Subject and Verb Agreement: The Matching Game

Objectives: Understand the various rules regarding subject and verb agreement Apply these rules in writing sentences

“There is a lot of data in the computer.” “All are present in the class.” “Few people is needed for this activity.”

Subject-Verb Agreement Wearing clothes that complement each other Agreement in number between the subject and the correct verb form and tense

General Rule in Subject- Verb Agreement Singular = Singular Plural = Plural Plural = Singular

Nine Basic Rules in Subject-Verb Agreement 1. The intervening phrase or clause does not affect the number of the subject

Nine Basic Rules in Subject-Verb Agreement 1. The intervening phrase or clause does not affect the number of the subject

Nine Basic Rules in Subject-Verb Agreement 2. Some pronouns are always singular; some are always plural; some are either singular or plural.

Nine Basic Rules in Subject-Verb Agreement 3. Compound subjects joined by “and” are plural except when they refer to the same concept.

Nine Basic Rules in Subject-Verb Agreement 4. With compound subjects joined by or/nor, the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it. Note: Neither …nor, either …or, not only …but also

Nine Basic Rules in Subject-Verb Agreement 5. Inverted Subjects must agree with the verb.

Nine Basic Rules in Subject-Verb Agreement 6. Collective nouns are either singular or plural. A collective decision The group is divided

Nine Basic Rules in Subject-Verb Agreement 7. Titles of books and proper names of persons, places and things are always singular.

Nine Basic Rules in Subject-Verb Agreement 8. Some nouns are always plural or singular. Not all words ending in –s are plural.

Nine Basic Rules in Subject-Verb Agreement 9. With subject and subjective complement of different number, the verb always agrees with the subject.

Additional Rules in Subject-Verb Agreement Generally the number, the family [meaning one particular number or one particular family] is considered singular. A number, a family [meaning some] is considered plural. CORRECT: A number of chemistry students are in the lab. CORRECT: THE number of chemistry students is small.

Additional Rules in Subject-Verb Agreement The relative pronouns “who”, “which” and “that” use a singular verb for a singular antecedent and a plural verb for a plural antecedent. WRONG: John is one of those men who prefers Lone Star beer. CORRECT: John is one of those men who prefer Lone Star beer. (The plural noun men is the antecedent of who and requires the plural verb form, prefer.)

Additional Rules in Subject-Verb Agreement Gerund subjects (-ing verb form without an auxiliary verb) take singular verbs. EXAMPLE: Seeing is believing. EXAMPLE: Swimming helps build muscle tone.

Exercise: Agree or Disagree People now compared to before earn much more. Honesty and self discipline is what we should practice often. Love and hate are part of life. Spaghetti and meatballs is my favorite dish. Fish with oyster sauce and vegetables was what I had this lunch. No animal is allowed inside the room.

Exercise: Agree or Disagree Not only the teachers and students but also the students and parents is participating in the rally. Talking with my friends and classmates are what I do when I get home from school. When I got home, some rice is left on the table. Aerobics are popular in my office. There is a lot of problems that he is facing now.

Exercise: Agree or Disagree A box of candy wrapped in colorful paper and ribbons is the gift I received last Christmas. Social sciences are the field of my students. There are various data and information that I need to collect for my experiments. Neither a masters degree or letters of recommendation is needed for this job. Practice, practice and much more practice is needed to master the concepts of English.

Summary Singular for singular, plural for plural Identify the subject and it MUST agree with the verb Modifiers do not change the number of the subject.