|
Achieving
Subject-Verb Agreement
Factors
for Agreement:
Every
subject, either noun or pronoun, has the qualities of person and number.
(See pronoun-noun agreement for explanation of the terms).
The calvary
(singular in the 3rd person) makes (singular in the 3rd
person) plans.
Do you
(2nd person, singular) see (2nd person, singular) them?
They
(3rd
person, plural) are 3rd person, plural) numerous!
Narrowing
the Scope:
Often what causes
confusion when attempting to make subjects and verbs agree, is the words
that distance the subject from the verb and the mess of words that surround
these two vital words.
Many of the
brightest students in Ms. Burger's third
period English class read the material before class.
At first glance,
you might be tempted to say that students is the subject and that read
it the verb, but look again!
To find the
subject and verb requires a bit of elimination of extra words.
-
Eliminate all prepositional
phrases first.
Many
of the brightest students in Ms. Burger's
third period English class read the material before
class.
Here, you've
been left with the subject, verb, and direct object.
-
Sometimes, it's
just not that easy to dig out the subject and verb. Modifiers (adjectives
and adverbs) pile onto the mess, so be sure to eliminate them as well.
Her
various button down sweaters were thoroughly
ruined.
-
"Who", "Which",
and "That" clauses often confound your search as well. Eliminate those
clauses.
The
statute that was stolen was priceless.
Compound
Subjects & Agreement:
Compound
subjects require plural verbs:
Baseball
and football are my favorite sports.
Zhang
and I walk to
school
Compounds
& the Singular:
"Each"
or "Every" placed before a compound subject refers to the individual parts
of the compound, and therefore, takes a single verb:
Each boy
and girl is present.
Every
fork and spoon has its own separate slot in the drawer.
Names,
titles, or descriptive phrases that are compound but refer to only one
object are exceptions:
Milk
and cookies is a great midnight snack.
Pride
and Prejudice is a good novel.
(Most
names of written works (plays, poems, musicals, novels, short stories,
etc... usually require the singular form of the verb.)
|
