The complete idiot guide part 14 doc

_ Chapter 9: Reaching an Agreement: Hatching Sentence Parts IB The singular title Moby Dick agrees with the singular verb was. • The Valachi Papers is a good read. The singular title The Valachi Papers agrees with the singular verb is—even though the title appears plural, it is singular. That's because all titles are singular. 4. Singular subjects connected by either/or, neither/nor, and not only/but also require a singular verb. That's because the connecting words show that you are choosing only one item. • Either the witness or the defendant was lying. Only one person is lying: the witness or the defendant. Therefore, the subject is singular. And the singular subject (the witness or the defendant) matches the singu- lar verb (was). Plural Subjects and Verbs Matching plural subjects and verbs is a snap with these simple guidelines: Here's the #1 rule: 1. A plural subject takes a plural verb. • The rejected New Mexico state motto: Lizards make excellent pets. The plural subject lizards matches the plural verb make. • Mosquitoes are attracted to blue more than any other color. The plural subject mosquitoes matches the plural verb are. Think of the conjunction and as a plus sign. Whether the parts of the subject joined by and are singular or plural (or both), they all add up to a plural subject and so require a plural verb. • Anwar and Hosni are going to the movies. The plural subject Anwar and Hosni agrees with the plural verb are. • Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were great presidents. The plural subject Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln agrees with the plural verb were. 2. If the subject is made up of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by or, nor, not only, or but also, the verb agrees with the noun closest to the pronoun. • Neither the contract nor the page proofs are arriving in time to meet the deadline. l|f» Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer The plural subject proofs agrees with the plural verb are. • Neither the page proofs nor the contract is arriving in time to meet the deadline. The singular subject contract agrees with the singular verb is. 3. Ignore words or phrases that come between the subject and the verb. A phrase or clause that comes between a subject and its verb does not affect subject-verb agreement. • The purpose of working out for several hours is to get fit and buff. The singular subject purpose matches the singular verb is. Ignore the intervening prepositional phrase "of working out for several hours." • Downward mobility—a quick ride down the social and economic ladders— poses a serious problem. The singular subject downward mobility agrees with the singular verb poses. Ignore the intervening appositive "a quick ride down the social and economic ladders." Seventh-lnninq Stretch Take a second to get these first few rules down pat. Circle the correct verb in each sentence. Feel free to look back at the rules you just read. 1. A typical Radio City Music Hall Rockette (is/are) between 5 feet and 5 feet 9 inches tall. 2. An apple or a pear (contains/contain) about 75 calories each. 3. The supply of stupid drivers (increase/increases) during holidays. 4. Residents of our country (spend/spends) more than $31 billion a year on fast food. 5. Bill Cosby's cartoon characters (includes/include) Fat Albert and Weird Harold. 6. In winter, camels (is/are) able to go without water for eight weeks. 7. Contrary to popular thinking, camels (does/do) not store water in their humps. 8. The average person (breathes/breathe) 7 quarts of air per minute. 9. Camels also (urinates/urinate) very little, compared to other animals of roughly the same size. 10. Every year the Washington Monument (sink/sinks) an average of 6 inches into the ground. Answers 1. is 2. contains 3. increases 4. spend 5. include 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. are do breathes urinate sinks Chapter 9: Reaching an Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts US Collective Nouns Collective nouns are singular in form but plural in sense. Here are some examples of collective nouns: assembly audience class committee crew crowd faculty family flock herd jury team For purposes of agreement, collective nouns can be singular or plural, depending on how they are used in a sentence. Collective nouns used as one unit take a singular verb; collective nouns that indicate many units take a plural verb. 1. Singular collective nouns Singular collective nouns include molasses (one kind of syrup) and chicken pox (one kind of disease). Other examples include measles, civics, social studies, mumps, news, cast, social studies, economics, and mathematics. • The play's cast is rehearsing for today's show. The singular subject cast takes the sin- gular verb is. The members of the cast are functioning as a single unit. • The jury returns a unanimous verdict. The singular subjectyz/ry requires the singular verb returns; the members of the jury are working together as one unit. You Could Look It Up_ A collective noun names a group of people or things. Examples of collective nouns include class, committee, flock, herd, team, audience, assembly, team, club, and so on. 116 Part Z: Under the Grdmmar Hammer 2. Plural collective nouns A collective noun is treated as plural when the group it names is considered to be made up of individuals. Because members of the group can act on their own, the word is considered plural. • The play's cast are rehearsing their lines. The plural subject cast requires the plural verb are because the members of the cast are functioning as individual people doing separate things. • The jury often have different reactions to the evidence they hear. The plural subject jury requires the plural verb have because the members of the jury are being considered as individuals. Indefinite Pronouns Indefinite pronouns, like collective nouns, can be singular or plural, depending on how they are used in a sentence. Singular indefinite pronouns take a singular verb; plural indefinite pronouns take a plural verb. Here are some guidelines to follow: • Indefinite pronouns that end in -one are always singular. These words include anyone, everyone, someone, and one. • Indefinite pronouns that end in -body are always singular. These words include anybody, somebody, nobody. • The indefinite pronouns both, few, many, others, and several are always plural. • The indefinite pronouns all, any, more, most, none, and some can be singular or plural, depending on how they are used. Flag this chart for ready reference. You Could Look It Up Indefinite pronouns refer to people, places, objects, or things without pointing to a spe- cific one. See Chapter 4 for a complete description of indefinite pronouns. Indefinite Pronouns Singular Plural Singular or Plural another anyone each both few many all any more Chapter 9: Reaching an Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts 117 Singular Plural Singular or Plural everyone others most everybody several none everything some much nobody nothing other someone anybody anything either little neither no one one somebody something Check out these examples: • One of the Elvis impersonators is missing. The singular subject one requires the singular verb is. • Both of the Elvis impersonators are missing, thank goodness. The plural subject both requires the plural verb are. Take My Word for It British English follows the same rules of agreement, but there are subtle differences in usage. For example, our neighbors across the pond consider the words company and government plural rather than singular nouns. Danger, Will Robinson The indefinite pronoun many a is always singular, as in "Many a person is sick and tired of eating sautéed antelope on melba toast." VT 1 118 Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer Quoth the Maven In many cases, a preposi- tional phrase intervenes between the subject and the verb. See Chapter 3 for a review of prepo- sitional phrases. • All the sautéed rattlesnake was devoured. The singular subject all requires the singular verb was. • All the seats were occupied. The plural subject all requires the plural verb were. The Pause That Refreshes Circle the correct verb in each sentence. 1. Economics (depends/depend) heavily on mathematics. 2. The light at the end of the tunnel (are/is) the headlight of an approaching train. 3. News of a layoff (causes/cause) many people to get worried. 4. Millions of Americans watched the high-speed chase and most (was/were) mes- merized by the event. 5. Some people believe that TV rots your brain; others, in contrast, (believes/ believe) that TV can teach us important social lessons. 6. Both of those cities (were/was) on my vacation route. 7. The commuters wait at the bus stop. A few (sleep/sleeps) standing up. 8. One of our satellites (is/are) lost in space. 9. The supply of beta-endorphins in the brain (is/are) increased during exercise. 10. Too many onions in a stew often (causes/cause) an upset stomach. Answers 1. depends 2. is 3. causes 4. were 5. believe 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. were sleep is is cause Chapter 9: Reaching an Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts 119 Walk This Way Now you know the main rules of agreement, so the rest of this business must be a piece of cake. Not so fast. Follow these three steps to check whether subjects and verbs in your sentences really agree: 1. Find the sentence's subject. 2. Figure out if the subject is singular or plural. 3. Select the appropriate verb form to match the form of the subject. Here's where the problems occur: 1. Figuring out what is the subject. 2. Figuring out if the subject is singular or plural. 3. Selecting the appropriate verb form to match the form of the subject. Let's look at each step in the process. Hide and Seek Some subjects can be harder to find than Judge most among these hard-to-find subjects is the the verb. Inverted word order can make it difficult to find the true subject. But wher- ever the subject is, it still must agree in num- ber with its verb, as these examples show: • On the top of the hill are two Elvis impersonators. The plural subject impersonators agrees with the plural verb are. • There are still several agitators in the audience. The plural subject agitators requires the plural verb are. Crater, Bigfoot, or Jimmy Hoffa. Fore- subject that has the nerve to come after a^Js Quoth the Maven _ The words there or here at the beginning of a sentence often signal inverted word order. Strictly Speaking Remember that a predicate nomi- native is a noun or pronoun that follows a linking verb. It renames or identifies the subject. Another tricky agreement situation occurs with linking verbs. As with all other verbs, a linking verb always agrees with its subject. Problems crop up when the subject and 120 Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer the linking verb (the predicate nominative) are not the same number. For example, the subject can be plural but the linking verb can be singular. Here's an example: • Speeding trucks are one reason for the abun- dance of fresh produce in our grocery stores. The plural subject trucks agrees with the plural verb are. Don't be tricked by the singular predi- cate nominative reason. Danger, Will Robinson Most measurements are singular—even though they look plural. For example: "Half a dol- lar is more than enough" (not "are more than enough") or "Ten inches is more than enough" (not "are more than enough"). One reason for the abundance of fresh produce in our grocery stores is speeding trucks. Here, the singular subject reason agrees with the singular verb is. Here, the plural noun trucks is the predicate nominative. Playing the Numbers As you learned in the beginning of this chapter, in grammar, number refers to the two forms of a word: singular (one) or plural (more than one). With nouns, number is rela- tively easy to figure out. That's because most nouns form the plural by adding -s or -es. Here are some examples. Singular Nouns stock report interest rate debt Plural Nouns stock reports interest rates debts You learned the few exceptions in Chapter 3 (deer, oxen, men, women, feet, and so on). There are more tricky plural words listed in Chapter 18. Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match Forget everything you learned about nouns when you start dealing with verbs. That's because we add s or -es to the third-person singular form of most verbs. This is oppo- site to the way we form singular nouns. For example: Singular Verbs 1st and 2nd Person 3rd Person I start he starts I do he does Plural Verbs 1st, 2nd, 3rd Person we start we do Chapter 9: Reaching an Agreement: Hatching Sentence Parts 121 The helping verbs are even nastier because they aren't regular. The following chart shows the forms of to be. Singular Be Verbs Plural Be Verbs (I) am (we) are (he, she, it) is (they) are (I, he, she, it) was (we, they) were (he, she, it) has been (they) have been As a result, subject-verb agreement is most tricky in the present tense. Mix and Match You know the drill, so sharpen your pencils and get crackin' with the following 10 items. In each case, choose the verb that agrees with the subject. 1. There (is/are) a method to this madness. 2. The hostess trilled: "The Bengels (are/is) here!" 3. One reason for her success (was/were) her sunny personality. 4. The many mistakes made by the tour guide in giving directions (was/were) the reason we fired her. 5. (Does/Do) fig trees grow in this region? 6. (Is/Are) some the pie still in the refrigerator? 7. (Here's/Here are) more freeloaders for the open-house. 8. There (was/were) two good reasons for his decision. 9. Another example of Juan's fine leadership (is/are) the excellent roads. 10. Here (is/are) two gifts I'd especially like to receive: a wheelbarrow filled with cash and a diamond as big as the Ritz. Answers 1. is 2. are 3. was 4. were 5. 6. 7. 8. Do Is Here are were 9. is 10. are 1Z2 Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer Agree to Disagree Like subjects and verbs, pronouns and antecedents (the words to which they refer) must agree. A pronoun replaces a noun. To make sure that your writing is clear, always use the noun before using the pronoun. Follow these rules to make sure that your pronouns and antecedents get on well: 1. A pronoun agrees (or matches) its antecedent in number, person, and gender. • Number is amount: singular or plural. • Person refers to the first person, second person, or third person (the person speak- ing, the person spoken to, or the person spoken about). Danger, Will Robinson Not all verbs add -s or -es when they become plural. For example words that end in -y such as fry change the -y to -/' before adding -es. So I fry becomes he fries. Be on the look- out for the different ways that verbs form their plurals. • Gender refers to masculine, feminine, or neuter references. He and him are mascu- line in gender, she and her are feminine, and it and its are neuter. For example: Louise gave her paycheck straight to the orthodontist. Both the antecedent Louise and the pronoun her are singular, in the third person, and feminine in gender. • Errors often occur when there are incorrect shifts in person and gender. For example: Error: Herman will screen the video teleconference, which you need to stay timely. Correct: Herman will screen the video teleconference, which he needs to stay timely. 2. Use a singular personal pronoun with a singular indefinite pronoun. • If anyone questions the amount, refer him or her to payroll. The singular pronouns him or her refer to the singular pronoun anyone. • Each police officer and firefighter has to watch his or her figure. Use a singular pronoun if the nouns are preceded by each or every. . pronoun. • Neither the contract nor the page proofs are arriving in time to meet the deadline. l|f» Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer The plural subject proofs agrees with the plural. of the group can act on their own, the word is considered plural. • The play's cast are rehearsing their lines. The plural subject cast requires the plural verb are because the. Sentence Parts IB The singular title Moby Dick agrees with the singular verb was. • The Valachi Papers is a good read. The singular title The Valachi Papers agrees with the