1. Subject and Verb / Pronoun and Antecedent Chapter 5
Agreement
Subject and Verb /
Pronoun and Antecedent
Chapter 5

2. Agreement Subject / Verb Pronoun / Antecedent Number Intervening
Singular
Plural
Intervening
Indefinite
Compound subjects
Special problems
Pronoun / Antecedent
Gender
Person

3. Subject / Verb Agreement
A subject must agree with a verb in number.
Singular subjects take singular verbs
Ex)
Election Day is tomorrow.
My grandfather trains dogs.

4. Subject / Verb Agreement
Plural subjects take plural verbs
Teachers are nerds.
Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.

5. Subject / Verb Agreement
Collective nouns can be singular or plural, depending on how they are used in a sentence.
General Motors is holding its annual meeting in Detroit
The Chicago Bears were awesome.

6. Subject / Verb Agreement
Indefinite Pronouns
Some are singular, some are plural, and some can be singular or plural, depending on how they are used.

7. Subject / Verb Agreement
Indefinite Pronouns
Singular (need to remember these):
Anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, one, somebody, someone, something.
Ex) Everyone in America loves tourists.

8. Subject / Verb Agreement
The following indefinite pronouns are plural (need to remember these):
Both, few, many and several
Ex. Both of the chefs were Swedish.

9. Subject / Verb Agreement
The indefinite pronouns all, any, more, most, none, and some may be singular or plural, depending on their meaning in a sentence
Most of the food has already been eaten.
Most of the hot dogs have already been eaten.

10. Subject / Verb agreement
Compound Subjects
Subjects joined by and usually take a plural verb
Ex) Mr. Kelly and Mr. Waterman smell weird.
Subjects joined by or or nor take on a singular verb
Ex) Mr. Kelly or Mr. Waterman smells weird.

11. Subject / Verb Agreement
The LEAST you need to know:
Agreement means that sentence parts match
Subjects must agree with verbs

12. Your turn
Page 100 – Exercise 2: Identifying Subject and Verbs that Agree in Number

13. Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement
A pronoun usually refers to a noun or another pronoun, which is called the pronoun’s antecedent.

14. Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement
A pronoun must agree in number.
Singular pronouns refer to singular antecedents
Kung-fu star Jim Kelly made his debut in the movie Black Belt Jones.
Plural pronouns refer to plural antecedents
Beth and Lisa talk on their phones

15. Pronoun / Antecedent agreement
Pronouns must agree in gender
Ex) Tony eats his Frosted Flakes

16. Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement
Pronouns must agree in person
First person: I need a transcript of my grades.
Second person: Have you fastened your seatbelt?
Third person: They create their own dances.

17. Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement
Indefinite Pronouns
See page for list of indefinite pronouns. You will be responsible for these.

18. Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement
The most common of errors:
When the subject is singular, use either his, her or a combination of both.
WRONG:
Each student completes their homework.
RIGHT:
Each student completes his/her homework.
Each student completes his or her homework.
Each student completes her homework.
Each student completes his homework.

19. Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement
The LEAST you need to know
Make a pronoun clearly refer to a single antecedent
Place pronouns close to their antecedents.
Make a pronoun refer to a definite antecedent

20. Your turn
Page 114 Exercise 5: Supplying Pronouns that Agree with Their Antecedent

21. To Study for quiz
Pages 119 – 121: Chapter Review