Subject verb agreement

A Quick review of subjects and verbs… What is the subject of a sentence? How do they work in a sentence? Why would we need to know how to find the subject and the verb in a sentence?

Finding verbs Can someone tell me what a verb is and what it does in a sentence? How can we identify a verb? What are the two types of verbs we have discussed in class?

Formula for finding a subject. For the next few slides, we will use the sentence below. “I looked through the newspaper for a particular article.” Step One to finding the subject of a sentence: Find and remove all the prepositional phrases in the sentence. What are my prepositional phrases in the sentence above?

Step 2 Find the verb. Where’s my verb in the sentence, “I looked.”? Easy so far, right?

Step 3 In your mind, place the words who or what in front of the verb and then answer the question. The answer is the subject. Ex: The cat clawed the couch. Who clawed the couch? Let’s do this same thing with our sentence. What would our subject be?

A second formula. Sometimes the formula we talked about will not always work. Here is a second formula to use when the first isn’t quite working out. If you are still having trouble finding the subject, read the sentence up to and including the verb, and then ask who or what. The answer is the subject. Ex: Into the pond jumped the frog. ( The subject is now after the verb.) Ex: In fact, this species was once spotted over the arctic circle.

One more formula… If you have a sentence that asks a question, simply turn that question into a statement. Ex. Does an ostrich really bury its head in the sand? Ex. An ostrich really does bury its head in the sand. (Here we can see that an ostrich is the subject of the sentence.) Do these sentences in your notes. Were your friends early? Where did the horses cross the river?

Caution! The words there and here are never subjects. Ex. There are two reasons for this. (If there is not the subject of the sentence, then what is the subject?) Ex. There is no reason for this. Ex. Here are two apples.

A few more sentences… In your notes, write out these sentences and use the formula to find the subject. “My sisters are mathematicians on the campus committee.” “Have you outlined the next chapter?”

Plural and singular verbs. We know to add an “s” to the end of a subject to make it plural, but how do we identify a plural verb? Verbs are just the opposite of nouns. Any verb that ends in ‘s is going to be singular. Ex: “ends” in this sentence. Ex: ride-plural, rides-singular. have-plural, has-singular. are-singular, is plural.

Subjects that agree with verbs. The main point to remember when dealing with subject-verb agreement is to use plural subjects with plural verbs, and singular subjects with singular verbs. Ex. John attends college. (The singular verb attends agrees with the singular subject John.) Ex. Those boys deliver newspapers. (The plural verb deliver agrees with the plural subject boys.) In your notes, write a singular verb/subject sentence and a plural verb/plural subject sentence.

A table of verbs Singular Plural Is Are Was Were Does Do Has Have

The each, either, neither, one, or body rule The following common words are singular: each, either, neither, one, no one, everyone, anyone, someone, everyone, anybody, somebody, everybody. Ex: Each has his own motorcycle. Each of the boys has (not have) his own motorcycle. Everyone wants more money. Every one of the workmen wants (not want) more money.

Plurals The following common words are plural: several, few, both, many. Ex: Several of the regular members were absent. Few of my family really understand me. Both of your excuses sound plausible. Many were surprised at the final score.

Singular or plural The words some, any, none, all, and most may be singular or plural, depending on the meaning of the sentence. Ex: Some of the money was missing. (money is thought of as a unit) Some of the dimes were missing. (dimes are separate units) All of the fruit looks ripe. All of the cherries look ripe. Most of the book was interesting. (an indefinite part of a book) Most of the books were interesting. (a number of separate books) Has any of this evidence been presented? Have any of my friends called me? None of the evidence points to guilt. None of our students were involved.

Phrases after subjects The number of the subject is not changed by a phrase following the subject.   Ex:The performance was very funny. The performance of the first three clowns was very funny. (performance, not clowns, is the subject of the sentence) The decision has been reversed. The decision of the contest judges has been reversed. (decision has, not judges have)

Subjects with “and” Subjects joined by “and” take a plural verb. Ex: A truck and a convertible were in the ditch. Gerald and his twin brother naturally look a lot alike. The walls and the ceiling were beautifully decorated.

Subjects joined by or, nor, either…or, or neither….nor When a subject is formed by the conjunctions or, nor, either…or, or neither…nor, you use the subject closest to the verb to determine whether you should use a plural or singular verb. Ex. Neither the students nor the principal has any idea what’s going on with the alarm system. (the verb has ends in –s, so it is singular) Ex. The president or the secretaries handle the information in the documents. (the verb handle does not end in –s so it is plural) What are the subjects in these sentences? *Note* When the sentence has two subjects, use the subject closest to the verb to determine whether or not the verb should be plural or singular.

Diseases and classes A few nouns, such as mumps, measles, civics, economics, mathematics, physics, although plural in form, take a singular verb. Ex: Measles is a disease to take seriously. World economics bears directly on world peace.

SUBJECTS JOINED BY OR, NOR, NEITHER OR, AND NEITHER NOR. Singular subjects joined by or, nor, neither or, neither nor, take a singular verb. (These words will not be the subject of the sentence.) Ex: My brother or my sister is likely to be at home. Ex: Neither the president of the company nor the sales manager is a college graduate. Ex: Either John or Jim is sure to know the answer.

SUBJECTS JOINED BY OR, NOR, NEITHER OR, AND NEITHER NOR. When a singular and a plural subject are joined by or, nor, either or, neither nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject. Ex: Acceptable: Either the judge or the lawyers are wrong. Better: Either the judge is wrong or the lawyers are.

SUBJECTS FOLLOWING VERBS. When the subject follows the verb, as in questions and in sentences beginning with here, there and where, be careful to determine the subject and make sure that the verb agrees with it. Ex: Wrong: There’s three routes you can take. Right: There are three routes you can take. Wrong: Where’s your mother and father? Right: Where are your mother and father?.

COLLECTIVE NOUNS Collective nouns may be either singular or plural, depending on the meaning of the sentence. Ex: The crowd were fighting for their lives. The crowd was an orderly one. The team were talking over some new plays. The team was ranked first in the nation. The family have agreed to present a solid front. The family is the basic unit of our society.

EXPRESSIONS STATING AMOUNT Expressions stating amount (time, money, measurement, weight, volume, fractions) are usually singular when the amount is considered a single unit. Ex: Three years in a strange land seems like a long time. Ten dollars is not enough. Three fourths of the money has been recovered.

BOOK TITLES AND ORGANIZATIONS The title of a book or the name of an organization or country, even when plural in form, usually takes a singular verb. Ex: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published in 1884. The Knights of Columbus is sponsoring a carnival. The United States remains the leader of the Western world. Exception: The Boy Scouts of America wear this uniform. The Boy Scouts of America is a nonprofit organization.

DON'T AND DOESN'T Don’t and doesn’t must agree with their subject. Use don’t with the subjects “I’ and “You” and with plural subjects. Use doesn’t with all singular subject except “I” and “You”. Remember, “do” is plural but “does” is singular. The word “not” or the contraction “n’t” is never part of the verb. Ex: I don’t remember the score. You don’t look happy. Mr. Bowen doesn’t run fast enough. They don’t swim.

INTERVENING PHRASES Don’t be confused by an intervening phrase, clause , or words. Ex: Carlos, not Martha or Jan, was answering all the letters. Ex: The quillworker, usually a Sioux woman, squeezes each quill flat. Ex: Caroline, like most of her classmates, wishes fall break would last forever.