Subject-Verb Agreement

1. Subject-Verb Agreement Requires Balance Created by Georgia Clarkson Smith UWF Writing Lab Assistant 2009 Revised June 14, 2010, by Mamie Hixon, Writing Lab Director

2. Making Subjects and Verbs Agree • Singular Subject = Singular Verb • Plural Subject = Plural Verb Tip: Plural Verbs look singular (they have NO “s”). Singular Verbs look plural (they DO have an “s”).

3. Balance Your Singulars and Plurals The film about the forties is . . . The films of the forties are . . . Singular Subject> verb with an s. Plural Subject> verb with Nos.

4. Balanced Sentences • “This presentationis boring”…Singular subject = Singular Verb • “Perhaps, not all of the presentationsare boring”…Plural Subject = Plural Verb • Sounds Easy… Right?

5. Well, it gets a little complicated…

6. Key Rules to Subject-Verb Agreement

7. Look Out For… 1. “And” 2. “Or” and “Nor” 3. “Doesn’t” and “Don’t” 4. Prepositional Phrases and “Disruptive” Word Groups 5. Indefinite Pronouns 6. Singular Nouns That “Look” Plural 7. Time, weight, distance, and Money 8. Pairs 9. “Here” and “There” 10. “It” 11. Collective Nouns

8. When several subjects are connected by AND, use a PLURAL verb. The complaints and questions are frustrating. “AND”

9. “Or” & “Nor” • When singular nouns or pronouns are connected by OR or NOR, use a SINGULAR verb. • Morgan or Jeniis scheduled to tutor today.

10. “Either . . . Or” and “Neither . . . Nor” • When singular nouns or pronouns are connected by EITHER…OR or NEITHER…NOR, use a SINGULAR verb. • Neither the airline nor the flight attendantis happy.

11. The rules get weirder… • When a compound subject contains both a singular AND a plural noun or pronoun joined by OR or NOR, the verb should agree with the subject that is CLOSER to the verb.

12. The host orher guests are expected to leave the tip. • The guests orthe host is expected to leave the tip. • Tip: Just cover the “confusing” part of the sentence with your hand to simplify.

13. “Doesn’t” & “Don’t” • Doesn’t = Does not….this is a singular verb form. • Don’t = Do not…this is a plural verb form.

14. The employeedoes not (doesn’t) agree with the decision. • The employeesdo not (don’t) agree with the decision. • Tip: Remember that though your verb phrase is “do like” OR “does like,” make your subject agree with the first verb in the phrase: “do” OR “does.” This helping verb is where we add or remove the “s” for balance. • Exceptions to this rule occur with “I” and “you.” With these pronouns, “do,” “do not,” OR “don’t” should be used.

15. So why all the Confusion?... • Words between the subject and the verb are what trip up many people. • Physics, along with calculus and chemistry, make up the “Monster Trio” of the sciences. • “Along with calculus and chemistry” is a prepositional phrase between the subject “Physics” and the verb “make.” • Ignore the prepositional phrase… “Physics makes up the ‘Monster Trio.’”

16. Disruptive Word Groups • Do not be misled by “disruptive” word groups that come between the subject and the verb. • Neither of them were wearing a seatbelt. • Simply ignore the “disruptive” phrase, or reduce the sentence to simplest form. • Neither of them was wearing a seatbelt.

17. The peoplewho 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. • Every residentin three counties was affected by the storm.

18. Indefinite Pronouns…Oh MY! • each, one, each one, either, neither, everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody, somebody, someone, and no one are SINGULAR. • Use a singular verb.

19. Each of these students is receiving a trophy. • Everybodyloves a winner. • Neither of the teams has ever won a championship game. • Either answeris correct. • Someoneappreciates your efforts. • Tip: All of these indefinite pronouns are in fact referring to a SINGLE (or potentially single) body or item. This is why they require a singular verb.

20. Nouns like civics, economics, AIDS, and news require singular verbs though the nouns themselves end in “s” and look plural. • The newsis on at six. • Home economicsinvolves more than sewing and cooking. • AIDSis an epidemic. Tip: These words imply a unified group, body or collection of information or study…this is why they are singular .

21. DOLLARS $$$ • When referring to an amount of money, use a singular verb. • When referring to physical dollars themselves, use a plural verb. • One hundred dollars is, unfortunately, not a lot of money. • Dollarsare the national currency.

22. Time, Distance & Weight. -Twenty milesis quite a distance to run daily. -Kilometersare a part of the metric system. -Five hundred poundsis heavy. -Poundsare an accurate measurement of weight.

23. Things With 2 Parts • Like scissors, pants, eye glasses, tweezers… • Plural Verbs. • The safety scissorsare ironically razor sharp. • Her pantsare outrageously tight.

24. “Here” & “There” • There’s several brush fires in California. • There are several brush fires in California. • Here’s my reasons for quitting. • Here are my reasons for quitting. • Neither “there” nor “here” can serve as the subject of a sentence. When these words open a sentence, look for the subject to follow the verb.

25. Collective Nouns • Nouns that include or imply more than one person but act as a unified group. • group, team, class, family, committee, herd, jury, faculty

26. If the persons in this collective noun are working together, or are being referred to as a whole, they take a singular verb. • The teamruns during practice. • My familygoes to church.

27. Collective nouns call for plural verbs when the group members are not acting together, or when you are referring to individual effort within the group. • The juryhas reached a verdict. • The juryhave left the courthouse in separate cars. • The crewis making its plans. • The creware preparing the ship. (This sentence refers to the individual efforts of each member)

28. References The OWL at Purdue http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/599/01/ The Capital Community College Foundation http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sv_agr.htm Red River College of Arts and Sciences http://languagearts.pppst.com/subject-verb-agreement.html

29. Gerunds as Subjects • Regretting your mistakesis often useless. • Finding honest people seems difficult. • Ignore the object of the gerund and make your verb agree with the singular gerunds “regretting” and “finding.”

30. Inclusion/Exclusion Rule • EXCLUSION – use a singular verb: He is the only one of his classmates who drinks or smokes. • INCLUSION – use a plural verb: He is one of the millions of Americans who drink.

31. Consult a dictionary and/or follow your professor’s preference for Foreign Nouns as Subjects • SINGULAR PLURAL criterion criteria medium media datum data • The media are not invited. • No new data are available.