Subject and Verb Agreement

Agreement

• A verb should agree with its subject in number• Singular subjects take singular verbs• Plural subjects take plural verbs• She walks to the market.• They walk to the market.

Agreement

• The number of the subject is not changed by a phrase or a clause following the subject.

• Arjuna, one of the Pandava brothers, speaks to Krishna.

Agreement

• Indefinite pronouns may be singular, plural, or either.

• The following indefinite pronouns are singular: anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, one, somebody, someone, and something.

• Each of these stories describes the creation of the world.

Agreement

• The following indefinite pronouns are plural: both, few, many, and several.

• Both of the poems were written by Pablo Neruda.

Agreement

• The indefinite pronouns all, any, most, none, and some are singular when they refer to singular words and are plural when they refer to plural words.

• Singular- None of the equipment was damaged. (None refers to equipment.)

• Plural- None of the machines were damaged. (None refers to machines.)

Agreement

• A compound subject may be singular, plural, or either.

• Subjects joined by and usually take a plural verb.

• After rehearsal, Juan, Anita, and Marcus are going to dinner.

Agreement

• A compound subject that names only one person or thing takes a singular verb.

• His friend and comrade in arms is Patroclus.• Singular subjects joined by or or nor take a

singular verb. • Stephanie or Mario wants to write a sequel to

Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

Agreement

• When a singular subject and a plural subject are joined by or or nor, the verb agrees with the subject nearer the verb.

• Neither the dancers nor the choreographer was pleased with the routine.

Agreement

• The verb agrees with its subject even when the verb precedes the subject, as in sentence beginning with here, there, or where.

• Singular- Where is (or where’s) Malcolm?• Plural- Here are (not here’s) Malcolm and his

brother.

Agreement

• A collective noun (such as audience, flock, or team) is singular in form but names a group of persons or things. A collective noun takes a singular verb when the noun refers to the group as a unit and takes a plural verb when the noun refers to the parts or members of the group

Agreement

• Singular- The tour group is on the bus. (The group as a unit is on the bus.)

• Plural- The tour group are talking about their plans. (The members of the group are talking to one another.)

Agreement

• An expression of an amount (length of time, a statistic, or a fraction, for example) is singular when the amount is thought of as a unit or when it refers to a singular word and plural when the amount is thought of as many parts or when it refers to a plural word.

Agreement

• Singular- Ten years is how long the Trojan war lasts. (one unit)

• Plural- One fifth of the juniors are working on a production of Faust. (The fraction refers to juniors.)

Agreement

• The title of a creative work (such as a book, song, film, or painting) or the name of an organization, a country, or a city (even if its plural in form) takes a singular verb.

• Voltaire wrote Candide after he moved to Geneva, Switzerland.

• Ruth promises to stay with her mother-in-law.• Zen masters told their students parables.

Agreement

• A verb agrees with its subject, not with its predicate nominative.

• Singular- The subject of the lecture was epic heroes.

• Plural- Epic heroes were the subject of the lecture.

Agreement

• A pronoun agrees with its antecedent in number and gender. Singular pronouns refer to singular antecedents. A few singular pronouns also indicate gender. Plural pronouns refer to plural antecedents.

• “Unmarked Boxes” was written by the Sufi poet Rumi.

• The United Nations was formed in 1945.

Agreement

• The gender of indefinite pronouns is determined by the word or words that the pronoun refers to.

• Each of the boys has brought his notebook.• One of the girls has injured herself.

Agreement

• If the antecedent may be either masculine or feminine, use both the masculine and feminine pronouns to refer to it.

• Anyone who is going on the field trip needs to bring his or her lunch.

Agreement

• Plural pronouns are used to refer to the indefinite pronouns both, few, many, and several.

• Many of the spectators leapt from their seats and cheered.

Agreement

• A plural pronoun is used to refer to two or more singular antecedents joined by and.

• Menelaus and Paris cannot settle their feud over Helen peacefully.

• A singular pronoun is used to refer to two or more singular antecedents joined by or or nor.

• Either Achilles or Hector will lose his life.

Agreement

• A collective noun takes a singular pronoun when the noun refers to the group as a unit and takes a plural pronoun when the noun refers to the parts or members of the group.

• Singular- The jury reached its decision less than one hour later. (The jury decided as a unit.)

Agreement

• Plural- The jury disagree on how much importance they should give to one of the defendant’s statements. (The members of the jury disagree.)

Agreement

• The title of a creative work or the name of an organization, a country, or a city takes a singular pronoun.

• I read Flowers of Evil and wrote a report on it.• The United Arab Emirates generates most of

its revenue from the sale of oil.

Sentence Clarity

Coordinating Ideas

• To coordinate two or more ideas, or to give them equal emphasis, link them with a connecting word, an appropriate mark of punctuation, or both.

• The train finally arrived, and dozens of passengers rushed to board it.

Subordinating Ideas

• To subordinate an idea, or to show that one idea is related to but less important than another, use an adverb clause or an adjective clause

• The young woman is furious because the young man did not pay a fair price for the wooden lion. (adverb clause)

• She thinks of the artist who worked so hard to carve it. (adjective clause)

Using parallel structure

• Use the same grammatical form (parallel structure) to express ideas of equal importance

1. Use parallel structure when you link coordinate ideas

In the winter I usually like to ski and to skate. (infinitive paired with infinitive)

Using parallel structure

2. Use parallel structure when you compare or contrast ideas.

Einstein liked mathematical research more than laboratory supervision. ( noun contrasted with noun)

3. Use parallel structure when you link ideas with correlative conjunctions

Capoeira is both a dance form and a martial art.

Run-on Sentences

• There are 2 kinds of run on sentences- fused sentences and comma splices.

• A fused sentence has no punctuation or connection word at all between the complete thoughts

- Roland tried to break his sword it shatters the rock.

Run-on Sentences

• Comma splices has just a comma between the complete thoughts

• Roland tries to break his sword, it shatters the rock.

• You can correct run-on sentences in several ways

1. Make 2 sentences- Roland tries to break his sword. It shatters the

rock.

Run-on Sentences

2. Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction- Roland tries to break his sword, but it shatters

the rock. 3. Change one of the independent clauses to a

subordinate clause- When Roland tries to break his sword, it

shatters the rock.

Run-on Sentences

4. Use a semicolon- Roland tries to break his sword; it shatters the

rock.5. Use a semicolon and a conjunctive adverb.- Roland tries to break his sword; however, it

shatters the rock.

Unnecessary shifts in sentences

• Avoid making unnecessary shifts in subject, in tense, and in voice.

- Grandma goes to the farmers’ market, where the freshest produce is. (shift in subject)

- Grandma goes to the farmers’ market, where she finds the freshest produce.

Unnecessary shifts in sentences

- Faust follows the Devil at first but eventually found salvation. (shift in tense)

- Faust follows the Devil at first but eventually finds salvation.

- Lyle spent four hours at the library, but no books on his research topic were found. (shift in voice)

- Lyle spent four hours at the library, but he found no books on his research topic.

Sentence Combining

• Combine related sentences by taking a key word (or using another form of the key word) from one sentence and inserting it into another sentence.

- The famous magician Harry Houdini performed impossible escapes. The escapes only seemed impossible.

- The famous magician Harry Houdini performed seemingly impossible escapes. (the verb seemed becomes the adverb seemingly.)

Sentence Combining

• Combine related sentences by taking (or creating) a phrase from one sentence and inserting it into another.

- Have you read the poem “To Helene”? It was written by Pierre de Ronsard.

- Have you read the poem “To Helene” by Pierre de Ronsard? (prepositional phrase)

Sentence Combining

• Combining by coordinating ideas. Combine related sentences whose ideas are equally important by using coordinating conjunctions or correlative conjunctions.

- “Song of a Citizen” was written by Czeslaw Milosz. “The Poor Poet” was also written by him.

- “Song of a Citizen” and “The Poor Poet” were written by Czeslaw Milosz. (compound subject)

Sentence Combining

- The farmer had closed his market stall for the afternoon. We decided to buy fresh produce somewhere else.

- The farmer had closed his market stall for the afternoon, so we decided to buy fresh produce somewhere else. (compound sentence)

Sentence Combining

• Combine related sentences whose ideas are not equally important by placing the less important idea in a subordinate clause.

- I read about the life of Queen Nefertiti. She ruled Egypt from 1353 to around 1341 B.C.

- I read about the life of Queen Nefertiti, who ruled Egypt from 1353 to around 1341 B.C. (adjective clause)

Sentence Combining

- Queen Nefertiti, whose life I read about, ruled Egypt from 1353 to around 1341 B.C. (adjective clause)

- The injured thief points his knife at Lise. She thinks that he wants her ring.

- When the injured thief points his knife at Lise, she thinks that he wants her ring. (adverb clause)

Sentence Combining

- Sigmund asks Lise about her wedding ring. He asks her where she lost it.

- Sigmund asks Lise where she lost her wedding ring. (noun clause)