Hi everyone!
How’s life? I’m back again. As usual, I’d like to share some stuff here and
today it’s gonna talk about one of the material which relate to syntax as a
study of sentence structure. It’s subject-verb agreement.
Subject-Verb agreement
is necessary to make sure that a sentence is grammatically correct. In a
sentence, the verb must agree in number with the subject. If the subject is
singular, the verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb must be
plural. Here’s the rule of subject-verb agreement.
Compound Subjects
Compound subjects (two subjects in the
same sentence) usually take a plural verb, unless the combination is treated as
singular in popular usage or the two subjects refer to the same thing or
person.
·
Sugar and flour are
needed for the recipe.
·
Pepperoni and
cheese
are great on a pizza.
·
My friend and
his mother
are in town.
Singular Indefinite Pronouns
Here are some examples of subject verb
agreement with singular indefinite pronouns:
·
Each gets a
trophy for playing.
·
Somebody will pay
for this.
·
Anybody is more fun than
you.
Plural Indefinite Pronouns
Here are some examples of subject verb
agreement with plural indefinite pronouns:
·
Both are
qualified for the job.
·
Many went to
the beach and got sunburned.
·
Few know
what it really takes to get ahead.
Midsentence Phrase or Clause
Here are some examples of subject verb
agreement with a phrase or clause between the subject and verb:
·
The
women who went to the meeting were
bored.
·
A
virus in all the company's computers
is a real threat to security.
·
The
causes of this prevalent disease are
bad diet and lack of exercise.
Collective Nouns
Collective nouns can be singular or
plural depending on meaning. Here are some examples of subject verb agreement
with collective nouns:
·
The
committee meets here every
Thursday. (singular)
·
The
jury has finally reached a
decision. (singular)
·
The
staff have gone their
separate ways for the holidays. (plural)
Inverted Subjects
Inverted subjects must be agree with the
verb. Here are some examples:
·
There
is a hair in my lasagna.
·
Over
the rainbow flies a bird.
·
How
are the employees enjoying
the new building?
·
A
good gift is a gift card.
