LC-1090 - - V01, 03.08.2021-10.09.2021
This course space end date is set to 10.09.2021 Search Courses: LC-1090
7. Noun-verb agreement quiz
A difficult area of grammar can be getting nouns (or pronouns) to agree with verbs. We will look at some of the rules of agreement before you try the final quiz of this section.
Rule 1: the verb agrees with its subject in number
EXAMPLE: The professors are in a department meeting but Professor Smith is late.
Rule 2: The number of the subject (singular or plural) is not changed by words that come between the subject and the verb.
EXAMPLE: One of the professors is late for today's meeting. (i.e.the word 'professors' does not change the verb)
Rule 3: Some subjects always take a singular verb even though the meaning may seem plural.
EXAMPLE: Everybody is coming to the departmental meeting.
Rule 4: Subjects joined by and are plural. Subjects joined by or or nor take a verb that agrees with the last subject.
EXAMPLES: Professor Smith and Professor Jones are leaving the meeting.
Neither Doctor Jekyll nor Dr Watson is leaving yet.
Either the girl or the boys are responsible for the vandalism.
Rule 5: The pronouns there and here are never subjects. In sentences that begin with these words, the subject is usually found later on in the sentence.
EXAMPLES: There were many cases of theft from the university library last
year. (i.e. were agrees with the subject 'cases')
Here is the research paper you wanted. (i.e. is agrees with subject
'paper')
Rule 6: Collective nouns may be singular or plural, depending on their use in the sentence.
EXAMPLES: (i) The committee is meeting to assess the doctoral candidate's
thesis defence. (Here the committee is viewed as a single unit)
(ii)The committee are
offering their opinions on the doctoral
candidate's performance. (Here
the committe is viewed as
separate individuals, i.e as individual committee members)
Rule 7: Expressions of time, money, measurement, and weight are usually singular when the amount is considered as one unit.
EXAMPLES: Five credits is (not are) not much for a course that requires all this
studying.
Ten days is (not are) not nearly enough time to finish the essay.
However, in some instances these terms are used in the plural sense:
There are thirty minutes left before the exam finishes.
Rule 8: Some nouns, while plural in form, are actually singular in meaning.
EXAMPLE: Mathematics is not an easy subject.
TASK: Now give the quiz a try.
(Note. here is a good online link if you want to explore these rules further: www.pcc.edu/staff/pdf/645/SubjectVerbAgreement.pdf
Grading method: Highest grade