1. Grammar Subject and Verb Agreement

2. Subject and Predicate Agreement  In English sentences, subjects and predicate have to agree in number and person. But in some cases one might make mistakes in the agreement. Hopefully, by doing more exercises, one may develop a good sense of subject and predicate agreement.

3. Subject and Predicate Agreement  Subjects and verbs have to agree with each other in number. It is not acceptable to mix a plural subject with a singular verb or vice versa. Singular subjects must be paired with singular verbs and plural subjects must be paired with plural verb. It is important to be certain that you are selecting the correct word in the sentence as the subject. Whenever you are dealing with sentences that have prepositional phrases, eliminate the phrases before choosing the subject. Sentences that have inverted word order or begin with here or there often have the subject following the verb rather than in front of the verb. Once again look carefully before selecting the subject to agree with the verb.

4. Subject and Predicate Agreement  In addition to these problems, compound subjects, indefinite pronouns, and collective nouns all present possible agreement problems. Compound subjects joined with and are plural while subjects joined by or or nor have a verb that agrees with the subject closest to the verb. Indefinite pronouns are always singular and collective pronouns are usually singular. Collective nouns can be plural when all the members of the collective unit are functioning as individuals rather than as one unit.

5. Task 1 Fill in the blanks with the proper forms of the verbs  Choose the correct form of the verb in the brackets. 1. Twenty miles (seem, seems) like a long walk to people who have never been to the countryside. 2. Their manager is a good researcher who (spends, spend) a great amount of time surfing the Web for information 3. All the students in the class except Xiao Li (has, have) passed the final examination. 4. Knowing how to think clearly and to speak correctly (give, gives) the speaker confidence. 5. The number of spelling mistakes in this book ( are, is) surprising.

6. Task 1 Fill in the blanks with the proper forms of the verbs  6. My sister or my brother (is, are) likely to study in the library in the afternoon. 7. John, together with his friends, (goes, go) to play basketball every Sunday afternoon. 8. Many a student (knows, know) that the Internet is a good source of information. 9. When I was studying at high school, mathematics (were, was) the most difficult subject for me. 10.There (is, are) a radio, a clock and several books on the table.  Answer: 1.seems 2. spends 3.have 4. gives 5.is 6.is 7.goes 8.knows 9.was 10.is

7. Task 2 Correct the mistake in agreement between s-p  1. What the Internet enable us to do is not only chat with unknown friends. 2. There is a great many supermarkets in this modern city. 3. How students learn to get along with others in an organization are of more practical use in their future job. 4. This book on the importance of information in the modern world seem very interesting. 5. It is true that a person who has many friends enjoy a happy life.

8. Task 2 Correct the mistake in agreement between s-p  6. More and more people have obtained higher degrees in their special fields, and their qualifications is rapidly increasing. 7. The rest of his money have been spent on books for his research. 8. The individual Chinese are really kind and friendly to foreign visitors. 9. Much information about the ancient centuries have been available with the help of the books. 10. Studying in the college make it possible for students to live with and learn from other students.  Answer: 1. (enable---enables) 2. (is---are) 3.are---is 4. seem---seems 5.enjoy---enjoys 6. is---are 7.have---has 8.are---is 9.have---has 10.make---makes

9. Tasks 3 There are six mistakes in subject and predicate agreement in the following passage. Underline the incorrect verb and put the correct forms in the blanks to the left of the passage.

10.  The advance of the Internet have made it possible for people to enjoy a wonderful world. We can safely say that the Internet has become part of people’s daily life in the modern world. One of the advantages are that we can get a lot of information through the Internet. For example, the Internet is widely used by students in the world. Besides chatting and computer games, the Internet gives the chance for students to learn many things.

11. (continue)  Surely, what the Internet have given us is far more than a library. Many young students think that the Internet help them find out what is cool in fashion or music. Many a student find it a good way to make friends from the Internet and communicate with family and relatives by e-mail. Anyway, our lives depends so much on the Internet that we must make the best use of it.