can help the residents in the lounge. 4.Several of the volunteers contributed ___ own money to buy the shelter a new van. 5.Did each of the contestants answer ____ questions correctly? 6.Both of the girls packed _____ suitcases carefully for the trip to Canada and Alaska. 7.Every car at the service center had _____ oil changed. 8.Neither of the women withdrew ____ job application. 9.Anyone can belong to the International Students Association if ____ is interested. 10.Neither the coaches nor the player blamed _____ for the loss. 11.Neither of my parents ____from Europe, but I speak several European languages. 12.Each of the students at Jesuit brought ____Elements of Language book to the party. 13.Few of the students forgot _______books.