SUBJECTVERB AGREEMENT

Subject-verb agreement • A singular noun takes a singular verb and a plural noun takes a plural verb We call this subject-verb agreement Ex: My apartment has three rooms These apartments have big rooms My cousin lives in another city My cousins live in a beautiful apartment This street is very noisy The streets are quiet at night • Be careful, sometimes the subject and verb are separated by a phrase or clause, but the subject and verb still must agree Ex: The article on page 16 explains that problem The articles in this book are useful for this class Most of the people who live in this building work downtown The movie we saw last night was very funny • Sometimes the subject is a gerund A gerund takes a singular verb Searching web sites is easier with a fast computer Working long hours is not good for your health 1 S (sing) and S (sing) + V (plural) Tom and I are working The secretary and the accountant of the company haven’t come yet Each/ every + N (sing) and Each N (sing) + V (sing) Every / many a = used with a singular noun and verb to mean 'a large number of‘ Ex: Many a good man has been destroyed by drink Many a student and many a teacher has attended the lecture S(sing/ pl) or S (sing/pl) + V Either …… or Neither … nor Either you or I am wrong 4 Not only + S1 but also + S2 + V Not only Margaret but also her friends were swimming in the lake S(sing/ pl) as well as + S+ V no less than with / together with Jim with I doesn’t accept your proposal 6 S(pl) :time, measurement, money + V(sing) Twenty five dollars is too much to pay for this book Agent + Rel Pro + V It’s he or I who am to go S = [pre phrase] + V None, a number, the majority, the minority + Pre Phrase + V The development of birth control methods is the second cause of women’s liberation None of us are perfect Notes: * A number of (= some) problems have arisen • I could give you any number of (= a lot of) reasons for not going • The number of homeless people has increased dramatically S(indefinite) = everyone, sthg, nobody … + V(sing) Everybody is working hard 10 Collective noun = S + V (sing) (Family, committee, team, crowd, parliament, congress) Ex: This family is rich His family is sitting in the first row 11 None Neither + of + pl Noun Phrase + Verb(sing/pl) Either Any Ex: The driver was killed, but none of the passengers Do any of her friends come? • Note : the plural verb is more informal 12.N(pl) = S = people, police, cattle, scissors + V(pl) Pliers (cái kìm), tongs (cái kẹp), trousers, pants, shorts, glasses, compasses (com pa) Ex: People were running everywhere The police were called to deal with the riot (cuộc loạn) 13.S = [Noun-s : (sing) + V (sing) News, series, physics, mathematics, gymnastics, phonetics, politics, rickets (bệnh còi xương) , the United States, the United Nations, the Philippines, the Netherlands Ex: The news is good Physics is more difficult than chemistry 14 S = N (Un.C) + V (sing) progress, advice, furniture, equipment, knowledge, language, money, homework, housework, information, merchandise = goods Ex: All equipment is made in Japan 15 There is/are + N (phrase) Ex: There are the cattle in the fields