Stumbling blocks

Agreement
in English

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 Can you supply the missing verbs?

It͛s a sad situation, you know, when

more than one man love/loves you.

It͛s even worse when you know you

must choose and all but one of them
are/is sure to lose.

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_he basic rule states that a
singular subject takes a singular
verb while a plural subject takes
a plural verb. _he trick is
knowing whether the subject is
singular or plural. _he next trick
is recognizing a singular or plural
verb.
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 ës the two examples show, the concept of
agreement/concord is a bit tricky. Let͛s consider
some really thorny cases:

è
tructures containing: =

= , =
=,


=, 

, =


è
tructures containing 
,  
,



 
=

è xpressions like 














etc

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tructures containing: =

= , =
=,


=, 

, =


è Dhrases such as 


=

= , and =


, etc. are not the same as =. _he phrase
introduced by =

= etc. only modifies but does
not compound the subjects (as the word = would
do):

_he Governor as well as/rather than/along with his

aides  going to jail.
_he aides as well as/rather than/along with the
Governor = going to jail.

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,  
, 


 

=

_he conjunction
 does not conjoin (as = does): when 
 or

 is used the subject closer to the verb determines the
number of the verb. Whether the subject comes before or
after the verb doesn't matter; the proximity determines the
number:

1. ither my father or my brothers = going to sell the house.

2. Neither my brothers nor my father  going to sell the house.
  either my brothers or my father responsible?
4. Is either my father or my brothers responsible?
5. Not only my son but also my four maids = here with me.
6. Not only my four maids but also my son  here with me.

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 üecause a sentence like "Neither my brothers
nor my father  going to sell the house"
sounds peculiar, it is probably a good idea to
put the plural subject closer to the verb
whenever that is possible:

Neither my father nor my brothers = going to

sell the house.

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 xpressions like 














etc
ës a general rule, treat these words as third-person singular
pronouns (e.g., 

). In the following sentences, each
subject is an indefinite pronoun and each verb ends in  :

Nobody = to be perfect.

verybody = the fool sometimes.
ach of the divers = an oxygen tank.

In that last sentence, note that = agrees with the subject

=, not with  (the object of the preposition).

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 Î




=
 

In informal speech, everybody, etc. sometimes

takes a plural verb because nglish does not
have a word that has the meaning of  and
:
When the police asked if the suspects
knew the dead man, everybody shook
 heads.
verybody lost  goods in the
disaster.

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 Concord with collective nouns
ë collective noun is the name of a group that
usually functions like a single unit.
ome
examples include family, class, audience,
crowd, committee, team, jury, orchestra and
group. If you are referring to the group as a
single unit, then the noun is a singular
subject (and needs an  ending on its verb).
If you are referring to the individual members
of the group, then the noun is a plural
subject:
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 D= 


_here is one collective noun that does
function like those listed above: the word
 . When it is used in the phrase 

 

, it is always a singular subject, and
when it is used in the phrase =
 

, it
is always a plural subject. Look at these:

ë number of people in this state = very

poor.
_he number of poor people in the state 
growing.
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 When the
ubject is a Quantity
Like collective nouns, words that state a
quantity or an amount usually function like
singular subjects, but they can function like
plural subjects when they refer to a part of
something, not the whole thing. Usually in
this case, the quantity is followed by the
word
. Words of quantity include amounts
of time, money, height, length, width, space,
and weight. Look at the following:

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è ´ne hundred thousand light years
is an extremely long time.

è Three million dollars is the cost of

the typical telescope.

è Two-thirds of the galaxies are

elliptical in shape.
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 Ëefective nouns
è ‰ords such as glasses, pants, pliers,
trousers, drawers, tweezers, spectacles,
shorts, knickers, shoes, binoculars and
scissors ² called summation plurals ²
are regarded as plural (and require
pronouns unless
plural verbs and pronouns)
they're preceded by the phrase pair of
(in which case the word pair becomes
the subject). Look at the following:

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I love your trousers; where did you buy  ?

 binoculars = damaged; can  still
see very far?
  pliers = rusty; do you have another
pair?
My glasses = weak; I need to change  .

he wears knickers all the time; oh, but 

look so nice on her.
_hose shoes 

 old; you need to buy new

 .
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 ü
I need to buy a new pair of shoes.
_hat pair of binoculars 
damaged.

he wears a pair of knickers every

day.
Whose is  pair of trousers?
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 V

´pen the Agreement folder
on the CD for this training
and use the files in it as
further guide to
understanding the concept.

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