The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College The Grammar Business Part Three 5. Subject  Verb Agreement

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 2 The form of the verb may change depending on the subject

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 3 So if the verb is SEE and the subject is SHE  She sees him.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 4 But if the verb is SEE and the subject is THEY  They see him.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 5 And if the verb is SEE and the subject is SHE  She has seen him.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 6 But if the verb is SEE and the subject is THEY  They have seen him.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 7 Some subjects are singular (only one) Others are plural (more than one) She is seeing him. They are seeing him.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 8 A common error is to get subject-verb agreement wrong small children often do this My mummy and daddy is very cross. I lives in a big, big house. They hasn’t got as much money as me

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 9 In some cases big people get it wrong too For example, what’s wrong with  “I have three friends and each of them are completely trustworthy.”

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 10 The answer is ‘Each’ is singular - it means literally ‘each one’ and so the sentence should read  “I have three friends and each of them is completely trustworthy.”

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 11 And what about Using ‘both’  “I have two friends and both of them is completely trustworthy.”

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 12 Yes, that was wrong! ‘Both’ is plural, so the sentence should read  “I have two friends and both of them are completely trustworthy.”

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 13 The word Neither can cause similar problems Neither means ‘neither one’ - so it’s singular And the following sentence is correct  Neither of them is very happy.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 14 A difficulty is also caused by Group nouns like  The Government The Labour Party The group The army The team The family The orchestra

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 15 Group nouns can be regarded as either singular or plural both of the following are correct  [or either one of them is correct]  The Government has announced a new tax on students. The Government have announced a new tax on students.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 16 When using group nouns It is important to be consistent If you decide the Government is plural, stick to that idea and refer to ‘their’ decisions If you decide the Government is singular, refer to ‘its’ decisions

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 17 Pair nouns are different A pair noun is a noun for one thing made of two parts which are the same For example: jeans, scissors, glasses, binoculars A pair noun is plural

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 18 So you say My jeans are dirty - their knees are quite black My scissors are missing and NOT  My jeans is dirty - their knees are quite black My scissors is missing

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 19 And you need to be careful with people police cattle  People, police and cattle are all nouns with a plural meaning and they need a plural verb

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 20 And so you have to say The police have arrested one woman and they will question her later. The cattle are lowing and their feet are very painful. People have flocked to the country in hordes, bringing their families with them.

The Grammar Business © 2001 Glenrothes College 21 Try a self-testing exercise to check your confidence on this You’ll find one on Handout Four.