Concord
Verb
must agree with the subject
Subject in number (singular / plural) or
person (1st, 2nd or 3rd)
‘be’ appears in different forms i.e., am, is (sin) and are
(plural)- present and future
was (sin)
and were (plural) for past
other forms of verbs have and has
if
subject is singular – verb is singular
if
subject is plural – verb is plural
eg: The pages is held by a staple (X)
The
pages are held by a staple (correct)
2. Phrase in between the subject and the verb
- singular
Eg: The message (sub) between the lines
(Prepositional Phrase) is that we need to finish before
Monday.
The message between the lines are that we need to finish before
Monday. (X)
The case (sub)
of champagne bottles are
for the year end party (X)
The case of
champagne bottles is for the
year end party
The sentiment in our offices is that our bonuses were measly this
year (correct)
3. Two subject connected by either / or,
neither / nor
Use singular verb
Eg: Neither
Sita nor Geetha has the keys to the office cubboard
Either Mary or Sam is manning the information desk at the conference
4. Two subjects one is singular and one is
plural – use plural verb
Either Mary or Stewards are manning the info desk at the conference
5. When two subjects are connected by ‘and’ – use plural form of verb
Eg: Ria and Reena are responsible for the
exchange serever.
Eliza and Reshma are our new project manager
Exception
1. Compound
subject connected with ‘and is seen as singular subject due to popular use
2. Subject
connected by ‘and’ – are of the same person or entity – establishment, body,
operation eg: Pap and Wors (sausage) is my favorite meal
6. Plural subject – singular verb
Conveys
single unit of distance, time or money
Eg: 95 cents is a great bargain
100 kms is a gruelling daily commute
25 mins is all I have to prepare
Other subject – singular verb
Each, everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone,
somebody, nobody, someone, none and no-one
Eg: Each of our staff members has to fill in
an evaluation form.
Anyone who wants a day off in view of overtime must still fill out a
leave form.
Some one has left a coffee cup on the glass of photocopy machine
None of us wants to admit to being behind on filling
7. Subjects that are collective nouns –
singular verb
Eg:
The board wants to make the decision by next Thursday.
The staff is in a meeting
The team is due to fly out today
Board, staff, team – many individuals – in
collective
formes singular subject – singular verb
EXERCISES
1. Plenty
of mangoes and bananas are available in this season
2. A
dictionary and atlas are
missing from the library
3. The
leader as well as his brothers belongs to the same tribe
4. Cats
and dogs do not get along
5. The
brothers as well as their sister are
good at their studies.
6. The
students acompanied by their teacher
have gone on a picnic
7. A
lot of houses have collapsed in the strom
8. The
children as well as their mother are missing
9.
A large sum of money was stolen
10. One of my friends has gone to France
11. Each of the boys
was given a present
12. Neither of the
contestants was able to win a decisive victory.
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