Subject-Verb Agreement -- portions

1
Subject-Verb Agreement -- portions

• With words that indicate portionspercent,
  fraction, part, majority, some, all, none,
  remainder, and so forth look at the noun in your
  of phrase (object of the preposition) to
  determine whether to use a singular or plural
  verb. If the object of the preposition is
  singular, use a singular verb. If the object of
  the preposition is plural, use a plural verb.
• Examples
• Fifty percent of the pie has disappeared.
• Pie is the object of the preposition of.
• Fifty percent of the pies have disappeared.
• Pies is the object of the preposition of.
• One-third of the city is unemployed.
• One-third of the people are unemployed.
• NOTE Hyphenate all spelled-out fractions.

2
Subject-Verb Agreement -- portions

• All of the pie _____ gone.
• All of the pies _____ gone.
• Some of the pie _____ missing.
• Some of the pies _____ missing.
• One-third of the garbage _____ picked up.
• One-third of the sentences _____ punctuated
  correctly.
• Of all her books, none _____ sold as well as the
  first one

is
are
is
are
is
are
have
3
Subject-Verb Agreement portions Practice

• Write three pair of sentences using the same
  beginning but yielding verbs of different
  plurality
• EX
• Most of the puppies are gassy.
• Most of the puppy is brown.

4
Subject-Verb Agreement singular indefinite
pronouns

• The words each, each one, every one, either,
  neither, everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone,
  nobody, somebody, someone, and no one are
  singular and require a singular verb.
• Ex
• Each of these hot dogs is juicy.
• Everybody knows Mr. Jones.
• Neither of them is available to speak right now.
• Either of us is capable of doing the job.

5
Subject-Verb Agreement singular indefinite
pronouns

• Everyone in the hallway _____ slowly (to walk)

• Everyone in the hallway walks slowly (to walk)

• Neither of the students ________ his or her
  homework (to forget)

• Neither of the students forgets his or her
  homework (to forget)

• Each of the crocodiles ______ fake tears (to
  cry)

• Each of the crocodiles cries fake tears (to cry)

6
Subject-Verb Agreement singular indefinite
pronouns

• Write five sentences using the indefinite
  pronouns and present tense verbs.

7
S/V Agreement Intervening Phrases

• Do not be misled by a phrase that comes between
  the subject and the verb. The verb agrees with
  the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the
  phrase.
• EX
• One of the boxes is open.
• The people who listen to that music are few.
• The team captain, as well as his players, is
  anxious.
• The book, including all the chapters in the first
  section, is boring.
• The woman with all the dogs walks down my street.

8
S/V Agreement Intervening Phrases
at the local hospital
The doctors
The doctors

• 
  __________ to find a cure for the deadly
  infection that has appeared among the regions
  population. (To race)
• ,
  __________ the hospital
  demanding immediate treatment. (To storm)
• ,
  
  __________ full to bursting with corpses.
  (To be)
• 
  __________ up his inventory to
  help people during the time of crisis. (To open)

race
who are scared beyond rational thought,
The locals
The locals
storm
which is not
designed to handle this many deaths at once,
The county morgue
The county morgue
is
The owner
The owner
of the local chain of grocery stores
opens
9
S/V Agreement Intervening Phrases

• Practice Write five sentences with phrases that
  intervene between the subject and the verb. The
  sentences should be written in PRESENT tense.

10
Subject/verb Agreement -- And

• When the subject of a sentence is composed of two
  or more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use
  a plural verb.
• She and her cow are at the fair.

11
Subject/verb Agreement -- And

• 1. He and I _________ swimming. (To hate)
• 2. She and he __________ in the park in the
  afternoons. (To walk)
• 3. John and his father __________ to get a puppy
  for Christmas. (To want)
• 4. Umkulthoum and her sister __________ kittens.
  (To kill)
• 5. Umkulthoum and her sister __________
  sociopaths. (To be)

hate
walk
want
kill
are
12
Subject/verb Agreement Or/Nor

• When a compound subject contains nouns or
  pronouns joined by or or nor, the verb should
  agree with the part of the subject that is nearer
  the verb.
• The boy or his friends run every day.
• His friends or the boy runs every day.

13
Subject/verb Agreement or/nor
hates

• Either you or he _________ swimming. (To hate)
• Neither she nor we __________ in the park in the
  afternoons. (To walk)
• John or his father __________ to get a puppy for
  Christmas. (To want)
• Umkulthoum or her sisters __________ kittens. (To
  kill)
• Umkulthoum or her sister __________ sociopathic.
  (To be)

walk
wants
kill
is
14
Subject/verb Agreement And/Or/Nor Practice

• Write three (present tense) sentence pairs (one
  wrong version, one correct version) using and
  to join subjects of a sentence.
• Write three (present tense) sentence pairs (one
  wrong version, one correct version) using or or
  nor to join subjects of a sentence.

15
Subject/Verb Agreement There

• In sentences beginning with there is or there
  are, the subject follows the verb. Since there is
  not the subject, the verb agrees with what
  follows.
• There are many questions.
• There is a question.

16
Subject/Verb Agreement There

• There ______ an explosion at the plant. (To be)
• There _______ many injuries as a result. (To be)
• There ______ no reason for you to be hired. (To
  exist)
• There ______ several varieties of dog. (To exist)

is/was
are/were
exists
exist
17
Subject/Verb Agreement There

• Write three (present tense) sentence pairs (one
  wrong version, one correct version) beginning
  with the word there.