GRAMMAR RULES

GRAMMAR RULES

 

SUBJECT – VERB AGREEMENT

Basic Principle: Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs. My brother is a nutritionist. My sisters are mathematicians.

See the section on Plurals for additional help with subject-verb agreement.

The indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always singular and, therefore, require singular verbs.

• Everyone has done his or her homework.
• Somebody has left her purse.

Some indefinite pronouns — such as all, some — are singular or plural depending on what they're referring to. (Is the thing referred to countable or not?) Be careful choosing a verb to accompany such pronouns.

• Some of the beads are missing.
• Some of the water is gone.

On the other hand, there is one indefinite pronoun, none, that can be either singular or plural; it often doesn't matter whether you use a singular or a plural verb — unless something else in the sentence determines its number. (Writers generally think of none as meaning not any and will choose a plural verb, as in "None of the engines are working," but when something else makes us regard none as meaning not one, we want a singular verb, as in "None of the food is fresh.")

• None of you claims responsibility for this incident?
• None of you claim responsibility for this incident?
• None of the students have done their homework. (In this last example, the word their precludes the use of the singular verb.

Some indefinite pronouns are particularly troublesome Everyone and everybody (listed above, also) certainly feel like more than one person and, therefore, students are sometimes tempted to use a plural verb with them. They are always singular, though. Each is often followed by a prepositional phrase ending in a plural word (Each of the cars), thus confusing the verb choice. Each, too, is always singular and requires a singular verb. Everyone has finished his or her homework.

You would always say, "Everybody is here." This means that the word is singular and nothing will change that.

Each of the students is responsible for doing his or her work in the library.

Don't let the word "students" confuse you; the subject is each and each is always singular — Each is responsible.

Phrases such as together with, as well as, and along with are not the same as and. The phrase introduced by as well as or along with will modify the earlier word (mayor in this case), but it does not compound the subjects (as the word and would do).

• The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison.
• The mayor and his brothers are going to jail.

The pronouns neither and either are singular and require singular verbs even though they seem to be referring, in a sense, to two things.

• Neither of the two traffic lights is working.
• Which shirt do you want for Christmas? Either is fine with me.

In informal writing, neither and either sometimes take a plural verb when these pronouns are followed by a prepositional phrase beginning with of. This is particularly true of interrogative constructions: "Have either of you two clowns read the assignment?" "Are either of you taking this seriously?" Burchfield calls this "a clash between notional and actual agreement."*

The conjunction or does not conjoin (as and does): when nor or or is used the subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb. Whether the subject comes before or after the verb doesn't matter; the proximity determines the number.

• Either my father or my brothers are going to sell the house.
• Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house.
• Are either my brothers or my father responsible?
• Is either my father or my brothers responsible?

Because a sentence like "Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house" sounds peculiar, it is probably a good idea to put the plural subject closer to the verb whenever that is possible.

The words there and here are never subjects.

• There are two reasons [plural subject] for this.
• There is no reason for this.
• Here are two apples.

With these constructions (called expletive constructions), the subject follows the verb but still determines the number of the verb.

Verbs in the present tense for third-person, singular subjects (he, she, it and anything those words can stand for) have s-endings. Other verbs do not add s-endings.

He loves and she loves and they love_ and . . . .

Sometimes modifiers will get betwen a subject and its verb, but these modifiers must not confuse the agreement between the subject and its verb.

The mayor, who has been convicted along with his four brothers on four counts of various crimes but who also seems, like a cat, to have several political lives, is finally going to jail.

Sometimes nouns take weird forms and can fool us into thinking they're plural when they're really singular and vice-versa. Consult the section on the Plural Forms of Nouns and the section on Collective Nouns for additional help. Words such as glasses, pants, pliers, and scissors are regarded as plural (and require plural verbs) unless they're preceded the phrase pair of (in which case the word pair becomes the subject).

• My glasses were on the bed.
• My pants were torn.
• A pair of plaid trousers is in the closet.

Some words end in -s and appear to be plural but are really singular and require singular verbs.

• The news from the front is bad.
• Measles is a dangerous disease for pregnant women.

On the other hand, some words ending in -s refer to a single thing but are nonetheless plural and require a plural verb.

• My assets were wiped out in the depression.
• The average worker's earnings have gone up dramatically.
• Our thanks go to the workers who supported the union.

The names of sports teams that do not end in "s" will take a plural verb: the Miami Heat have been looking … , The Connecticut Sun are hoping that new talent … . See the section on plurals for help with this problem.

Fractional expressions such as half of, a part of, a percentage of, a majority of are sometimes singular and sometimes plural, depending on the meaning. (The same is true, of course, when all, any, more, most and some act as subjects.) Sums and products of mathematical processes are expressed as singular and require singular verbs. The expression "more than one" (oddly enough) takes a singular verb: "More than one student has tried this."

• Some of the voters are still angry.
• A large percentage of the older population is voting against her.
• Two-fifths of the troops were lost in the battle.
• Two-fifths of the vineyard was destroyed by fire.
• Forty percent of the students are in favor of changing the policy.
• Forty percent of the student body is in favor of changing the policy.
• Two and two is four.
• Four times four divided by two is eight.

If your sentence compounds a positive and a negative subject and one is plural, the other singular, the verb should agree with the positive subject.

• The department members but not the chair have decided not to teach on Valentine's Day.
• It is not the faculty members but the president who decides this issue.
• It was the speaker, not his ideas, that has provoked the students to riot.

EXERCISE 1 :

SUBJECT and VERB AGREEMENT

Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject.

1. Annie and her brothers (is, are) at school.

2. Either my mother or my father (is, are) coming to the meeting.

3. The dog or the cats (is, are) outside.

4. Either my shoes or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.

5. George and Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that movie.

6. Benito (doesn't, don't) know the answer.

7. One of my sisters (is, are) going on a trip to France.

8. The man with all the birds (live, lives) on my street.

9. The movie, including all the previews, (take, takes) about two hours to watch.

10. The players, as well as the captain, (want, wants) to win.

11. Either answer (is, are) acceptable.

12. Every one of those books (is, are) fiction.

13. Nobody (know, knows) the trouble I've seen.

14. (Is, Are) the news on at five or six?

15. Mathematics (is, are) John's favorite subject, while Civics (is, are) Andrea's favorite subject.

16. Eight dollars (is, are) the price of a movie these days.

17. (Is, Are) the tweezers in this drawer?

18. Your pants (is, are) at the cleaner's.

19. There (was, were) fifteen candies in that bag. Now there (is, are) only one left!

20. The committee (debates, debate) these questions carefully.

21. The committee (leads, lead) very different lives in private.

22. The Prime Minister, together with his wife, (greets, greet) the press cordially.

23. All of the CDs, even the scratched one, (is, are) in this case.

EXERCISE 2.

PUNCTUATION

Put in semicolons, colons, dashes, quotation marks, Italics (use an underline), and parentheses where ever they are needed in the following sentences.

1. The men in question Harold Keene, Jim Peterson, and Gerald Greene deserve awards.

2. Several countries participated in the airlift Italy, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg.

3. Only one course was open to us surrender, said the ex-major, and we did.

4. Judge Carswell later to be nominated for the Supreme Court had ruled against civil rights.

5. In last week's New Yorker, one of my favorite magazines, I enjoyed reading Leland's article How Not to Go Camping.

6. Yes, Jim said, I'll be home by ten.

7. There was only one thing to do study till dawn.

8. Montaigne wrote the following A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself.

9. The following are the primary colors red, blue, and yellow.

10. Arriving on the 8 10 plane were Liz Brooks, my old roommate her husband and Tim, their son.

11. When the teacher commented that her spelling was poor, Lynn replied All the members of my family are poor spellers. Why not me?

12. He used the phrase you know so often that I finally said No, I don't know.

13. The automobile dealer handled three makes of cars Volkswagens, Porsches, and Mercedes Benz.

14. Though Phil said he would arrive on the 9 19 flight, he came instead on the 10 36 flight.

15. Whoever thought said Helen that Jack would be elected class president?

16. In baseball, a show boat is a man who shows off.

17. The minister quoted Isaiah 5 21 in last Sunday's sermon.

18. There was a very interesting article entitled The New Rage for Folk Singing in last Sunday's New York Times newspaper.

19. Whoever is elected secretary of the club Ashley, or Chandra, or Aisha must be prepared to do a great deal of work, said Jumita, the previous secretary.

20. Darwin's On the Origin of Species 1859 caused a great controversy when it appeared.

 Answer : Punctuation Exercise

Semicolons, colons, dashes, quotation marks, Italics (use an underline), and parentheses are added in the following sentences.

1. The men in question (Harold Keene, Jim Peterson, and Gerald Greene) deserve awards.

2. Several countries participated in the airlift: Italy, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg.

3. "Only one course was open to us: surrender," said the ex-major, "and we did."

4. Judge Carswell--later to be nominated for the Supreme Court--had ruled against civil rights.

5. In last week's New Yorker, one of my favorite magazines, I enjoyed reading Leland's article "How Not to Go Camping."

6. "Yes,"Jim said, "I'll be home by ten."

7. There was only one thing to do--study till dawn.

8. Montaigne wrote the following: "A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself."

9. The following are the primary colors: red, blue, and yellow.

10. Arriving on the 8:10 plane were Liz Brooks, my old roommate; her husband; and Tim, their son.

11. When the teacher commented that her spelling was poor, Lynn replied, "All the members of my family are poor spellers. Why not me?"

12. He used the phrase "you know" so often that I finally said, "No, I don't know."

13. The automobile dealer handled three makes of cars: Volkswagens, Porsches, and Mercedes Benz.

14. Though Phil said he would arrive on the 9:19 flight, he came instead on the 10:36 flight.

15. "Whoever thought," said Helen, "that Jack would be elected class president?"

16. In baseball, a "show boat" is a man who shows off.

17. The minister quoted Isaiah 5:21 in last Sunday's sermon.

18. There was a very interesting article entitled "The New Rage for Folk Singing" in last Sunday's New York Times newspaper.

19. "Whoever is elected secretary of the club--Ashley, or Chandra, or Aisha--must be prepared to do a great deal of work," said Jumita, the previous secretary.

20. Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) caused a great controversy when it appeared.

EXERCISE 3.

PARAPHRASING

Directions: On a separate piece of paper, write a paraphrase of each of the following passages. Try not to look back at the original passage.

1. "The Antarctic is the vast source of cold on our planet, just as the sun is the source of our heat, and it exerts tremendous control on our climate," [Jacques] Cousteau told the camera. "The cold ocean water around Antarctica flows north to mix with warmer water from the tropics, and its upwellings help to cool both the surface water and our atmosphere. Yet the fragility of this regulating system is now threatened by human activity." From "Captain Cousteau," Audubon (May 1990):17.

2. "The twenties were the years when drinking was against the law, and the law was a bad joke because everyone knew of a local bar where liquor could be had. They were the years when organized crime ruled the cities, and the police seemed powerless to do anything against it. Classical music was forgotten while jazz spread throughout the land, and men like Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie became the heroes of the young. The flapper was born in the twenties, and with her bobbed hair and short skirts, she symbolized, perhaps more than anyone or anything else, America's break with the past." From Kathleen Yancey, English 102 Supplemental Guide (1989): 25.

3. "Of the more than 1000 bicycling deaths each year, three-fourths are caused by head injuries. Half of those killed are school-age children. One study concluded that wearing a bike helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent. In an accident, a bike helmet absorbs the shock and cushions the head." From "Bike Helmets: Unused Lifesavers," Consumer Reports (May 1990): 348.

4. "Matisse is the best painter ever at putting the viewer at the scene. He's the most realistic of all modern artists, if you admit the feel of the breeze as necessary to a landscape and the smell of oranges as essential to a still life. "The Casbah Gate" depicts the well-known gateway Bab el Aassa, which pierces the southern wall of the city near the sultan's palace. With scrubby coats of ivory, aqua, blue, and rose delicately fenced by the liveliest gray outline in art history, Matisse gets the essence of a Tangier afternoon, including the subtle presence of the bowaab, the sentry who sits and surveys those who pass through the gate." From Peter Plagens, "Bright Lights." Newsweek (26 March 1990): 50.

5. "While the Sears Tower is arguably the greatest achievement in skyscraper engineering so far, it's unlikely that architects and engineers have abandoned the quest for the world's tallest building. The question is: Just how high can a building go? Structural engineer William LeMessurier has designed a skyscraper nearly one-half mile high, twice as tall as the Sears Tower. And architect Robert Sobel claims that existing technology could produce a 500-story building." From Ron Bachman, "Reaching for the Sky." Dial (May 1990): 15.

Answer : Paraphrasing Exercise

Here are sample answers for the paraphrasing exercise:

1. According to Jacques Cousteau, the activity of people in Antarctica is jeopardizing a delicate natural mechanism that controls the earth's climate. He fears that human activity could interfere with the balance between the sun, the source of the earth's heat, and the important source of cold from Antarctic waters that flow north and cool the oceans and atmosphere ("Captain Cousteau" 17).

2. During the twenties, lawlessness and social nonconformity prevailed. In cities, organized crime flourished without police interference, and, in spite of nationwide prohibition of liquor sales, anyone who wished to buy a drink knew where to get one. Musicians like Louis Armstrong become favorites, particularly among young people, as many turned away from highly respectable classical music to jazz. One of the best examples of the anti-traditional trend was the proliferation of young "flappers," women who rebelled against custom by cutting off their hair and shortening their skirts (Yancey 25).

3. The use of a helmet is the key to reducing bicycling fatalities, which are due to head injuries 75% of the time. By cushioning the head upon impact, a helmet can reduce accidental injury by as much as 85%, saving the lives of hundreds of victims annually, half of whom are school children ("Bike Helmets" 348).

4. Matisse paintings are remarkable in giving the viewer the distinct sensory impressions of one experiencing the scene firsthand. For instance, "The Casbah Gate" takes one to the walled city of Tangier and the Bab el Aassa gateway near the Sultan's palace, where one can imagine standing on an afternoon, absorbing the splash of colors and the fine outlines. Even the sentry, the bowaab vaguely eyeing those who come and go through the gate, blends into the scene as though real (Plagens 50).

5. The Sears Tower is a world marvel, and it is unknown how much higher skyscrapers of the future will rise. However, the design of one twice as tall as the Sears Tower is already on the boards, and an architect, Robert Sobel, thinks we currently have sufficient know-how to build a skyscraper with over 500 stories (Bachman 15).

EXERCISE 4,

TENSE CONSISTENCY

Recognizing Shifts in Sentences

Check the following sentences for confusing shifts in tense. If the tense of each underlined verb expresses the time relationship accurately, write S (satisfactory). If a shift in tense is not appropriate, write U (unsatisfactory) and make necessary changes. In most cases with an inappropriate shift, there is more than one way to correct the inconsistency. Reading the sentences aloud will help you recognize differences in time.

___ 1. If the club limited its membership, it will have to raise its dues.

___ 2. While Barbara puts in her contact lenses, the telephone rang.

___ 3. Thousands of people will see the art exhibit by the time it closes.

___ 4. By the time negotiations began, many pessimists have expressed doubt about them.

___ 5. After Capt. James Cook visited Alaska on his third voyage, he is killed by Hawaiian islanders in 1779.

___ 6. I was terribly disappointed with my grade because I studied very hard.

___ 7. The moderator asks for questions as soon as the speaker has finished.

___ 8. Everyone hopes the plan would work.

___ 9. Harry wants to show his friends the photos he took last summer.

___ 10. Scientists predict that the sun will die in the distant future.

___ 11. The boy insisted that he has paid for the candy bars.

___ 12. The doctor suggested bed rest for the patient, who suffers from a bad cold.

Answer : Tense Consistency

In most cases with an inappropriate shift below, there is more than one way to correct the inconsistency. Each suggested change is probably not the only correct one for the sentence.

Correct responses are in bold, and incorrect responses are in italics.

_U_ 1. If the club limited its membership, it will have to raise its dues. (change will to would)

_U_ 2. As Barbara puts in her contact lenses, the telephone rang. (change puts to put) OR As Barbara puts in her contact lenses, the telephone rings. (change rang to rings to illustrate ongoing action)

_S_ 3. Thousands of people will see the art exhibit by the time it closes.

_U_ 4. By the time negotiations began, many pessimists have expressed doubt about them. (change have to had)

_U_ 5. After Capt. James Cook visited Alaska on his third voyage, he is killed by Hawaiian islanders in 1779. (change is to was)

_U_ 6. I was terribly disappointed with my grade because I studied very hard. (change studied to had studied)

_S_ 7. The moderator asks for questions as soon as the speaker has finished. (asks as habitual action; will ask is also possible)

_U_ 8. Everyone hopes the plan would work. (change hopes to hoped)

_S_ 9. Harry wants to show his friends the photos he took last summer.

_S_ 10. Scientists predict that the sun will die in the distant future.

_U_ 11. The boy insisted that he has paid for the candy bars. (change has to had)

_U_ 12. The doctor suggested bed rest for the patient, who suffers from a bad cold. (change suffers to was suffering)