Rules of SVA

7/30/2019 Rules of SVA

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The 20 Rules of Subject Verb Agreement in Standard

English

1. Subjects and verbs must agree in number. This is the cornerstone rule that forms the

background of the concept.

The doggrowls when he is angry. The dogsgrowlwhen they are angry.

2. Dont get confused by the words that come between the subject and verb; theydo not affect agreement.

The dog, who is chewing on my jeans, is usually very good.

3. Prepositional phrases between the subject and verb usually do not affect

agreement.

The colors of the rainbow are beautiful.

4. When sentences start with there or here, the subject will always be placed

after the verb, so care needs to be taken to identify it correctly.

There is a problem with the balance sheet.Here are the papers you requested.

5. Subjects don't always come before verbs in questions. Make sure you accurately

identify the subject before deciding on the proper verb form to use.

Does Leftyusually eatgrass? Where are thepieces of this puzzle.

6. If two subjects are joined by and, they typically require a plural verb form.

The cow and the pig are jumping over the moon.

7. The verb is singular if the two subjects separated by andrefer to the same person

or thing.

Red beans and rice is my mom's favorite dish.

8. If one of the words each, every, or no comes before the subject, the verb issingular.

No smoking or drinking is allowed.Every man and woman is required to check in.

9. If the subjects are both singular and are connected by the words or, nor,

neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also the verb is singular.

Jessica or Christian is to blame for the accident.

10. The only time when the object of the preposition factors into the decision ofplural or singular verb forms is when noun and pronoun subjects like some, half,

none, more, all, etc. are followed by a prepositional phrase. In these sentences, theobject of the preposition determines the form of the verb.

All of the chicken is gone.All of the chickens are gone.

11. The singular verb form is usually used for units of measurement.

Four quarts of oilwas required to get the car running.

12. If the subjects are both plural and are connected by the words or, nor,

neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, the verb is plural.

Dogs and cats are both available at the pound.

13. If one subject is singular and one plural and the words are connected by thewords or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, you use the verb form

of the subject that is nearest the verb.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/grammar/parts-of-speech/verbs.htmlhttp://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules/Prepositional-Phrases.htmlhttp://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules/Grammar-Identify-Objects.htmlhttp://www.yourdictionary.com/library/grammar/parts-of-speech/verbs.htmlhttp://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules/Prepositional-Phrases.htmlhttp://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules/Grammar-Identify-Objects.html


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Either the bears or the lion hasescaped from the zoo.Neither the lion nor the bears haveescaped from the zoo.

14. Indefinite pronouns typically take singular verbs.

Everybodywants to be loved.

15. * Except for the pronouns (few, many, several, both, all, some) that always takethe plural form.

Fewwere left alive after the flood.16. If two infinitives are separated by andthey take the plural form of the verb.

To walk and to chew gum require great skill.

17. When gerunds are used as the subject of a sentence they take the singular verb

form of the verb, but when they are linked by andthey take the plural form.

Standing in the water was a bad idea.Swimming in the ocean andplaying drums are my

hobbies.

18. Collective nouns like herd, senate, class, crowd, etc. usually take a singular verb

form.

The herdis stampeding.

19. Titles of books, movies, novels, etc. are treated as singular and take a singularverb.

The Burbs is a movie starring Tom Hanks.

20. Final Rule Remember, only the subject affects the verb!

Challenges of Grammar Rules

The problem with some grammar rules from the perspective of modern linguistics is that

there is not one absolute grammar in the English language. Most American native Englishspeakers equate standard English with being correct and any non-standard variation of

English with being incorrect.In reality, however, the concept of standard American English is really the privileging of aparticular dialect of English that originates from the Ohio River Valley. This is the dialect of

English that the anchors of the nightly news speak and that we base our notions ofcorrect

and incorrectgrammar on. It is important to recognize that no grammar is any more corrector incorrect than any other on a functional level, and our notions ofcorrectand incorrectare

culturally constructed.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar/pronouns/what-is-a-pronoun.htmlhttp://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar/pronouns/what-is-a-pronoun.html


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Basic

Rule.The basic rule states that a singular subject takes a singular verb, while a

plural subject takes a plural verb.

NOTE: The trick is in knowing whether the subject is singular or plural. The

next trick is recognizing a singular or plural verb.

Hint: Verbs do not form their plurals by adding an s as nouns do. In order

to determine which verb is singular and which one is plural, think of whichverb you would use with he or she and which verb you would use with they.

Example:

talks, talkWhich one is the singular form? Which word would you use withhe? We say, "He talks." Therefore, talks is singular. We say,"They talk." Therefore, talkis plural.

Rule1.

Two singular subjects connected by oror norrequire a singular verb.

Example:

My aunt or my uncle is arriving by train today.

Rule2.

Two singular subjects connected by either/oror neither/norrequire asingular verb as in Rule 1.

Examples:

Neither Juan nor Carmen is available.

Either Kiana or Casey is helping today with stage decorations.

Rule3.

When Iis one of the two subjects connected by either/oror neither/nor, putit second and follow it with the singular verb am.

Example:

Neither she nor I am going to the festival.

Rule4.

When a singular subject is connected by oror norto a plural subject, put theplural subject last and use a plural verb.

Example:

The serving bowl or the plates go on that shelf.

Rule5.

When a singular and plural subject are connected by either/ororneither/nor, put the plural subject last and use a plural verb.

Example:

Neither Jenny nor the others are available.

Rule6.

As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they areconnected by and.

Example:

A car and a bike are my means of transportation.

Rule Sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by words such as along


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7. with, as well as, besides, or not. Ignore these expressions when determining

whether to use a singular or plural verb.

Examples

:

The politician, along with the newsmen, is expected shortly.

Excitement, as well as nervousness, is the causeof her shaking.

Rule8.

The pronouns each, everyone, every one, everybody, anyone, anybody,someone, and somebodyare singular and require singular verbs. Do not bemisled by what follows of.

Examples

:Each of the girls sings well.

Every one of the cakes is gone.NOTE: Everyone is one word when it means everybody. Everyone is two words when the meaning is each one.

Rule

9.With words that indicate portionspercent, fraction, part, majority, some,

all, none, remainder, and so forth look at the noun in your ofphrase

(object of the preposition) to determine whether to use a singular or pluralverb. If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb. If the

object of the preposition is plural, use a plural verb.

Examples

:Fifty percent of the pie has disappeared.Pie is the object of the preposition of.

Fifty percent of the pies have disappeared.Pies is the object of the preposition.

One-third of the city is unemployed.

One-third of the people are unemployed.

NOTE: Hyphenate all spelled-out fractions.

All of the pie is gone.

All of the pies are gone.

Some of the pie is missing.

Some of the pies are missing.

None of the garbage was picked up.

None of the sentences were punctuated correctly.

Of all her books, none have sold as well as the first one.

NOTE: Apparently, the SAT testing service considers none as a singular word only.However, according to Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, "Clearly none hasbeen both singular and plural since Old English and still is. The notion that it is singular

only is a myth of unknown origin that appears to have arisen in the 19th century. If incontext it seems like a singular to you, use a singular verb; if it seems like a plural, use a

plural verb. Both are acceptable beyond serious criticism" (p. 664).


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Rule

10.

The expression the numberis followed by a singular verb while the

expression a numberis followed by a plural verb.

Examples

:

The number of people we need to hire is thirteen.

A number of people have written in about this subject.

Rule

11.

When eitherand neitherare subjects, they always take singular verbs.

Examples

:

Neither of them is available to speak right now.

Either of us is capable of doing the job.

Rule

12.

The words here and there have generally been labeled as adverbs even

though they indicate place. In sentences beginning with here or there, thesubject follows the verb.

Examples: There are four hurdles to jump.

There is a high hurdle to jump.

Rule13.

Use a singular verb with sums of money or periods of time.

Examples:

Ten dollars is a high price to pay.

Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense.

Rule14.

Sometimes the pronoun who, that, or which is the subject of a verb in themiddle of the sentence. The pronouns who, that, and which become singularor plural according to the noun directly in front of them. So, if that noun is

singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb.

Examples:

Salma is the scientist who writes/write the reports.The word in front ofwho is scientist, which is singular.

Therefore, use the singular verb writes.

He is one of the men who does/do the work.

The word in front ofwho is men, which is plural. Therefore, usethe plural verb do.

Rule15.

Collective nouns such as team and staffmay be either singular or pluraldepending on their use in the sentence.

Examples:

The staff is in a meeting.Staffis acting as a unit here.

The staff are in disagreement about the findings.The staffare acting as separate individuals in this example.

The sentence would read even better as:The staff members are in disagreement about the findings.


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Subject - Verb Agreement

Although you are probably already familiar with basic subject-verb agreement, thischapter begins with a quick review of basic agreement rules.

Subjects and verbs must AGREE with one another in number(singular or plural). Thus,if a subject is singular, its verb must also be singular; if a subject is plural, its verb mustalso be plural.

In the present tense, nouns and verbs form plurals in opposite ways: nounsADD an s tothe singular form; verbs REMOVE the s from the singular form.

These agreement rules do not apply to verbs used in the simple past tense without anyhelping verbs.


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The agreement rules do, however, apply to the following helping verbs when they areused with a main verb: is-are, was-were, has-have, does-do.

The agreement rules do not apply to has-have when used as the SECOND helpingverbin a pair.


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They do NOT apply to any other helping verbs, such as can, could, shall, should, may,might, will, would, must.

The subject-verb agreement rules apply to all personal pronouns except Iand you,which, although SINGULAR, require PLURAL forms of verbs.

Now click onthe link below to do exercise 1.

Link to Exercise 1
http://www.towson.edu/ows/moduleSVAGRex1.htmhttp://www.towson.edu/ows/moduleSVAGRex1.htm


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The remainder of this teaching unit deals with some more advanced subject-verbagreement rules and with exceptions to the original subject-verb agreement rule

Compound Subject

The word compound means made up of two or more parts. Two or more words canbe compounded or linked by joining them with any of three words:

and, or, and nor

Here are some examples of compounding:

Compound nouns can function as a compound subject. In some instances, acompound subject poses special problems for the subject-verb agreement rule (+s, -s).

However, instead of using two sentences (as above), we may choose to give the aboveinformation in one sentence.

This sentence makes use of a compound subject(two subject nouns joined by and),illustrating a new rule about subject-verb agreement.


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Although each part of the compound subject is singular (rangerand camper), takentogether (joined by and), each one becomes a part of a plural structure and, therefore,must take a plural verb (see) to agree in the sentence.

SUBJECT-VERB RULE #1 Two or more singular (or plural) subjects joined by andactas aplural compound subjectand take aplural verb (singular + singular = plural).

You can check the verb by substituting the pronoun theyfor the compound subject.

Orand noras joiners word somewhat differently from and. While the word andseemsto ADD things together, orand nordo not. They suggest a CHOICE.

Look at this sentence.

This sentence makes use of a compound subject(two subject nouns joined together by

or). Each part of the compound subject (ranger, camper) is singular. Even though bothwords function together as subject (joined by or), the subject still remains SINGULAR(rangerorcamper) since a CHOICE is implied.

This compound subject, therefore, requires a singularverb to agree with it.


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SUBJECT-VERB RULE #2 Two or more SINGULAR subjects joined by or(ornor) actas a singular compound subjectand, therefore, take a singular verb to agree.

Note: Two or more plural subjects joined by or(ornor) would naturally take a pluralverb to agree.

However, orand norcan pose a more difficult problem.

Thus far we have been working with compound subjects whose individual parts are botheither singular or plural

What if one part of the compound subject is singular and the other part is plural?


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What form of a verb should be used in this case? Should the verb be singular to agreewith one word? Or should the verb be plural to agree with the other?

Solution:

1. If the individual parts of the compound subject are joined by and, always use a pluralverb.

2. If the individual parts of the compound subject are joined by orornor, use the verb

form (singular or plural) which will agree with the subject closer to the verb.


Group Nouns


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Some nouns which name groups can be either singular or plural depending upon theirmeaning in individual sentences.

Because they can describe either the individuals in the group (more than one plural), orthe group as a single entity (one only singular), these nouns pose special problems.

However, there are some guidelines for deciding which verb form (singular or plural) touse with one of these nouns as the subject in a sentence.

If we refer to the group as a whole and, therefore, as a single unit, we consider the nounsingular. In this case, we use a singular verb.

If, on the other hand, we are actually referring to the individuals within the group, thenwe consider the nounplural. In this case, we use a plural verb.

Of course group nouns, like other nouns, can also appear in plural forms (with an s).


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When used in thepluralform, group nouns mean MORE THAN ONE GROUP. Thus, ituses a plural verb.

Thus, there are three important subject verb agreement rules to remember when agroup noun is used as the subject:

1. Group nouns can be considered as a single unit, and, thus, take a singularverb.

2. Group nouns can be considered as individual members within a single unit and,thus, take a plural verb.

3. Group nouns can be given plural forms to mean two or more units and, thus, take aplural verb.


Plural Form / Singular Meaning Nouns

Some nouns are regularly plural in form, but singular in meaning.


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Even though these nouns APPEAR to be plural because they end in s, they actually referto only one thing made up of smaller, uncounted parts. Therefore, they are consideredsingular.

You can see that substituting that pronoun itinstead oftheymakes more sense here.

Another group of plural form nouns end inics.

Similarly, itis a more suitable substitute for any of these words than is they.

These nouns appear to be plural (end in s), but generally refer to only one thing and are,therefore, generally considered singular.


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NOTE: Occasionally, however, the ics nouns can have apluralmeaning: We canspeak about individual parts of these wholes. In this case, we apply the same rule asapplies to group nouns when we consider the individual members within the group (seeSection 3.3): We use aplural verb.

Note the difference in meaning and, therefore, in the verb chosen (singular or plural)between the two uses of theics noun, statistics.


Indefinite pronouns can pose special problems in subject verb agreement.

The difficulty is that some indefinite pronouns sound plural when they are really singular.

As subjects, the following indefinite pronouns ALWAYS take singular verbs. Look atthem closely.

These should be easy to remember.


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However, the following indefinite pronouns ALWAYS takeplural verbs.


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EXCEPTIONS:

A third group of indefinite pronouns takes eithera singular or plural verb depending onthe pronouns meaning in the sentence. Look at them closely.

(SANAM)


So far we have considered subjects that can cause subject-verb agreement confusion:compoundsubjects, group noun subjects,plural form singular meaningsubjects,

and indefinite subjects.

The remainder of this teaching unit examines subject verb agreement problems thatcan result from word placementin sentences. There are four main problems:

prepositional phrases, clauses beginning with who, that, orwhich, sentences beginningwith here orthere, and questions.


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Here is a list of frequently used prepositions:

A prepositional phrase may be placed between the subject and verb.


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In the above example, the singular verb is agrees with the singular subject boy.

Sometimes, however, a prepositional phrase inserted between the subject and verbmakes agreement more difficult.

Caris the singular subject. Was is the singular helping verb which agrees with car. If wearent careful, however, we may mistakenly label riders as the subject since it is nearerto the verb than caris. If we choose the plural noun, riders, we will incorrectly select theplural verb were.

Solution to the Prepositional Phrase Problem

1. Learn the major prepositions (see page 28).

2. Be alert for prepositional phrases placed between the subject and verb, and identifythe noun in the phrase immediately as the object of a preposition: An object of apreposition can NEVER be a sentence subject.

3. Locate the true sentence subjectand choose a verb which agrees with it.


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4. Remember the indefinite pronoun EXCEPTIONS considered in Section 3.5, p.18:Some,Any, None,All, and Most. The number of these subject words IS affected by aprepositional phrase between the subject and verb.


A clause beginning with who, that, orwhich and coming BETWEEN the subject and verbcan cause agreement problems.

Like the prepositional phrase, the who / that / which clause never contains the subject.


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TO AVOID SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT ERRORS . . .

1. Identify who / that / which clauses immediately.

2. Locate the true sentence subject and choose a verb that agrees with it.


When a sentence begins with there is there are / here is here are , the subject andverb are inverted. After all that you have learned already, you will undoubtedly find thistopic a relatively easy one!

The verb in such constructions is obviously isorare. The subject, however, does notcome BEFORE the verb.

Instead, the subject in this kind of sentence comes AFTER the verb, so you must look forit AFTER the verb.


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In this example, because the subject, book, is singular, the verb must also be singular.

If the subject is plural, however, then the verb must be plural.

In this example, because the subject, books, is plural, the verb is also plural.

Remember: In here is here are / there is there are constructions, look for thesubject AFTER the verb and choose a singular (is) or a plural (are) verb to agree with thesubject.

And finally, sometimes creating a question will cause the subject to follow the verb aswell. Here, identify the subject and then choose the verb that agrees with it (singular or

plural).


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