Writing Effectively

Writing Effectively Avoiding Errors in Subject-Verb and Pronoun Antecedent Agreement

Getting Sentence Parts to Agree Avoiding The Most Common Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement

Ribbons of sinewy, pulsating highways weave throughout Austin, the heart of Travis County. A verb must always agree in number (singular or plural) with its subject. In the sentence above, ‘ribbons’ is the subject and ‘weave’ is the verb. Generally, singular verbs end in ‘s’; plural verbs do not.

The professor, together with her precocious young scholars, is tackling the unnerving subject of grammar with unflappable enthusiasm and aplomb.” Don’t be confused by words that come between the subject and the verb. While the context of the sentence might suggest a plural subject, look only to the word ‘professor’ as the subject of the sentence, not ‘scholars.’

Neither inadequate resources nor a dearth of creativity prevents our hero from pursuing his quest.” For compound subjects joined by ‘or’ or ‘nor,’ the verb should agree in number with the subject closest to it. Inadequate resources prevent. A dearth of creativity prevents. Remember: compound subjects joined by and require a plural verb. Alacrity and driveare requisite characteristics of a capable grammarian, not intellect alone.

There are many spirited students at James Bowie High School, and there is present among them a yearning to excel. Watch out for so-called delayed subjects when the verb comes before the subject in a sentence. Spirited studentsare at JBHS, and a yearning to excel is present among them.

If a sentence contains a form of the verb to be (think: is, are, was or were) and a noun precedes and follows that verb, the verb must agree with the noun that comes before the verb (the subject), not the complement (the noun coming after the verb). • The cause of his malaise was the slings and arrows of his outrageous fortune. • The slings and arrows of his outrageous fortune were the cause of his malaise.

The committee leads the assembly as a unified force for positive change, but the committee advocate for many different ways to effect that change. Always consider the context of the sentence to ensure that collective nouns and their verbs agree. Collective nouns, like faculty, committee, team, congress, species, crowd, army, pair or squad, must be paired with singular verbs when they refer to a group acting as a unit, but when they refer to the members of the group acting individually, the verbs paired with those collective nouns must be plural.

Agreement in the Case of Indefinite Pronouns Some indefinite pronouns are singular and require singular verbs. Some indefinite pronouns are always plural.

Singular Indefinite Pronouns • “To each his own” • Everyone is welcome. • Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. • Neither answer is correct. • Either opinion is ludicrous.

Plural Indefinite Pronouns • Severalknow how this process works. • Manyare chosen; few succeed. • Bothare absurd.

Some indefinite pronouns can be singular or plural. These pronouns are singular if the nouns that are the objects of the prepositional phrases modifying them are singular. They are plural if the noun/objects are plural.

Mostof the ruckuswas caused by the unruly mob. Ruckus—a singular noun—is the object of the proposition of; therefore, most is considered to be singular and takes the singular past tense form of the verb to beor was.

Someof the mistakeswere the result of inadvertent error. Mistakes—a plural noun—is the object of the proposition of; therefore, some is considered to be plural and takes the plural past tense form of the verb to beor were.

One of the most difficult grammatical concepts to grasp is the rule for relative pronouns, and this is one of the concepts that are the most challenging for newly minted grammarians. Relative pronouns are pronouns like who, which, and that. When a relative pronoun is used as the subject of a clause, the number of the verb must agree with the antecedent of the pronoun. The antecedent is the word to which the pronoun refers. In the sentence above, the clause ‘that are the most challenging for newly minted grammarians’ is a clause modifying the word concepts, and the antecedent of the relative pronoun that is the word concepts.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Remember: the antecedent is the word to which the pronoun refers. Earnest gave his best effort to the task, while Grace brought her patience.

Use a singular pronoun to refer to these antecedents. Neither of the students dislikes his or her professor. Everybody has his or her own ideas of what constitutes the ‘good life.’ A person must follow his or her unique path through life.

Neither the trapeze artists nor the acrobat was daunted by the alarming height from which she was required to descend. Neither the manager nor the employees were vexed by the throng of customers clamoring for their attention. If one of the antecedents joined by orornor is singular and the other is plural, the pronoun should agree with the antecedent closest to it.

Writing Effectively