slides on subject verb agreement

2. SUBJECT NAME: SCIENTIFIC WRITING
COURSE CODE: 1403/1
INSTRUCTOR: SENIOR LECTURER, MS FARHANA
TABASSUM

3. SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT IN SCIENTIFIC
WRIITNG
• LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Upon completion of this lecture , students will be able
to use the basic rules of subject-verb agreement
while writing academically.

4. Subject–Verb Agreement Rules for
Scientific Writing
• In sentence composition, one of the most important
sets of writing guidelines pertains to the relationship
between a sentence’s subject(s) and verb(s).

5. Compound subjects connected by and
• When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or
more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use a
plural verb.
Patient safety and pain management are essential.
Both cohort participants and community surveillance
components were represented in the samples.

6. Singular subjects connected by or OR nor
• Two singular subjects connected by or OR nor require
a singular verb.
• The subjects will be either nouns or pronouns.
Motoko or Omaimah is the charge nurse.
You or I will play the last ball.

7. Appositives and expressions enclosed by em
dashes or parentheses
• Appositives and intervening explanatory expressions do not
affect subject–verb agreement.
The president and chief executive officer / is Dr. Louise
Silverman.
singular subject appositive singular verb
Several factors, including age and weight, may affect the
intervention’s outcome.
plural subject plural verb

8. APPOSITIVES-EXAMPLES
•My brother's car, a sporty red convertible with
bucket seats, is the envy of my friends.
•The chief surgeon, an expert in organ-
transplant procedures, took her nephew on a
hospital tour.
•A bold innovator, Wassily Kandinsky is

9. Subject Complements
• Subject–verb agreement is never affected by a subject
complement. (A subject complement follows a linking verb
and renames or describes the subject.)
The intervention / is regular sleep, diet, and
exercise.
 sing. subject sing. verb pl. subject complement

10. Either–or/neither/nor: Two singular subjects
• Two singular subjects connected by either/or or
neither/nor require a singular verb.
Neither Randa nor Yasmin is the charge nurse.
Either Ghada or Yoo Mi performs the procedure.

11. Either–or/neither/nor: Compound subject with “I” as
one of the subjects
• When “I” is one of the two subjects connected by either/or
or neither/nor, put “I” second and follow it with the singular
verb am.
Neither Isha nor I am refuting the findings.
• Or
Neither Kaihura nor I refute the findings.

12. Or, either/or, neither/nor, OR not only–but
also: Compound subject with singular and plural
subjects
• When or, either/or, neither/nor, or not only-but also
join the parts of a compound subject, the verb must
agree with the subject nearer to the verb:
Either this paediatric patient or her parents are
circumventing the procedure.
Not only the nurses but also the unit clerk prefers the
new schedule.

13. Or, either/or, neither/nor, OR not only–but also: Compound
subject with singular and plural subjects
• When a singular subject and plural subject are
connected by either/or or neither/nor, you may
consider putting the plural subject last and using a
plural verb.
Either Paul or the other surgical technicians prepare
the incision site.
Neither this test nor the others were positive.

14. Either and neither as subjects
• When either and neither are subjects, they always
take singular verbs.
Neither of the hospitalists is available.
Either of the students is capable of delivering the
presentation.

15. Collective nouns
• Collective nouns such as family, committee, panel,
team and staff may be either singular or plural
depending on their use in the sentence.
We examined how a family in crisis / adapts to
stress.
The staff / is in a meeting.
• In these examples, “family” and “staff” act as units.

16. Collective nouns
• Less commonly, the plural is used if the author wishes to
highlight the fact that the group comprises individual
members.
• In the following examples, family and health team are
acting as separate individuals.
My family have never agreed on treatment options.
The health team do not concur on a treatment plan.

17. Money and Time
• Use a singular verb with sums of money or periods of
time.
Ten thousand dollars is a high price.
Two weeks is the maximum for that care plan.

18. Singular nouns ending in –s requiring singular
verbs
• Plural nouns ending in -s: Nouns such as diabetes,
measles, civics, mathematics, and news require
singular verbs.
• Diabetes is a chronic disease marked by high levels of
sugar in the blood.
• Measles is an infection of the respiratory system
caused by a paramyxovirus.

19. Singular nouns ending in –s requiring plural verbs
• Nouns such as scissors, tweezers, trousers, and shears
require plural verbs. (Note that these instruments
and tools have two working parts.)
Cooley forceps are a type of atraumatic tissue
forceps.
Bandage scissors are included in the kit.

20. Plural nouns ending in –a
• Some nouns of foreign origin have plural forms that
end in a.
The data indicate that the H1N1 flu is contagious.
These phenomena are not new.

21. Non-essential phrases between the subject and the
verb
• (a) simple prepositions (e.g., besides, including, and
with); (b) complex prepositions (e.g., along with, as well
as, in addition to, and together with);
• and (c) accompanied by.

22. Non-essential phrases between the subject and the
verb
The participant, along with her family, completes the
survey.
Diet, as well as lack of exercise, contributes to
hypertension.

23. Singular indefinite pronouns (e.g., anyone, anybody,
each)
• Singular indefinite pronouns—such as anyone, anybody,
each, either, everybody, everyone, every one, neither,
nobody, someone, and somebody—require singular verbs.
Each of the respondents signs a consent form.
Every one of the students has passed the examination.

24. Plural indefinite pronouns (e.g., both, few, many,
others, several)
• Plural indefinite pronouns—such as both, few, many,
others, several—require plural verbs.
Both of the respondents have signed a patient
confidentiality form.
Many of the students have passed the examination.

25. Words that indicate portions
• Words that indicate portions include percentages (e.g.,
34%), fractions (a quarter of, three fifths), and quantifiers
(e.g., none, some, all).
• A quantifier is a type of adjective used to refer to an
amount or quantity( e.g., some, a few, several, almost all,
none, no, not any, few, not many).

26. Words that indicate portions
• If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb.
• If the object of the preposition is plural, use a plural verb.
Seventy-six percent of the solution remains.
Solution is the object of the preposition.
A quarter of the oximeters need recalibration.
Oximeters is the object of the preposition.

27. WORDS THAT INDICATE PORTIONS
• Other examples:
One third of the residents receive vaccinations.
All of the treatment is complete.
All of the supplies are replaced.
Some of the article has been cited.
Some of the injuries are serious.

29. MISSING VERBS
1.The cost of all these articles ________ risen.
2.The jury _______ divided in their opinions
3.That night every one of the boat's crew ______ down with
fever.
4.One or the other of those fellows _______ stolen the watch.
5.The strain of all the difficulties and vexations and anxieties
______ more than he could bear.
6.No news _________ good news.
7.The accountant and the cashier ______ absconded.
8.A good man and useful citizen ______ passed away.
9.The famous juggler and conjurer ________ too unwell to

30. REFERENCES
• https://boardcertifiededitingfornurses.com/subject-verb-agreement-
in-sentences/
• https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/definite-and-indefinite-articles
• https://www.scribbr.com/language-rules/subject-verb-agreement/
• https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/modulesvagr.htm
• https://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/subjectVerbAgree.asp
• https://www.hitbullseye.com/Subject-Verb-Agreement-Exercise.php

31. ANSWER KEY
• 1. is
• 2. has
• 3. were
• 4. was
• 5. has
• 6. was
• 7. is
• 8. have
• 9. has

32. THANK YOU