10 rules for subject verb agreement
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
RULE1: The subject and verb must agree in number: both must be singular, or both must be plural.
Example:The car belongs to my brother.(SINGULAR)
They also play football.(PLURAL)
RULE2: The number of the subject (singular or plural) is not changed by words(or a phrase) that come in between the subject and the verb.
Example: One of the boxes is open.
Here,the subject “one” and the verb “is” are both singular.
RULE3: Some subjects always take a singular verb even though the meaning may seem plural.
Example: Someone in the game was (not were) hurt.
RULE4: The following words may be singular or plural, depending upon their use in a sentence: some,any, all, most.
Example: Most of the news is good. (singular)
Most of the flowers were yellow. (plural)
RULE5: Subjects joined by “and” are plural. Subjects joined by “or” or “Nor” take a verb that agrees with the last subject.
Example: Bob and George are leaving.
Neither Bob nor George is leaving.
RULE6: “There” and “here” are never subjects.In sentences that begin with these words, the subject is usually found later on in the sentence.
Example: There were five books on the shelf. (were, agrees with the subject “book”)
RULE7: Collective nouns may be singular or plural, depending on their use in the sentence.
Examples: The orchestra is playing a hit song. (Orchestra is considered as one unit—singular)
The orchestra were asked to give their musical backgrounds. (Orchestra is considered as separate units-plural)
RULE8: Some nouns, while plural in form, are actually singular in meaning.
Example: Mathematics is (not are) an easy subject for some people.
RULE9: “Doesn’t” is a contraction of “does not” and should be used only with a singular subject.”Don’t” is a contraction of “do not” and should be used only with a plural subject.
Example: He doesn’t(does not) like it.
RULE10:Nouns such as ‘civics’, ‘mathematics’,‘dollars’, and ‘news’ require singular verbs.
Eg.A million dollars is needed to renovate that building.