3. A word is Singular in number if it
refers to one person or thing.
4. A word is Plural if it refers to more
than one person or thing.
5. RULE #1: THE SUBJECT AND VERB
OF A SENTENCE MUST AGREE IN
NUMBER.
• If the subject of a sentence is singular,
its verb must also be singular.
The plays golf.
SUBJECT VERB
6. • If a subject is plural, then its verb must
also be plural.
The play with their thumbs.
SUBJECT VERB
7. EXAMPLES: SINGULAR PLURAL
• Rachel understands the process very well.
• The students understand the process very
well.
• Jared calls his manager every day.
• The employees call their manager every day.
• Kate has been practicing every day.
• The girls have been practicing every day.
8. PRACTICE YOUR SKILL
1. In some cultures, riddles (is, are) more than child’s
play.
2.In fact, they (represent, represents) an art form.
3. In Greek mythology, a monster known as the Sphinx
(destroy, destroys) passers by who fail to answer her
riddle.
4. Her riddle (is, are) : “What in the morning goes on four
feet, at noon on two, and in the evening on three?”
5. The Greek hero Oedipus (was, were) able to give the
right answer: “Man, who in childhood creeps, in
manhood walks upright, and in old age uses a cane.”
9. 6. In addition, the Anglo-Saxons (was, were) fond of
riddles as a pastime
7.A collection of poems written down around A.D. 975,
the Exeter Book, (contain, contains) a set of ninety-
five riddles.
8.Unfortunately, the book (offer, offers) no solutions to
its readers for the riddles.
9. However, clever readers (have, has) already
guessed most of the answers.
10.The riddles (describe, describes) items such as a
sword, a shield, a swan, the moon, and ice.
10. RULE #2: A VERB AGREES ONLY
WITH ITS SUBJECT
• The number of the subject (singular or
plural) is not changed by words that come
between the subject and the verb.
The with roses looks
like your brother.
11. • The words with, together with, along with,
as well as, and in addition to are
prepositions.
The country singer, along with his
band, has been on tour for three
months.
12. EXAMPLES:
• The speakers on the car stereo are not
working properly.
• The Prime Minister, together with her top
aides, is visiting the United Nations.
• The plant with purple blossoms is an aster.
• That red-haired lady in the fur hat lives
across the street.
13. PRACTICE YOUR SKILLS
1. Words that are derived from a person’s name (is, are) called
eponyms.
2. Many names for articles of clothing (is, are) eponyms.
3. Jules Leotard, as well as the Earl of Cardigan, (is, are)
famous because of an article of clothing.
4. The cardigan, a sweater with a front opening lined with
buttons, (get, gets) its name from the Earl of Cardigan, a
nineteenth-century British general.
5. The one-piece garment worn by performers today (was,
were) invented by Jules Loetard, a nineteenth-century
acrobat.
14. 6. In addition, our name for slices of bread with a filling (is, are)
an eponym.
7. This word for one of the world’s most common foods (come,
comes) from the eighteenth-century English nobleman, John
Montagu – also known as the fourth Earl of Sandwich.
8. The graham cracker, as well as the sandwich, (has, have) its
origin in a person’s name.
9. This cracker, made from whole wheat flour and other
wholesome ingredients, (was, were) the brainchild of
vegetarian minister, Sylvester Graham.
10.Graham, along with his disciples, (was, were) an early
believer in natural foods, now widely recommended by
nutritionist and other health experts.
