Intensive English

Review for
Business
Correspondence
Subject-Verb Agreement
in Number
• The subject and verb in a
sentence must agree in number—
that is, use a singular verb with a
singular subject and a plural verb
with a plural subject.
• The team wins the game.
• The players win the game.
• Subjects Including And or Or
• Use a plural verb with a subject
with two or more elements
connected by and.
• The manager and her assistant
work late.
• Use a singular verb with a subject
with two or more elements
connected by or or nor. If the
subject includes both singular and
plural nouns, however, the verb
should agree with the noun closest
to it.
The manager or her assistant works
late.
The manager or the assistants work
late.
• Also use a singular verb with a
singular subject followed by a phrase
that begins with together with, along
with, as well as, in addition to, or plus.
• The manager as well as his assistant
works late.
• For clarity, consider replacing such
phrases with the word and. If you do,
change the verb from a singular to a
plural.
Collective Nouns as Subject
• If a subject is a collective noun treated
as a unit, use a singular verb with it. If
the individual action of the noun’s
components is emphasized, however,
use a plural verb instead.
• The board was unanimous in its
decision.
The majority of the staff were in
agreement.
Indefinite Pronouns as Subject
• When used as a subject, each, either,
everything, someone, anybody,
another, and similar pronouns take a
singular verb.
• Everything in the office has been
packed.
• Both, few, many, others, and several
require a plural verb.
• Few were eager to go to work.
• All, any, some, more, most, and
none may need a singular or a
plural verb, depending on the
context in which they are used.
• All was lost.
All were brought to tears.
Frequently Confused Singular
and Plural Forms
• Some seemingly plural subjects
require a singular verb:
• words or word groups that are plural
in form, but singular in effect

• The news is spreading throughout

the industry. The company’s bread
and butter was in jeopardy.
Frequently Confused Singular
and Plural Forms
• company names, geographical
locations, and titles of works that
define a single place or thing
• Johnson & Associates is a profitable
firm.
• words that express amount, time,
distance, or quantity
• Fifty dollars is an appropriate price
for the product.
• A few nouns describe a
single object or concept but
by convention take a plural
verb when used as a
subject.
• His credentials were
respected, but his ethics
were questioned.
Intensive English
Review for
Business
Correspondence
Subject-Verb Agreement
in Person
• The main verb and subject of a
sentence must agree in person.
Note in the following examples how
the form of the verb be changes
with the person of the subject.

• I am tired. [first person]

• You are tired. [second person]
• She is tired. [third person]
• If the nouns in a compound
subject are in different persons
and joined by or or nor, the
verb should agree with the
noun closest to it.

• You or I am the best player.

• She or you are going to win.

Intensive English
Review for
Business
Correspondence
Pronoun-Antecedent
Agreement in Gender
• A pronoun and its antecedent
should agree in gender.

• Incorrect: A father loves its

children.

• Correct: A father loves his

children.
• If two or more pronouns share an
antecedent, the pronouns should have
the same gender.
• Incorrect: Mary’s dog stopped to scratch
its neck before she ran after the ball.
• Correct: Mary’s dog stopped to scratch
its neck before it ran after the ball.
• Or, if the dog is known to be female:
Mary’s dog stopped to scratch her neck
before she ran after the ball.
Intensive English
Review for
Business
Correspondence
Gender-Specific Pronoun
Agreement
• A pronoun should agree in
number with its antecedent. For
example, in the following
sentence, the singular pronoun
his refers to anyone, a singular
antecedent.
• If anyone calls, please write
down his name and number.
• Although grammatically correct, this type
of construction is falling under attack as
both sexist and illogical. If anyone truly
means anyone, the caller could be a
woman as well as a man. Some experts
would argue that his in this sentence is
used generically—that the pronoun is
understood to mean both his and her. As
more people become sensitive to sexist
language, though, this position is
growing less convincing.
• In cases such as this, some writers and
publications now choose to break the
rule of pronoun-antecedent agreement
by using a plural pronoun.
• If anyone calls, please write down their
names and numbers.

• Although this construction is gaining

popularity, it is still not acceptable for
most formal writing.
• The problem can also be solved by
including both a masculine and a
feminine pronoun.

• If anyone calls, please write down his or

her name and number.

• Or: If anyone calls, please write down

her or his name and number.
• However, as this example demonstrates,
using both pronouns can create an
unwieldy sentence.
• Better methods of eliminating an
inappropriate gender-specific pronoun
include:
• rephrasing the sentence to eliminate the
problem.
• Please write down the name and
number of anyone who calls.
• using a plural noun and pronoun.
• If any people call, please write down
their names and numbers.

• substituting the gender-specific pronoun

with a gender-neutral noun.

• If anyone calls, please write down the

caller’s name and number.
• In some instances, a little thought will
produce the best solution. Perhaps the
writer of this sentence does not want the
name and number of anyone who calls.
Maybe he (or she) is interested in only a
particular caller or group of callers of the
same gender:
• If James calls, please write down his
number.
If anyone’s mother calls, please write
down her name and number.
• In these versions, not only has
the gender-specific pronoun
been used properly, but also
the writer’s instructions have
become clearer and more
precise.
Intensive English
Review for
Business
Correspondence
Pronoun-Antecedent
Agreement in Person
• To maintain a consistent point of view,
a pronoun and its antecedent should
agree in person.
• Incorrect: If someone makes an
omelet, you are bound to break an
egg. [shift from third to second
person]
• Correct: If you make an omelet, you
are bound to break an egg.
• Or: If someone makes an omelet, he
or she is bound to break an egg.
Intensive English
Review for
Business
Correspondence
Pronoun-Antecedent
Agreement in Number
• A pronoun and its antecedent
should agree in number; that is,
both should be singular or both
should be plural.
• Incorrect: The brothers visited his
mother.
• Correct: The brothers visited their
mother
Pronouns with Two or More
Antecedents

• A pronoun that refers to two or

more antecedents connected
by and should be plural.
• Maria and Janie brought their
books to class.
Pronouns with Two or More
Antecedents
• A pronoun that refers to two or more
singular antecedents connected by or or
nor should be singular.
• Neither Maria nor Janie brought her books
to class.
• If one antecedent is singular and another
is plural, the pronoun should be plural.
• Neither Maria nor the other girls brought
their books to class.
Indefinite Pronouns as
Antecedents
• Most indefinite pronouns—such
as each, either, everything,
someone, anybody, and another
—are considered singular.
Pronouns that refer to them,
therefore, should also be singular.
• Someone needs to be the first to
raise his hand.
Indefinite Pronouns as
Antecedents
• Some indefinites—such as both,
few, many, others, and several—
are always plural in meaning and
require plural pronouns when
acting as antecedents.
• Few of the boys finished their
homework.
Indefinite Pronouns as
Antecedents
• All, any, some, more, most, and
none may need either a singular
or a plural pronoun, depending on
the context in which they are
used.
• All is remembered best in its own
time.
All surrendered their weapons.
Collective Nouns as Antecedents
• If a collective noun is treated as a
unit, a pronoun referring to it should
be singular. If the noun’s
components are emphasized,
however, the pronoun should be
plural.
• The council reached its decision.
The council cast their votes for
president.
Intensive English
Review for
Business
Correspondence
Active and Passive Voices
of Verbs
• What is a verb?
• The verb is perhaps the most
important part of speech in
English. Without it, there would
be no sentence.
• A Verb is a word that
expresses time while showing
an action, a condition, or an
existence.
• Example:
• James runs daily. – shows
action
• James will be sorry. - shows a
condition
• James was there. – expresses
existence
 Active and
Passive Voices of
the Verb
• In grammar, what is a voice?
• Voice is the property of a verb that
indicates the relationship between
action the verb describes and its
subject. In the active voice, the subject
performs the action. In the passive
voice, the subject receives it.
• Active: Jade eats the strawberry pie.

• Passive: The strawberry pie is eaten

by Jade.
• In grammar, what is a voice?
• Voice is a form of a verb that shows
whether the subject is performing
the action.
• There are two voices in English:
active and passive. Only action
verbs show voice, linking verbs do
not.
Differences between Active and
Passive Voice
• Any action verb, with or without
direct object can be in the active
voice.
• ACTIVE VOICE:
• Ken bought a new laptop.
• My sister drives carefully.
• A verb is active if its subject
performs the action.
Differences between Active and
Passive Voice
• A verb in the active voice
emphasizes the person or thing
that performs the action the verb
describes.

• Bobby threw a ball.

• Jane called Loraine on the
phone.
Differences between Active and
Passive Voice

• PASSIVE VOICE:
• A new laptop was bought by
Ken.
• My sister was driven to school.
• A verb is passive if its action
is performed upon the subject
Differences between Active and
Passive Voice
• A verb in the passive voice
emphasizes the person or
thing that receives the action.
• A ball was thrown by Bobby

• Loraine was called on the

phone by Jane.
The Forms of Passive Verbs
• Changing from the active to the passive
voice alter the form of the verb. Passive
verbs always have two parts
• A passive verb is made from a form of be
plus the past participle of a transitive
verb.
• A transitive verb as you may recall, is
one that can’t have a direct object.
• The verb phrase in the example is was
bought. The helping verb was makes the
verb phrase past tense.
The Verb “drive” in the passive voice
• Present: he is driven
• Past: he was driven
• Future: he will be driven
• Present perfect: he has been driven
• Past perfect: he had been driven
• Future perfect: he will have been driven
• Present progressive: he is being driven
• Past Progressive:he was being driven
Using Voice Correctly
• Use the active voice whenever possible.
• ACTIVE: Billy delivered the cabinet.
• PASSIVE: The cabinet was delivered by
Billy.
• There are, of course, times when it is
appropriate to use passive voice.
• Use the passive voice to emphasize the
receiver of an action rather than the
performer of an action.
 About voice of the verb
Voice refers to the function of the verb
indicating whether the subject acts as
performer of the action or the one acted upon.
The verb is in the active voice if the subject is
the doer of the action. It is in the passive voice
if the subject is the one acted upon in the
sentence.
As a general rule, active voice is preferred in
communication but sometimes passive voice is
appropriate in some instance:
to emphasize the receiver of the action more
than the doer
prefer (passive) - The thirteenth
month pay is now being computed.

Avoid - The treasurer is now

computing the bonus
for this year.
 to avoid the tone of accusation

prefer (passive) - Some documents were taken

from my file
Avoid (active) - You took some documents
from my desk.

Prefer (passive) - The vendor was killed at the

sidewalk.

Avoid (active) - Peter killed the vendor this

morning at the sidewalk.
 to conceal names or identities
prefer (passive) - The program
was assessed
poorly.

Avoid (active) - The participants from

private corporations assessed the
program as poor.
Thank you

for Listening
Spelling Exercise
• deceive
• deficiency
• debtor
• deductible
• Detrimental
• Disappearance
• Disbursement
Spelling Exercise
• Disbursement
• Dissatisfaction
• Elaborate
• Eligible
• Eliminate
• Embarrass
• Emphatically
Spelling Exercise
• Endeavor
• Enforceable
• Enthusiastic
• Erroneous
• Exaggerate
• Exhaustible
• Exhibition
Spelling Exercise
• Exorbitant
• Experience
• Extraordinary
• Feasible
• February
• Financially
• Financier
Spelling Exercise
• Foreign
• Forfeit
• Freight