1. High School Mrs. Fontana English 9 / 10 Agreement

2. Subject-Verb Agreement The verb of a sentence must agree with its subject in number. – Singular subjects = singular verbs Nouns with –s = pluralgirls play Verbs with –s = singulargirl plays – Number not usually affected by phrases between subject and verb The boats in the harbor are beautiful. – Exception:amounts May be singular or plural May depend on phrase between subject and verb

3. Subject-Verb Agreement Verb agrees with subject NOT predicate nominative – The steaks were the biggest expense. – The biggest expense was the steaks.  Errors may be avoided by rewording sentence  Put the verb in the active voice to avoid errors.

4. Subject-Verb Agreement Be Careful!! If a sentence begins with there or here, or asks a question: First locate the subject THEN make sure the verb agrees. Here is my missing book! What are you doing?

5. Subject-Verb Agreement Titles are usually considered as singular nouns and treated as one subject. The Canterbury Tales is a classic novel. Barnes & Noble is my favorite store.

6. Subject-Verb Agreement The following items are treated as singular nouns although they appear plural in form. measles, mumps, rickets, molasses, news, stamina Rickets is caused by Vitamin C deficiency.

7. Subject-Verb Agreement Collective nouns may be either singular or plural, depending on their use in the sentence or clause. The jury was dismissed. The jury were unable to reach a unanimous decision.

8. Subject-Verb Agreement Amounts may be either singular or plural, depending on their use in the sentence. fractions, measurements, money, time Four dollars was lying on the ground. Four dollars is expensive for a soda.

9. Subject-Verb Agreement Words that end in –ics may be singular or plural, depending on their meaning. – Course of study or science = singular – Otherwise = plural Economics was my worst subject. The country’s economics are in trouble.

10. Subject-Verb Agreement Compound subjects joined by and are plural. John and Scott are coming to dinner. Compound subjects joined by or, nor, either or, neither-nor = the verb agrees with the nearest subject. Neither John nor his brothers are coming to dinner. Neither his brothers nor John is coming to dinner.

11. Subject-Verb Agreement Singular indefinite pronouns always = singular verb – each, either, neither; one, anyone, everyone, someone, no one; anybody, everybody, somebody, nobody Plural indefinite pronouns always = plural verb – both, few, several, many Other indefinite pronouns = singular OR plural – Depends on context of the sentence – some, any, all, none, most Some of the land was harvested. Some of the students were absent.

12. Subject-Verb Agreement Doesn’t, isn’t, wasn’t = singular Don’t, aren’t, weren’t = plural *Exception* = I and You take plural forms: I don’t have a pencil. You weren’t at the party.

13. Subject-Verb Agreement One of those whoOne of those which One of those that For these expressions, the relatives who, which, and that do not refer to one. Instead, they refer to the plural object of of. She is one of those people who go to sleep early. Clue! = those

14. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number, gender, and person.

15. Agreement in Number A plural antecedent takes a plural pronoun. Marla and Denise played their instruments. Our teachers posted their grades. A singular antecedent takes a singular pronoun. Jaden will bring his books. Abigail dislikes her math class.

16. Collective Nouns Use a singular pronoun to refer to a collective noun whose parts act as a single unit. The orchestra will give its final show. Use a plural pronoun to refer to a collective noun whose parts act individually. The orchestra have tuned up their instruments.

17. Pronouns Joined by Or or Nor A plural pronoun is used to refer to nouns and pronouns joined by and. James and Denise went to their houses. A pronoun that refers to nouns or pronouns joined by or or nor should agree with the noun or pronoun nearest to it. Neither the conductor nor the musicians have taken their places on stage.

18. Agreement in Gender The gender of a pronoun must be the same as the gender of its antecedent Feminine MasculineNeuter she, her, hers he, him, his it, its Common (unknown) he, him, his

19. Agreement in Person A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in person. First personWe can have our party on Friday. Second PersonYou can bring your board games. Third PersonMike will have his camera.