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EFL
- 1. SUBJECT &VERB AGREEMENT
- 2. Remember, only thesubject affects the verb! Subjects and verbs must agree in number. Prepositional phrases between the subject and verb usually do not affect agreement. when sentences start with “there” or “here,” the subject will always be placed after the verb. If two subjects are joined by and , they typically require a plural verb form. The verb is singular if the two subjects separated by and refer to the same person or thing. If the words each, every, or no come before the subject, the verb is singular. If the subjects are both singular and are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or , and not only/but also the verb is singular. The singular verb form is usually used for units of measurement .
- 3. If the subjects are both plural and are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or , and not only/but also , the verb is plural. If one subject is singular and one plural and the words are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or , and not only/but also , you use the verb form of the subject that is nearest the verb. Indefinite pronouns typically take singular verbs. Except for the pronouns ( few, many, several, both ) that always take the plural form. When gerunds are used as the subject of a sentence they take the singular verb form of the verb, but when they are linked by and they take the plural form . Collective nouns like herd, senate, class, crowd, etc. usually take a singular verb form.
- 4. Two subject nounsjoined by and The children (plural) are at the part y. The president is at the party. The president and the children (plural) are at the party.
- 5.
Editor's Notes
- #3 What is subject and verb agreement? Understanding the basics:- Subjects and verbs must AGREE with one another in number (singular or plural). Thus, if a subject is singular, its verb must also be singular; if a subject is plural, its verb must also be plural. In the present tense, nouns and verbs form plurals in opposite ways: nouns ADD an s to the singular form; verbs REMOVE the s from the singular form. Example : Singular -The dog chases the cat. Plural – The dogs chase the cat. These agreement rules do not apply to verbs used in the simple past tense without any helping verbs. Singular – The student talked to the teacher. Plural – The Students talked to the teacher. The agreement rules do, however, apply to the following helping verbs when they are used with a main verb: is-are , was-were , has-have , does-do . Example: The student has talked to the teacher. The students have talked to the teacher. The girl has been talking to me. The girls have been talking to me. The agreement rules do not apply to has-have when used as the SECOND helping verb in a pair. Examples helping verb remains the same The girl could have talked to me. The girls could have talked to me. The subject-verb agreement rules apply to all personal pronouns except I and you , which, although SINGULAR, require PLURAL forms of verbs. Examples John talks to Mary We talk to Mary I talk to Mary
- #4 The remainder of this unit deals with some more advanced subject-verb agreement rules and with exceptions to the original subject-verb agreement rule.