The document provides instruction and rules for subject-verb agreement in English. It defines subject-verb agreement and lists five rules: 1. Collective nouns are usually singular when regarded as a unit. 2. Use a singular verb with "the number of" and a plural verb with "a number of". 3. Words like "everybody", "nobody", and "somebody" take singular verbs. 4. "Neither" and "either" are singular and take singular verbs even when referring to two things. 5. Subjects joined by "and" take a plural verb. It also asks what an antecedent is in relation to a pronoun and

1. Sit at your desks with your
Independent Reading Book
Create a Reading Response in your
read reading journal to the section
of the book you are reading
now…you do not have to finish the
book in order to reflect on what is
occurring.

2. Thursday, November 27, 2014

3.  Define Subject-Verb Agreement
Review the Rules that help to define
what that means in spoken English.
Understand why this will assist us in
communicating better our feelings as
well as the actions around us.

4.  Basic Principle: The subject and the verb must agree in
number: both must be singular or both must be plural.
 Rule 1. Collective nouns are usually singular when
regarded as a unit.
 Ex: Our team has won every game this year.
 Ex: My family lives in Puebla.
 Rule 2. With the number of _______, use a singular verb.
 Ex: The number of people we need to hire is 13.
However
 With a number of _______ , use a plural verb.
 Ex: A number of people have written about this subject.

5.  Rule 3. When words like the following are used as
subjects, they take singular verb.
 Ex: Everybody knows the answer.
 Ex: Nobody speaks German here.
 Ex: Somebody was in the room.
 Ex: Every one of the cakes is gone.
 Ex: Each of the students is responsible for his homework.

6.  Rule 4. The pronouns neither and either are singular
when used as subjects and require singular verbs even
though they seem to be referring to two things.
 Ex. Neither of the Christmas trees is as pretty as it was last
year.
 In this example, it is the word “neither” that is the subject
of the sentence, not the plural word, “Christmas trees” so it
requires a singular noun.
 Rule 5. Subjects joined by “and” take a plural verb.
 Ex. Joan and Julia are workaholics.
 Ex. The lion and the tiger were thought to be the main
attraction at the zoo.

7.  Can anyone rememer what is an antecedent when
discussing a pronoun?
 Remember that a pronoun agrees with its antecedent in
number and gender.
 If the pronoun takes the place of a singular noun, then you
have to use a singular pronoun.