Example:
a. I work
b. She works
c. The car in the garage is mine
Basic Rule / Principle
Singular subjects need singular verbs
Plural subjects need plural verbs
ü Example:
a. My brother is
a nutritionist
b. My sisters are
mathematicians
Tips and Tricks
1) Rule 1. Indefinite
Pronouns
The
indefinite pronouns abyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always
singular,
and therefore, require singular verbs. Example:
a. Everyone has done his
homework
b. Nobody is in the room
A. Exceptions 1: All and Some
Some indefinite pronouns such as
all, some are singular or plural depending on what they’re
referring to (is the
thing reffered to countable or not) be careful when choosing a verb to
accompany
such pronouns. Example:
a. Some of the books are missing
b. Some of the water is gone
B. Exceptions 2: None
None can be singular or plural
depending on the npun that follows. Example:
a. None of the students are in the class
b. None of the food is fresh
C. Special Case: Each
Each is always singular. Don’t be
confused/distracted with the plural nouns following it. Example:
a. Each of the students is responsible for his homework
b. Each of the cars has different color
2) Rule 2: together with,
as well as, along with
Phrases such
as together, as well as, along with are not the same as and they don’t add or
compound the subject. Example:
a. The mayor as well as his
brother, is going to prison
b. The mayor and his brothers are going to jail
Additional explanation
Sometimes
the subject is separated from the verb by word such as along with, as well as,
besides,
or not. Ignore these expressions when detrmining whether to use a
singular or plural verbs. Example:
a. The politician, along with
the newsmen, is expected shortly
b. Excitement, as well as
nervousness, is the cause of her
shaking
3) Rule 3: Subject
separated from the verb/apposivives
Sometimes
modifiers will get between a subject and its verb, but these modifiers must not
confuse the agreement between the subject and its verb. Example:
a. 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
4) Rule 4: the pronouns
of adjectives clause
Sometimes
the pronouns who, that, or which is the subject of a verb in the middle of the
sentence.
The pronouns who, that, and which become singular or plural according
to the noun directly in front of them. So if that noun is singular, use a
singular verb. If its plural, use a plural verb. Example:
a. Salma is the
scientist who writes the repots
b. He is the one of
the man who close the work
5) Rule 5: either + or and neither + nor
Or doesn’t
conjoin (as and does) when nor or or is used the subject closer to the
verb determines
the umber of the verbs. Whether the subject comes before or
after the verb doesn’t matter. Example:
a. Either my father or my brother are going to the sell house
b. Neither my brothers nor my father is going to the sell house
Pronouns: either and neither
The pronouns
neither and either are singular and require singular verbs even though they
seem to be
reffering, in a sense, to two things. Example:
a. Neither of the two
traffic lights is working
Either of us is the capable of doing the job
b. Which shirt do you want for
Christmas?
Either is fine with me
6) Rule 6: Pseudo Sbuject
There and here
the words
‘there’ and ‘here’ are never subjects. The real subjects come after the verbs. Example:
a. There are two
reasons for this
b. There is no
reasons for this
c. Here are two
apples
d. Here is the key
7) Rule 7: third Party
Singular (he, she, it, personal name)
Verbs in the
present tense for third person, a singular subject (he, she, it and anything
those words
can stand for: rani, Dani, The cat, The table) have s-endings.
Other verbs don’t add s-endings. Example:
a. She teaches English
b. Rani teaches English
c. It eats fish
d. The cat eats fish
Add s/es
only to present verbs, not to past or past participle verbs. The past form of
singular “be” is “was”. Example:
a. Singular present : She is her. She takes the offer.
b. Singular past : She was her. She took the offer.
8) Rule 8: words end in –s
§ Singular
Some words end in –s and appear to
be plural but are really singular and require singular verbs.
Example:
a. The news from the front is
bad
b. Measies is a dangerous disease for
the pregnant women
§ Plural
But some words end in –s and appear
to be plural and require plural verbs. Example:
a. My assets were wiped out in the depression
b. The average workers’s earnings have gone up dramatically
Another singular words end in-s are costoms, clothes,
arms, goods, etc
9) Rule 9: fractional
expressions (half or, a part of, a percentage of, etc)
With words
that indicate portion-percent, fraction, part, majority, some, all, none,
remainder, etc.
look at the noun in your phrase (object of the preposition) to
determine whether to use a singular or plural
verb. If the object of the
preposition is singular, use a singular verb. If the preposition is plural,
use
a plural verb. Example:
a. fifty percent of the pie has disappeared
b. fifty percent of the pies have disappeared
c. one-third of the city is unemployed
d. one-third of the people are unemployed
10) Rule 10: negative & positive subjects
If your
sentence compounds a positive and negative subject and one is plural, the other
singular,
the verb, should agree with the positive subject.
a. It is not the faculty members but
the president who decides this issue
b. The department members but not the
chair have decided not to teach on valentine’s day
c. It was the speaker, not hi ideas,
that has provided the students to riot
11) Rule 11: sum of money or periods
Use a
singular verb with sum of money or periods of time. Example:
a. Ten dollars is a high price to pay
b. Five years is the maximum sentence
for that offens
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