Agreement Within Sentences
1. Subjects must agree with verbs. Pronouns must agree with their antecedents.
2. Follow ALL rules, not what “sounds right.”
3. Singular to singular. Plural to plural.
A person must choose his/her friends carefully.
The students shouted their approval.
WRONG: Someone left their uniform in the locker room.
4. Singular verbs end in S—runs. A singular subject needs a singular verb.
The dog runs across the yard.
Plural verbs do not end in S—run
The dogs run across the yard.
5. The verb agrees with the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the phrase.Do not be misled by a phrase that comes between the subject and the verb. The subject will NEVER be in the l phrase.
The soundof chimes is pleasant to hear.
(Of chimes is a prepositional phrase, so cross it out to avoid confusion)
The pack of wolves is/are chasing me through the forest.
What is your subject? Pack or wolves? Remember to take out the prepositional phrase.
6. Or and nor should be referred to by a singular pronoun.
Neither Dave nor Chad passed his test.
7. If an indefinite pronoun is your subject, you must determine if the pronoun is singular or plural.
All, any, most, none, some are the indefinite pronouns, meaning we are not definite about whether the verb should be singular or plural, so look at the object of the preposition only when these pronouns are the subject.
Most of my dogsare friendly.
Most of my homeworkis finished.
8. Some words appear to be plural but are singular in meaning and should take a singular verb.
Physics is hard to learn. (It is one class. Replace with a different class just to check.)
Chicken pox is a nasty disease. (Cancer is a nasty disease)
Spaghetti and meatballs is my favorite meal. (Peanut butter and jelly….)
Note: the word dollars is a special case. When talking about an amount of money, it requires a singular verb, but when referring to the dollars themselves, a plural verb is required.
Ninety-five dollars is a lot of money to spend on a pair of running shoes.
The dollars are quickly adding up after so many generous donations.
Note: Nouns such as scissors, tweezers, trousers, pants, gloves, and shears require plural verbs. (Reason: There are two or more parts to these things.)
The scissors are over there.
My pants are too big.
9. Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person but are considered singular since they are doing something together. They take a singular verb. Examples of collective nouns include group, team, committee, class, pride, faculty, and family.
The teamenjoys winning.
The jury eats lunch at noon.
NOTE: In very few cases, the plural verb is used if the individuals in the group are thought of and specifically referred to or doing things individually or independently.
The jury cast votes stating guilty or innocent to see if deliberations were still necessary.
10. Periods of time, weights, measures, numbers, & fractions are usually considered singular units.
Almosthalf of the salad is gone.
Two hoursis a long time.
One hundred pounds (is/are) a lot of weight to bench-press.
One-third of 300 is/are 100.
My mom said, “I don’t think that 10:00am is/are too early to wake you up.”
11. Use a SINGULAR pronoun or verb for every word that ends in ONE or BODY and the other pronouns listed here: Each, Either, Neither, One, Everyone, Everybody, No one, Nobody, Anyone, Someone, Somebody
Someone left his/her book here.
Either Michael or Kevin is going to drive me to the airport.
Each of eights sistersis going to Bermuda for her brother’s wedding. (Sounds awkward, but it is right!)
12. Phrases beginning with words such as with, together with, including, as well as, and in addition to are NOT part of the subject.
David, together with all of his friends, is coming over tonight.
My English grade, as well as my math and history grades, is not as good as I had hoped.
13. When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or pronoun joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the part of the subject that is closer to the verb.
Neither Dave nor his friendslike sushi.
14. When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or nor, use a singular verb.
My mom or my dad is picking me up tonight after practice.
15. When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use a plural verb.
Jackie and Tom forgot their homework.
Subject-Verb Agreement
Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject.
1. Annie and her brothers (is, are) at school.
2. Either my mother or my father (is, are) coming to the meeting.
3. The dog or the cats (is, are) outside.
4. Either my shoes or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.
5. George and Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that movie.
6. Benito (doesn't, don't) know the answer.
7. One of my sisters (is, are) going on a trip to France.
8. The man with all the birds (live, lives) on my street.
9. The movie, including all the previews, (take, takes) about two hours to watch.
10. The players, as well as the captain, (want, wants) to win.
11. Either answer (is, are) acceptable.
12. Every one of those books (is, are) fiction.
13. Nobody (know, knows) the trouble I've seen.
14. (Is, Are) the news on at five or six?
15. Mathematics (is, are) John's favorite subject, while Civics (is, are) Andrea's favorite subject.
16. Eight dollars (is, are) the price of a movie these days.
17. (Is, Are) the tweezers in this drawer?
18. Your pants (is, are) at the cleaner's.
19. There (was, were) fifteen candies in that bag. Now there (is, are) only one left!
20. The committee (debates, debate) these questions carefully.
21. The committee (leads, lead) very different lives in private.
22. The Prime Minister, together with his wife, (greets, greet) the press cordially.
23. All of the CDs, even the scratched one, (is, are) in this case.
Subject-Verb
1. Either the physicians in this hospital or the chief administrator is/ are going to have to make a decision.
2.Is/Arethe student’s parents or the teacher going to win this argument?
3. Some of the votes seem/seems to have been miscounted.
4. The tornadoes that tear through this county every spring are/is more than just a nuisance.
5. Everyone selected to serve on this jury have/has to be willing to give up a lot of time.
6.Chris Paul, together with his teammates, presents/present a formidable opponent on the basketball court.
7. He seems to forget that there are/is things to be done before he can graduate.
8. There is/are some people still stranded in that town after yesterday's flood.
9. Some of the grain appear/appears to be contaminated.
10.Ten pounds is/area lot of weight to lose in just one week.
11. Three-quarters of the student body is/are against the tuition hike.
12. A high percentage of the population is/are voting for the new school.
Agreement Within Sentences
Pronoun-Antecedent Pre-Quiz
Fill in the blanks with the proper pronoun.
- Some of the document lost ______formatting.
- Some of the students printed ______documents.
- A student should keep ______password a secret.
- In the 1980’s, the average person did not have a computer in ______home.
- Neither Ted nor Eric brought ______backpack to class.
- A cell phone usually comes with many accessories in ______initial package.
- Somebody forgot ______manners today!
- Each of the editing features is valued for ______ability to help people save time.
- Everyone needs to bring ______backpack to 10.______locker.
Subject-Verb Agreement Pre-Quiz
- The pride of lions (attack, attacks) an injured gazelle.
- My two sisters or my brother (is, are) coming to my basketball game tonight.
- My two sisters and my brother (is, are) coming to my basketball game tonight.
- Either my mom or dad (pick, picks) me up after school every day.
- It seems like one of my favorite characters (die, dies) every year.
- Hailee or Maddie (is, are) my best friend.
- Hailee and Maddie (is, are) my best friends.
- A nasty childhood disease (is, are) chicken pox.
- My mom’s macaroni and cheese (is, are) better than McAllister’s Deli.
- My sister, along with all her friends, (is, are) going to prom this May.
**This is hard! You must know your rules in order to write
grammatically-correct sentences!**
**These types of skills are tested on OGT, PSAT (two tests
you will take next year) and on the ACT and SAT.**
**Learning the “hard stuff” will separate your writing from others
and improve your scores drastically.**
Pronoun--Antecedent Agreement
Circle the correct pronoun.
1. Neither Mary nor Laura has turned in (her, their) report.
2. Anybody can learn to set up (his/her, their) own tent.
3. Each of the boys takes care of (his/her, their) own room.
4. Neither Tom nor Jim can give (his/her, their) report today.
5. Anyone can join our group if (he/she, they) is really interested.
6. The team can't play (its, their) best when it's too hot.
7. Either Bill or Tony will lend you (his, their) book.
8. Everyone should do (his/her, their) best work on the project.
9. George wants to go into politics; he finds (it, them) exciting.
10. Everyone should be in (his/her, their) seat before the curtain goes up.
11. The team is wearing (his, their) new helmets.
12. Every class officer will do (his/her, their) best.
13. I find that playing bridge is hard on (my, your) nerves.
14. Some of the vanilla has lost (its, their) flavor.
15. Everybody will receive (his/her, their) scores in the mail.
16. Someone will be disappointed by (his/her, their) grade on the exam.
17. One should not worry too much about (his/her, their) past mistakes.
18. Each of us is prepared to give (his/her, their) speech on Thursday.
19. Has anyone lost (his/her, their) jacket?
20. Nobody plays (his/her, their) best when the humidity is very high.
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Remember:
1. Neither, either, and each are singular.
2. Words ending in "one," "body," and "thing" are also singular.
3. A collective noun is singular if the group acts as one unit, plural if the members ofthe group act as individuals.
Directions: Choose the correct pronoun in the following sentences.
1.Each of the suspects had (his, their) own alibi.
2.Jeff and Isabel planned (his/her, their) wedding.
3.Did Gore or Bush announce (his, their) intent to run for president?
4.Neither the nails nor the hammer was returned to (its, their) proper place.
5.Everyone turned in (his her, their) drama reviews in advance of the due date.
6.All of the students turned in (his/her, their) research papers on time.
7.If any one of the students has misplaced (his/her, their) lunch ticket, (he/she, they) can ask for a replacement from the lunch lady.
8.The state of Florida does not treat (its, their) public employees fairly.
9.Both of the women have made (her, their) opinions known.
10.Every one of the actresses knows (her, their) part by heart.
11.Either my brother or sisters will reveal (his and their, their) plans at the family reunion.
12.After the victory, the winning and the losing captains thanked (his, their) team members for effort beyond the call of duty.
13.Before the guests began arriving, Sally asked Tim whether everything was in (its, their) place.
14.Neither of the candidates wore clothing suitable for (his or her, their) interview.
15.Every teacher must turn in (his or her, their) grades by May 28.