1. Sentence Structure

2. Subjects and verbs agree in number. Example: My friend is tall. My friends are tall. My friend and I are tall.

3. Let’s look at the following situations: Situation 1: When a sentence begins with the word there + verb-to- be, the subject follows the be verb. Example: There is a ball in the basket. There are three balls in the basket.

4. Situation 2: Prepositional phrase (pp) A group of words beginning with a preposition and ending with a noun/pronoun Example: 1. One of the girls is my sister. pp 2. The man with brown eyes is my father. pp 3. The shoes in the shop are beautiful. pp

5. Prepositional phrases may come after a subject, but they are not part of the subject. Mentally cross them out when deciding if the verb should be singular or plural. Example: One (of the girls) is my sister. (Subject is one, not girls) The man (with brown eyes) is my father. (Subject is man, not eyes) The shoes (in the shop) are beautiful. (Subject is shoes, not shop)

6. Situation 3: Some words are always singular. One of my brothers is a doctor. Much of my time is spent in school. Each of them owns a car and a house. Either Mary or her brother is able to play the violin. Neither Mary or her brother is able to play the violin.

7. Situation 4: Some words are always plural Both of my parents are doctors. Several of my friends speak English fluently. Many of my friends work part-time in the restaurant.

8. Situation 5: A few words can be either singular or plural. In these cases, you must refer to the noun in the pp. SOME Some of the money is missing. (singular) Some of the teachers are missing. (plural) ALL All of my time is spent in the library. (singular) All of my friends are doctors. (plural)

9. MOST Most of the chocolate is gone. (singular) Most of the chocolates are gone. (plural) A LOT A lot of the homework is difficult. (singular) A lot of the drawings are painted by students. (plural) NONE None of the food is delicious. (singular) None of the cakes are delicious. (plural)

10. Sentence vs Fragment A sentence must have at least one subject and one verb If it is missing a subject or verb, then that sentence is known as a fragment A fragment is a sentence error

11. Example:  Fragment Is a very good sports activity. (missing subject)  To correct this sentence, add a subject. Swimming is a very good sports activity.

12. Example:  Fragment Students in that school very hardworking. (missing verb)  To correct this sentence, add a verb. Students in that school are very hardworking.