Subject/Verb Agreement

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Subject/Verb Agreement
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• Singular subjects take singular verbs.
• Singular verbs have an s on the end of them.
• Think about the word singularit has an s in
  it, so the verb that goes with it ends in an s.
• Plural subjects take plural verbs
• Plural verbs are s-less on the end of them.
• Plural has no s in it, so keep away from s on
  the verb.

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• There are certain words that will ALWAYS be
  considered singular subjects

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Any way you connect these, the verb is singular!

• Any
• Every
• No
• Some

• Body
• One
• Thing

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• Any
• Every
• No
• Some

• Body
• One
• Thing

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• Any
• Every
• No
• Some

• Body
• One
• Thing

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• Any
• Every
• No
• Some

• Body
• One
• Thing

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• Any
• Every
• No
• Some

• Body
• One
• Thing

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• Any
• Every
• No
• Some

• Body
• One
• Thing

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Some Additional Singular Subjects

• Each
• Either
• Neither
• One

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• There are certain words that will ALWAYS be
  considered plural subjects

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The Following are ALWAYS Plural

• Both
• Many
• Few
• Several

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Some subjects can be either singular or plural

• All
• Any
• More
• Most
• None
• Some

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How do you know which is which?

• Look at the sentence to see what it refers to.
• Some of the test (is/are) hard.
• Some of the questions (is/are) hard.
• Even though questions cannot be your subject
  (because it is in a prepositional phrase), it can
  help you determine which verb to pick.

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• Some of the test is hard.
• Some refers to the singular noun test. So,
  because you are talking about how one particular
  test is hard, you use a singular verb.
• Some of the questions are hard.
• Some refers to the plural noun questions. So,
  because you are talking about how multiple
  questions are hard, you use a plural verb (-s
  less)

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Compound subjects

• A compound subject consists of two or more
  subjects that are joined by a conjunction
  (FANBOYS) and have the same verb.

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and

• When you have two subjects that are joined by
  and, generally you have a plural verb (-s
  less).
• Example
• George Lucas and Steven Spielberg make movies.
• Rhyme, rhythm, and imagery help poets express
  their feelings.

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or and nor

• When subjects are joined by or or nor they
  take a singular verb.
• Plural subjects joined by or or nor take
  plural verbs.
• Example
• After dinner, either Anne or Tony loads the
  dishwasher.
• Neither dogs nor cats love the rain.

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What to do when it is a singular and plural
subject?

• When you have a singular subject and a plural
  subject AND you are trying to connect the two
  with or or nor, then you use the subject that
  is closest to the verb to determine whether it is
  singular or plural.

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Examples

• Neither the children nor their mother was ready
  for the trip.
• Since mother is closest to the verb (and there is
  only one mother), the verb is singular
• Neither the mother nor her children were ready
  for the trip.
• Since children is closest to the verb (and there
  are multiple children), the verb is plural.

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Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
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Definition

• Antecedent
• The word that the pronoun usually refers to is
  called an antecedent.

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What must it do?

• A pronoun should agree in number and gender with
  its antecedent
• A pronoun that refers to one person, place or
  thing is singular
• Daniel Defoe wrote his first book at age
  fifty-nine.
• The elephant is a long-lived animal. It grows
  its tusks at maturity.

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• A pronoun that refers to multiple people, places
  and things are plural.
• Reliable cars make their owners happy.
• We walk our dogs daily.

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Gender of pronouns
Masculine Feminine Neuter
He She It
Him Her It
His Hers Its
Himself Herself itself
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• Often, when the antecedent of a personal pronoun
  is ANOTHER pronoun, the rest of the sentence will
  help figure out what the gender is.
• One of the women designs her own costumes.
• Her is the pronoun, one is the antecedent, and
  woman helps us know it is feminine.

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• Remember the diagram for subject verb agreement?

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• Body
• One
• Thing

• Any
• Every
• No
• Some

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• The rule for subject/verb agreement is the same
  for pronoun antecedent agreement.
• If one of these pronouns is the antecedent, the
  pronoun is always singular.

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• Either of the girls can bring her CD player.
• Neither of the workmen forgot his tool belt.
• Someone left his or her hat on the field.

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• Both, few, many, and several are always plural.
• Both of the sisters recited their lines.
• Few of the animals willingly leave their natural
  habitat.

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• All, any, more, most, none, and some are singular
  and plural depending on their meaning.
• All of the water has melted it is a puddle on
  the table. (Singular)
• All of the streams are full they are
  overflowing. (Plural)

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• Two or more antecedents connected by or or
  nor are singular.
• Neither Richard nor Bob distinguished himself in
  the finals
• Paula or Janet will present her views on the
  subject.

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• Use a plural pronoun to refer to two or more
  antecedents joined by and.
• Mona and Janet left early because they had a
  curfew.
• Mom and dad celebrated their anniversary
  yesterday.

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Practice!

• Ahmad read mystery stories every night.
• Ahmad's read
• Ahmad reads
• Ahmads' read
• Ahmad reading

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• Which is correct?
• Standing at the front of the room was my friends.
  
• Standing at the front of the room were my
  friends.

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• The adults in our neighborhood had a meeting to
  ____ on a sidewalk design.
• decide
• decides

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• Anyone can get __ name in the news.
• None of the checks were cashed___ finally
  expired.
• The chef cut ___ on the thumb while he was
  peeling carrots.
• A person should insure ____ valuables.
• The family has ___ eye on a new house.
• The code breakers shared ___ secrets

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• My mother and her sister took ___ vacation
  together.
• Either Mike or John wears a patch over ___ eye.
• All are welcome ___ just need to call for
  directions to the party.
• Neither documentaries nor the news is given
  enough money by ___ network.
• San Diego and San Jose get ___ names from
  Spanish.