Agreement

1. Agreement

2. Singular Plural The people wait. The person waits. Subject – Verb Agreement • When we refer to subjects, they come in two numbers:

3. Some Common Rules

4. Subject – Verb Agreement • Singular subjects take singular verbs. • My grandfathertrains dogs. • Sheowns the red car. • Plural subjects take plural verbs. • My grandparentstrain dogs. • Theyown the red car.

5. Subject – Verb Agreement • In a verb phrase, the first helping verb agrees in number with the subject. • Has the dancer been rehearsing since noon? • Have the dancers been rehearsing since noon? • Do not be mislead by a phrase - a phrase does not affect the number of the subject. • The teacher, as well as her students, was fascinated by the exhibit. • The students, as well as their teacher, were fascinated by the exhibit.

6. Subject – Verb Agreement • Some indefinite pronouns are singular, some are plural, and some can be singular or plural when they are the SUBJECT of a sentence. • ALWAYS SINGULAR as the subject: • anybody, anyone, anything, • each, either, everybody, • everyone, everything, neither, • nobody, no one, nothing, one, • somebody, someone, something • ALWAYS PLURAL as the subject: both, few, many, several

7. Subject – Verb Agreement • All, any, most, none, more, and some can being either singular or plural as the subject, depending on their meaning in a sentence. • They are a singular subject when referring to singular words and a plural subject when referring to plural words. • All of the vegetable garden has been planted. (all refers to garden) • Allof the vegetables have been planted. (all refers to vegetables)

8. Subject – Verb Agreement • A collective noun(functioning as the subject) is singular when it refers to the group as a unit and is plural when it refers to the individual members or parts of the group: • Army, club, family, squadron, assembly, congregation, group, staff, audience, fleet, herd, team, band, flock, number, troop • The teamis on the field. [team as a unit] • The teamare working together. [team as individuals]

9. Subject – Verb Agreement • Compound subjects joined by and take a plural verb. • Basilandthymeare plants of the mint family. • Subjects joined by and may refer to only one noun. Such compound subjects take a singular verb. • The secretary and treasureris Gretchen. • Grilled chicken and rice is the restaurant’s specialty.

10. Subject – Verb Agreement • Singular subjects joined by or or nor take a singular verb. • Neither Jack nor Jillwants to see the movie. • Hasthe cat or the dogbeenfed yet? • If a singular and a plural subject is joined by “or” or “nor” the subject closest to the verb is used in agreement. • Neither Mrs. Smith nor the Jones’ want to see the movie. • Has the birds or the fish been fed yet?

11. Subject – Verb Agreement • An expression of amount (measurement, percentage, fraction) may be singular or plural, depending on how it is used. • Five thousand bricksis a heavy load for this truck. • Five thousand bricksare scattered on the lot.

12. Subject – Verb Agreement • TO MAKE LIFE DIFFICULT: • The following nouns take singular verbs: • Civics, genetics, news, economics, gymnastics, molasses, physics, mathematics, summons, electronics, mumps, measles • These take plural verbs even when they are referred to as a singular item: • Binoculars, pants, shears, eyeglasses, pliers, slacks, Olympics, scissors, trousers

13. Subject – Verb Agreement • Even if plural, the title of a creative work (book, song, movie, etc)or the name of a country, city, or an organization generally takes a singular verb. • “The Birds” is a very scary story. • The Philippinesencompasses more than 7,000 islands.

14. Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement • A pronoun usually refers to a noun or another pronoun, which is called the pronoun’s antecedent.

15. Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement • A pronoun should agree in number, gender, and person with its antecedent. • Singular pronouns refer to singular antecedents. • Plural pronouns refer to plural antecedents • Sandra Dee made her movie debut in 1980. • The hikers took their canteens with them.

16. Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement • Use singular pronouns to refer to the following indefinite pronouns : • anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody • everything, neither, nobody, everyone, no one, one • somebody, someone, something, nothing • Wrong  Everybody forgot their homework. • Right  Everybody forgot his or her homework.

17. Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement • Indefinite pronouns do not indicate gender. • Often, the object in the prepositional phrase that follows such a pronoun indicates gender. • Each of the boys brought his own mitt • One of the girls left her sweater on the bus. • If the antecedent may be either masculine or feminine, use both pronouns to refer to it. • Anyone who is going on the field trip needs to bring his or herlunch.

18. Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement • Use plural pronouns to refer to the indefinite pronouns: • both, few, many, several • Right  :Both of the debaters persuasively presented their arguments.

19. Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement • Use a singular or plural pronoun to refer to the indefinite pronoun all, any, more, most, none, some depending on how it is used in the sentence. • Some of the terminology is difficult to understand; perhaps Mrs. Grant can clarify its meaning. [some refers to terminology singular] • Some of the terms are difficult to understand; perhaps Mrs. Grant can clarify their meaning. [some refers to terms plural]

20. Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement • Use a plural pronoun to refer to two or more antecedents joined by and. • If JesseandBen call, tell them that I will not be home until later. • NOTE: antecedents joined by and may name only one noun. Such compound antecedents take a singular pronoun. • The corned beef and cabbagewas delicious, so I ate two servings of it.

21. Pronoun – Antecedent Agreement • Use a singular pronoun to refer to two or more singular antecedents joined by oror nor. • Either Keith or Kevin always finished his geometry homework in class.