Session 5:subject-verb agreement & pronouns

(1) a-What is meant by subject-verb agreement?

    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 must also be plural.

b- What are the different rules for subject-verb agreement?

RULE 1 – A verb agrees with its subject in number.

    Singular subjects take singular verbs:

   The car stays in the garage.

   The flower smells good.

  There is an old saying: “Opposites attract.” The rule for singular and plural verbs is just the opposite of the rule for singular and plural nouns. Remember this when you match subjects and verbs. You might guess that stays and smells are plural verbs because they end in s. They aren’t. Both stays and smells are singular verbs.

  RULE 2 – The number of the subject (singular or plural) is not changed by words that come between the subject and the verb.

One of the eggs is broken. Of the eggs is a prepositional phrase. The subject one and the verb is are both singular. Mentally omit the prepositional phrase to make the subject verb-agreement easier to make.

Some examples:

1-.  Your friend (talk-talks) too much.

2-  The man with the roses (look-looks) like your brother.

3- The women in the pool (swim-swims) well.

4 -The football players (run-runs) five miles every day.

5-That red-haired lady in the fur hat (live-lives) across the street.

  RULE 3 – Some subjects always take a singular verb even though the meaning may seem plural. These subjects always take singular verbs:

   (each -  someone  -  either  - anyone  -   neither -  nobody  -  one  - somebody -   no one -  anybody  -  everyone  - everybody)

 Some examples:

  Ex. Someone in the game was (not were) hurt.

  Ex. Neither of the men is (not are) working.

RULE 4 – The following words may be singular or plural, depending upon their use in a sentence, (some, any, all, most)

   Most of the news is good.              (singular)

   Most of the flowers were yellow.  (plural)

   All of the pizza was gone.             (singular)

   All of the children were late.         (plural)

Some examples:

1.  Each of the girls (look-looks) good on skis.

2.  Everybody (was-were) asked to remain quiet.

3.  Neither of the men (is-are) here yet.

4.  (Is-Are) each of the girls ready to leave?

5.  Nobody in the class (has-have) the answer.

6  Each of the girls (observe-observes) all the regulations.

7.  All of the milk (is-are) gone.

8. Most of the seats (was-were) taken.

  RULE 5 – Subjects joined by and are plural. Subjects joined by or or Nor take a verb that agrees with the last subject.

  Some examples:

1-Bob and George are leaving.

 2-Neither Bob nor George is leaving.

 3-Neither Bob nor his friends are leaving.

  RULE 6 – (There and here) are never subjects. In sentences that begin with these words, the subject is usually found later on in the sentence.   There were five books on the shelf. (were, agrees with the subject book)

   Here is the report you wanted. (Is agrees with subject report)

  RULE 7 – Collective nouns may be singular or plural, depending on their use in the sentence. A collective noun is a noun used to name a whole group. Following are some common examples:

  ( army / crowd /  orchestra / audience  /flock  / public/ class /group/ swarm/  club /  herd  / team /  committee /  jury /  troop / United States )

    Ex.The orchestra is playing a hit song. (Orchestra is considered as one unit—singular.)

 Ex. The orchestra were asked to give their musical backgrounds. (Orchestra is considered as separate individuals—plural)

ANSWERS TO SUBJECT-VERB EXERCISE III

  Some examples:

1.  Margo and her parents (visit-visits) each other often.

2.  Either the cups or the glasses (are-is) in the dishwasher.

3.  Vern and Fred (need-needs) a ride to work.

4.  There (is-are) a dog, a cat, and a bird in the garage.

5.  Neither Matt nor his brothers (was-were) at the party.

RULE 8 – Expressions of time, money, measurement, and weight are usually singular when the amount is considered one unit. 

  Ex.Five dollars is (not are) too much to ask.

   Ex.Ten days is (not are) not nearly enough time.

    On occasion, however these terms are used in the plural sense:

   Ex.There were thirty minutes to countdown.

  RULE 9 – Some nouns, while plural in form, are actually singular in meaning.

   Mathematics is (not are) an easy subject for some people.

   Physics is (not are) taught by Prof, Baldwin.

  ( mumps/  home economics /social studies / economics / measles/ calisthenics /statistics  /civics  /  physics/ gymnastics/  phonics / news /

   acrobatics /aesthetics / thesis  / mathematics)

  RULE 10 – (Don’t and Doesn’t )must agree with the subject. Use doesn’t after he, she, it.

Ex.Doesn’t he (not don’t) know how to sail?

Ex.They don’t (not doesn’t) make movies like that anymore.

Some examples:

1.  Mumps (is-are) one of the most uncomfortable diseases.

2.  One hundred dollars (is-are) not a lot of money to some people.

3.  She (doesn’t-don’t) look very well today.

4.  Twenty minutes (is-are) the amount of time it takes me to get home from work.

5.  It (doesn’t-don’t) seem so cold today.

(2) a-What is meant by a pronoun?

    A pronoun is a word that refers to or takes the place of a noun.  The noun being referred to is called the antecedent.  Pronouns can do everything that nouns can do. A pronoun can act as a subject, direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, and more. The identity of the pronoun is made clear by the antecedent.  For example:

The boy (antecedent) said that  he (pronoun) was tired.

 In this example, the pronoun “he” is referring back to the noun (antecedent) “boy.”

b- What are the different types of pronouns?

There are many different types of pronouns: personal, possessive, reflexive, intensive, demonstrative, interrogative, relative, indefinite, and reciprocal.

(1)-Personal Pronouns are pronouns that refer to a specific person or thing in a sen-tence and can be divided into two groups: nominative and objective.  

•  Nominative personal pronouns can act as the subject of a sentence (I, you, he, she, it, we, they).  For example:

 I went to the store after work. You should not go to class if you are sick.

 •  Objective personal pronouns, on the other hand, act as objects of a sentence (me, you, him, her, it, us, them).  For example:

  Alex came out with Joe and me.     Melissa really likes him.

  (2)-Possessive Pronouns are pronouns that show ownership; in other words, something belongs to someone else (my/mine, your/yours, his, her/hers, its, our/ours, their/theirs).  For example: 

That book is mine .    Their shoes are under the bed.

  (3)-Reflexive Pronouns are pronouns that are used to show that the subject of the sentence is receiving the action of the verb (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves).  For example: 

   She can handle the situation herself.   We can write the paper ourselves.

 Personal             Personal        Possessive           Reflexive

(Nominative)                      (Objective)

I                                         me                   my/mine                   myself

you                                     you                your/yours                yourself

he                                       him                his                             himself

she                                      her                her/hers                    herself

it                                         it                    its                              itself

we                                      us                   our/ours                   ourselves

they                                   them              their/theirs              themselves

(4)-Intensive Pronouns are pronouns that are used only to place emphasis on the subject and are not essential to the meaning of the sentence.  Note: These pronouns look the same as reflexive pronouns, but they act

differently in the sentence and are always placed next to the subject that they are emphasizing (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves).  For example: 

 You yourself must go to the police station.

*Here, the pronoun “yourself” is used only to place emphasis on the subject “you” and does not change the meaning of the sentence.

 (5)-Demonstrative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to identify nouns and answer the question “which one?”  (this, that, these, those)  For example:

     These are the books that John was talking about.

      *Here, the pronoun “these” identifies which books John was talking about.

 (6)-Interrogative Pronouns are pronouns that are used only in reference to a question (who, what, which, whom, whose).  For example:

Which one of these pens is yours?           Who is that girl?

 (7)-Relative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to connect clarifying information to nouns or other pronouns within a sentence (who, that, which, whom, whose, where, when, whoever, whichever, whomever, whatever).

Examples:

• I wish I knew whose shoes had made the carpet so muddy.

• The suit that she wore to the wedding was ruined by the rain.

• Newcastle buses, which usually run on time, terminate near the station.

• We’re going on a picnic to the beach next weekend, whatever the weather is like.

• The mayor, who had once been a leading businesswoman, was accused of corruption.

• The assault victim had nobody to whom to turn for help.

• Whoever caused the company’s bankruptcy should be held responsible.

• He should make reparation to whomever his crimes have affected.

Who vs. Whom :

Whom is used when referring to an object.

  With whom did Alex go out?

  The letter should be addressed to whom?

Who is used when referring to a subject.

  Who went to the store after work? 

  Who sings this song?

Note: “Who” works like a nominative pronoun, while “whom” works like an objective pronoun.

Who vs. That

Who is used to refer to people or animals with names.

  Liz, who wrote the review, got in trouble.

That is used to refer to things.

The paper that I wrote last night vanished.

That vs. Which

That is used in essential clauses (clauses necessary for understanding the subject of a sentence).

  The pizza parlor that is down the street from the college is great.

*The subject is unclear without the additional information.  Which pizza parlor?  The one that is down the street from the college.

Which is used in nonessential clauses (clauses unnecessary for understanding the subject of a sentence).

  My mom’s jewelry was stolen, which upset her very much.

*The subject is clear without the additional information.

(7)-Indefinite Pronouns are pronouns that are used in reference to a person or thing that is not specific or not known.  Indefinite pronouns are also used to identify a general group of people or things (i.e. everyone, everybody, anyone, anybody, somebody, most, all, each every, some, none, one, few, both, many, several).  For example:

  Everybody has to take the Writing Proficiency Examination in order to graduate.

 All of the seniors were excited for graduation.  

Note:  Singular indefinite pronouns must always take singular verbs. 

 (8)-Reciprocal Pronouns are pronouns that are used to refer to a mutual set of people (each other, each other’s, one another, one another’s).

For example:

We need to help one another survive.

They had remembered each other’s phone numbers.