Subject and Verb Agreement

Subject and Verb Agreement May 2007Welcome to our class Sing. S 	 +	 Sing. V	Daisy does her homework every day.	Peter likes swimming a lot.Plural S 	 	Plural V	They live in a very nice flat.	Children need to have a good education.S (Uncount. Noun) 	 Sing. V	The news makes her saddolikeliveneedmake1S + [Prepositional phrase] + V The danger of forest fires is not to be taken lightly.The study of languages is very interesting.The ideas in that book are interesting.(Prepositional phrase has no effect on the Verb)bebebe2S1 	with 	S2 	 +	 VS1	together with	along with 	as well as 	accompanied by ( these expressions have no effect on the Verb)The actress, along with her manager and some friends, is going to a party tonight.Mr. Robbins, accompanied by his wife and children, is arriving tonight.bebe3Every body in our class is very nice.If anyone calls, tell him I’ll be back later.any + sing. Nounanybody anyone anything no one nobody nothingsome + sing. Nounsomebodysomeonesomethingeveryeverybody everyoneeverythingeacheither *neither*Singular if they are not used with or and nor S(indefinite pronoun) Sing.Vbecall4	none + of the + Uncount. N + sing.VNone of the news is believable.none + of the + plural count N + pluralVNone of the students have finished the exam yet. sing. N uncount. N 	{ }no +sing.Vno + plural N + plural VNo example is relevant to this case.No examples are relevant to this case.5 Neither you nor Bill is going to the beach today.Either John or you are going to the beach today. Neither Ann nor her friends are going to class today.eitherneither { }+ S1 +{ }ornor+ S2VS2 be goingbe goingbe going 6Ten dollars is not enough to buy a car.Five years is a long time for her to wait. Collective Nouns indicating time, money, and measurements used as a whole are Singular Verbbebe7Teaching is my career.Growing flowers is her hobby.S is a Gerund + Sing. Vbebe8What I know is very simple.That you get good marks makes your parents happy.S is a Clause + Sing. Vbemake9Collective NounsAlso many words indicating a number of people or animal are singular. The following are usually singular: government 	family team	club group committee 	army	 class	crowd public	 congress 	majority*	minority( majority is followed by a plural N → usually plural V)	The crowd was wild with excitement.	Our team is going to win the game.( In some cases they are plural if the sentences indicate that the individual members are acting separately).10a number of + plural N + plural Vthe number of + plural Noun + sing.V A number of students are going to the class picnic.The number of days in a week is seven.The number of residents who have been questioned on this matter is quite small.(a number of = many)be goingbebe11Tom and Mary go to school every day.The actress and her manager are going to a party tonight.S1 and S2 + Plural V gobe going12S goàm nhieàu N nhöng chæ cuøng 1 ngöôøi hay 1 vaät.Nhöõng N taän cuøng vôùi “s” nhö teân caùc moân hoïc, caùc ngaønh hoaït ñoäng hay caùc chöùng beänh.use Sing.V when:13Any questions?Now open your booksDo Practice1Subject & Verb Agreement.Student’s book p. 120Exercise1. A number of reports (be) ________ givenare2. My uncle’s old friend and comrade (be)  _________ there very oftenis3. The loss of these books (be)________ importantis4. Neither Susan nor her friends (know) __________ French .know5.Under the trees (be) ___________ a young boy .is6. Two-third of the class (be) __________ under 15 .are7. Not only the boys but also Tom (be)________ there .is8. Mike as well as his friends (have) ________ come .has9. Five kilos of potatoes (make) _________ the bag heavymakes10. Most of the food (have) _________ been spoiled .has11. Neither you nor Anna (be) ________ correct .is12.The author and lecturer of the book (be) _____ comingisGIVE THE CORRECT FORM OF THE VERBS IN PARENTHESES:What time (be) ______________the news on television?The police (have) ______________arrested the thief.Physics (be) ______________more difficult than Chemistry.Ten tons of rice (cost) ______________a great deal of money.Three years (be) ______________a long time without a job.Five thousand dollars (be) ______________a big sum.The growth of the frozen food business (have) ______________called for the skills of engineers.Tom and I (be) ______________cousins.Two hours (be) ______________a long time to wait.The production of dyes, perfumes and explosive (have) ______________made a lot of progress.Five days (be, not) ______________enough for a good holiday.The police (want) ______________to interview my friend about a robbery.The people (arrive) ______________early for the lecture.Economics (be) ______________John’s major field of study.A number of students (come) ______________to the party.Better methods of refrigeration (depend) ______________on engineers.Two hundred and twenty dollars (be, not) ______________much.The news about Mr. Hogan (be) ______________surprising.The old in my country (be) ______________cared for by their children.A large amount of money (be) ______________spent on the film “Titanic”.THANK YOU