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Subject ~Verb Agreement

Subject ~Verb Agreement. By: Kelly Murphy. Why did I pick this topic?. Examples from a 15 minute conversation I heard in Walmart. “Is they done yet?” “Do they got that?” “Is the hangers over there?” “The deli don’t have that.”…. Rule #1. Subjects + Verbs MUST match in number.

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Subject ~Verb Agreement

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  1. Subject ~Verb Agreement By: Kelly Murphy

  2. Why did I pick this topic? Examples from a 15 minute conversation I heard in Walmart. “Is they done yet?” “Do they got that?” “Is the hangers over there?” “The deli don’t have that.”…

  3. Rule #1 Subjects + Verbs MUST match in number. • e.g., Singular noun => singular verb & Plural noun => plural verb

  4. “My subject and verb have agreed to disagree.” The big dog run.

  5. Rule # 2 Subjects + Verbs must also match in person. • e.g., I like you. (1st person) & He likes you. (3rd person)

  6. Hint! When you’re not sure which verb to use… ignore words that do not influence subject verb agreement. e.g., prepositional phrases: Wrong The winners in the state competition goes to the national finals. Right The winners in the state competition go to the national finals.

  7. Now a little about AND… • When ANDconnects two or more subjects, the subject is plural. The group [of subjects] requires a plural verb! >> e.g., Spaghetti and meatballs havea place on many menus.

  8. *Exception* Each& every are singular. Even when each or every comes before subjects joined by and, use the singular verb. >>e.g. Each human hand AND foot leavesa distinctive print.

  9. When subjects are joined with OR, NOR, EITHER…OR, NEITHER…NOR , NOT ONLY…BUT ALSO, the verb agrees with the subject nearest to it. >>e.g., Rule # 3

  10. Fun Stuff Indefinite pronouns (refer to nonspecific people or things) are usually singular • Whenever anyone says anything, nothing is done • Everything about these roads is dangerous • Each of the roads has to be resurfaced.

  11. *Exception* • None, some, more, most, any & all can be either singular or plural depending on the meaning of the sentence. e.g., Some of our streams are polluted; some pollution is reversible, but all pollution is a threat to the balance of nature.

  12. Inverted Word Order • Inverted word order changes the usual order in a sentence. (Most questions used inverted word order) Example: Across the street stand the protesters.

  13. When a group acts as one unit, use a singular verb When members of the group act individually,use a plural verb. Examples: The senior class has 793 people in it. [class acts as one unit , verb is sing.] The senior class were fitted for their graduation robes today. [Ind. Members of the group acted, verb is plural.] Collective Nouns

  14. Singular verbs are used with subjects that specify amounts of money, time, weight, or distance considered to be one unit. Ninety cents isthe current bus fare. Two miles passesquickly for a serious jogger. However, plural verbs are used when a subject refers tounits of measurement, each of which is considered individually rather than as a unit. Eighteen inches aremarked off on that ruler Fifty percentof these peaches arerotten. More on units…

  15. Tricky tricksters • A singular subject can look like a plural word: Statistics isa requirement of science majors. Statistics showthat a recession is coming. Titles of a work or series of words used as a term is considered a singular unit: Cats wasa popular musical. The United States hasa large television industry.

  16. Works cited • http://across.damm.no/var/plain/storage/images-versioned/1357/1-eng-GB/grammar_021_medium.jpg • http://www.andertoons.com/toon.php?id=4009 • www.prenhall.com/troyka • http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslsubverb.html

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