Common errors related to subjectverb agreement among the first year English major students at Ha Noi Pedagogical University No.2

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N°.2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY BUI THI HUONG COMMON ERRORS RELATED TO SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT AMONG THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HA NOI PEDAGOGI

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N°.2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY

BUI THI HUONG

COMMON ERRORS RELATED TO SUBJECT- VERB

AGREEMENT AMONG THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HA NOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N°.2

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLISH)

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI MINH PHUONG, B.A

Hanoi, May 2013

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to take this chance to express my greatest gratitude to Mrs

Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong, my supervisor, for her patience in providing continuous and careful guidance as well as encouragement, indispensable suggestions and advice

I wish to thank all the lecturers at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°.2, especially the lecturers in the Foreign Language Faculty for their dedicated instructions during my years of university work

I am in particularly grateful to the first- year English major students at Hanoi

Pedagogical University N°.2 for their enthusiastic cooperation in the process of

ABSTRACT

The subject- verb agreement is one of important parts of English grammar

A grammatical sentence must contain a subject and its verb and they must agree with each other However, it is not easy to grasp fully rules of subject- verb agreement and special cases of the subject to have a right match between the subject and its verb

As a result, students of English often make errors when they deal with

different cases of subject- verb agreement Therefore, this research work entails studying rules of subject- verb agreement and conducts a survey for error analysis Based on the result of the survey, the types of errors and causes have been found Solutions to the problems have been suggested

1H

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Title: Common Errors related to Subject-Verb Agreement among the first year English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N’.2 (Graduation paper submitted in partial fulfilment of the Degree of Bachelor of

Arts in English)

I certify that no part of this report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other person work without acknowledgements and that the report is

originally written by me under strict guidance from my supervisor

Dated submitted: May 2013

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT cccssssssssssscsssesssserecssssscessecsscesressecenseasecesensecensessecsenserensenseseseenesees ii

PART ONE INTRODUCTION

VII- SIGNIFICANCE OE THE PROPOSED RESEARCCH 3 VIH- DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH WORK c5SĂSĂSSSSSsSSSssesssessesse 3

PART TWO DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.2 Subject- verb agreement

1.2.1 Definition of subject and verb

1.2.2 General rules of subject- verb agreement

1.2.3 Main cases of subject- verb agreement cssccssssesssesssessesseosssesees 7

1.2.3.2 Intervening phrases or clauses between the subJect and 1ts verb 7

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1.2.3.5 CollectIve nouns used as suÐj€CÍS - - «6 s1 ng gxy 10 1.2.3.6 Relative pronouns used as subj€CS - - 6+ + +3 S123 rsrrserse 12 1.2.3.7 Indefinite expressions as suj€CẨS - + + St * + re 13 1.2.3.8 Agreement in inverted senf†€TIC€S . - + 5313 +13 2s reesrerxe 15 1.2.3.9 Plural words and phrases used as names, titles, and quotations 16

1.2.3.10 Expressions of amount, measurement, mathematical phrase, fraction, and percentage as Subjects .::.cccescesceeeeseeseeseeseensees 16 1.2.3.11 Plural forms of nouns as subjects .:ccccccseeseeseeeseeseeeceseeeeeeeeeeneensenaees 17 CHAPTER TWO: COMMON ERRORS RELATED TO SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT AMONG THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N°.2 TT.1 Survey .sccscccssccssccsssccessscssscccssccscssenscssessssssscsssssssscsssessessssscssssssssessoesenes 22 IDNIBa0v 001 22

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11.1.4 Construction of the test 23

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TL.1.5.1 Test items 5 23

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II.1.6 Administration Of the fTÿ-OUÍ «6 <6 E19 91 12 1 1n ng gen 25 II.1.6.1 Preparatfion Of the fT-OUK - «<6 x11 1H nh nh ng ng ri 25 II“ 26

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II2.1 Errors related to subject-verb apreement in sentences containing compound

II2.2 Errors in matching the verb with the subject when subjects are nouns of

"09 2080)00ìv) 0 P0 4 29 11.2.3 Errors in matching verbs with subjects modified with quantifiers “every”, X⁄/2 1 1 30 IL2.4 Errors in using plural verbs after some nouns singular in meaning but plural

TI FOTN oe 30 11.2.5 Errors in matching verbs with subjects when subjects are nouns having the same plural and singular fOr ceceeseesecseceseeseeseeseeeceeeeeeeeeeeeaecaeeeeeeaeeee 31 II.2.6 Errors related to subject- verb agreement when subjects

are Collective NOUNS 02 cece eescesesceeeeeeeseeescseseeeesceeecscseeeeetseeeesseseeeees 31 II.2.7 Errors related to subject- verb agreement in inverted sentences 32 II.2.8 Errors in using verbs after relative pronouns preceeded by “one of” and “the

II2.9 Errors in using singular verbs affer some unmarked plurals 33 II.2.10 Errors related to subJect- verb agreement when subjects are expressions of

amount, measurement, mathematical phrase, fraction, and percentage 34

1.2.12 Errors in matching verbs with subjects modified with quantifiers such as

“either of’, “neither of’, “none of”, “all of’, “a number of? and “the number

OP? cesceseceseeceseseseeteseseseeseseaceesacseateseacacacacaesacacaceceeeacaeeeacaceeacaeeeeseaceereeeatetees 35

IIL2.13 Errors related to subJect- verb agreement when phrases or clauses intervene

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vii

PART THREE CONCLUSION 09) 19 H93/90)111 41 3032.3010210 a8a.1 43

viii

PART ONE INTRODUCTION

I RATIONALE

Nowadays, English is an international language and is one of the most popular and most spoken in the world In Vietnam, English is being taught at every educational level However, English grammar often causes embarrassment to students There are lots of different aspects to English grammar, and each is as important as the last Subject-verb agreement is one of principal parts of English grammar A grammatical sentence must contain a subject and its verb and they

must agree with each other Having a solid understanding of this concept is critical when making a good impression in your writing, and it will help ensure that your

ideas are communicated clearly

According to McGraw-Hill Grammar Dictionary, in English, subject-verb agreement is the rule of grammar that states that singular subjects must agree with

singular verbs and plural subjects must agree with plural verbs However, the trick

is in knowing whether the subject is singular or plural The next trick is recognizing a singular or plural verb

In addition, students often do exercises of writing sentences, writing paragraphs and essays However, in many cases, they may not know the right way

to agree a verb with its subject and their English sentences are produced incorrectly Hence, subject-verb agreement errors are among the most common mistakes that students make on their school papers

With the aim of helping learners of English, especially the first- year major English students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°.2 to overcome these difficulties, this thesis is focused on finding all possible errors in subject- verb agreement in order to help the students to avoid making those errors when doing

grammatical exercises as well as writing and speaking English

II RESEARCH PRESUPPOSITIONS

Some questions are raised:

1) What kinds of errors related to subject- verb agreement are the most often made by the first- year English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical

University N°.2?

2) What are the causes of the errors related to subject- verb agreement made by

the first- year English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°.2?

3) What are some solutions to minimize errors related to subject- verb agreement made by the first- year English major students at Hanoi

Pedagodical University N°.2?

Il RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The study is aimed at the following goals:

1) To find out kinds of errors related to subject- verb agreement made by the first- year English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°.2 2) To find out the main errors related to subject- verb agreement made by the

first- year English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°.2

3) To find out the causes of the errors related to subject- verb agreement made

by the first- year English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University

N°.2,

IV RESEARCH SCOPE

The general research area of this study is grammar

The phenomenon is errors related to subject- verb agreement made by the first- year English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°.2

The population involved in the study is one hundred first- year English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°.2

V RESEARCH TASKS

The study involves fulfilling the following tasks:

1) To study clearly all the basic rules of subject- verb agreement in English 2) To find out the common errors related to subject- verb agreement by the

first- year English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°.2 On

2

the basic of the finding, some suggested solutions are sought to minimize the students’ errors

VI RESEARCH METHODS

1) Collecting theories of subject- verb agreement from books listed in the references

2) Consulting the supervisor, experienced teachers and friends

3) Synthesizing the theories of subject- verb agreement

4) Conducting a survey and analyzing the results

VII RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE

The research is supposed to provide:

subject- verb agreement

2) Input for teachers of English with information on error types and solutions to the problems so that they can have good methods of teaching subject- verb

agreement

3) This research is also beneficial to anyone who is interested in subject- verb

agreement

VIII RESEARCH DESIGN

The research has three main parts, namely: Introduction, Development, and Conclusion The part “ Development” consists of two chapters Chapter one is entitled “Theoretical Background.” It consists of two sections Section one reviews literature in brief The second one deals with rules of subject- verb agreement Chapter two is named “Common Errors related to Subject- Verb Agreement among the first- year English major students at Hanoi Pedagodical University N°.2” It has three sections Section one is devoted to the survey The second one

deals with error types and causes The last one is some solutions to the problems

and suggested exercises on the subject- verb agreement

PART TWO DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1 LITERATURE REVIEW IN BRIEF

Subject- verb agreement has been described by many grammarians like Straus (2008), McGraw- Hill (1999), Alexander (1989), Eastwood (1992), Quirk and Greenbaum (1976), and so on They each have their own way to present rules

of subject- verb agreement

Straus (2008) in The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation deals with the

ways to find out subjects and verbs in a sentence She introduces some main rules

of subject- verb agreement in cases of subjects connected by “and”, “either”,

“neither”, “or”, “nor”, and “but”; subjects are pronouns; sentences beginning with

“here” and “there”; subjects are collective nouns

Alexander (1989) in Longman English Grammar mainly studies about special cases of nouns in the role of subjects such as nouns with plural forms, nouns with the same singular and plural forms; collective nouns He also mentions some expressions of the whole amount using as subjects However, he does not pay attention to the rules of subject- verb agreement when subjects are compound,

or subjects are pronouns

In Grammar and Composition Handbook High School 2, authors of McGraw- Hill (1999) give a quite detailed picture of subject- verb agreement Almost all rules of subject- verb agreement are presented clearly They concentrate

on indefinite pronouns as subjects; compound subjects; agreement in adjective clauses They also give practical exercises for each rule to help learners to master theory of subject- verb agreement

Quirk and Greenbaum (1976) in A University Grammar of English give rules

of notional agreement; proximity principle; concord of person between subjects

4

and verbs; and indefinite expressions of amount Moreover, they describle other

agreements between subject- object; subject- complement

In Oxford Practice Grammar with answers, Eastwood (1992) explains small tules as well as tests of subject- verb agreement He mentions some special nouns, namely, pair nouns (glasses, jeans, shorts); nouns with plural forms only (clothes, belongings, goods ); nouns come after any of, none of, most of, all of, and some other quantifiers However, he does not pay attention to the case of agreement when phrases and clauses intervene between subjects and verbs; and foreign plurals in the role of subjects

In short, much research has been done on the subject- verb agreement but few of them points out errors in using subject- verb agreement In fact, learners often make errors with this grammatical phenomenon Therefore, it is essential to

have a comprehensive study of common errors in the use of subject- verb agreement

1.2 SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT

1.2.1 Definition of subject and verb

A complete sentence must have a subject and a verb

According to Elliot (1997) in the book “Painless Grammar”:

Subject: A subject is a part of a sentence or clause that commonly indicates what it is about, or who or what performs the action

Subjects can come in many different packages (In each example, the subject

is underlined.)

One noun as the subject: The dog barks

Two nouns as the subject: The dog and cat are both making noise and keeping us awake

One pronoun as the subject: She can't sleep because of all the noise

Two pronouns as the subject: He and she are both still awake because of those noisy animals

A phrase: Staying awake all night is no fun

A clause: What makes me mad is all this noise!

5

Verb: A verb is a word that shows action (run, swim, jump, taste, fall,

dream, etc.) or state of being (be, appear, seem, feel, etc.)

Being able to find the right subject and verb will help you avoid making errors of subject- verb agreement

1.2.2 General rules of subject- verb agreement

According to authors of McGraw- Hill (1999) in the book Grammar and Composition Handbook High School 2, “number” refers to the form of a word that indicates whether it is singular or plural A verb must agree with its subject in number

A singular subject requires a singular verb

A plural subject requires a plural verb

The principle of subject-verb agreement applies to finite verbs in the present

tense and in a limited way, to the past forms of the verb to be (was and were) With

“ most regular verbs, we add “s” or “es” to form the singular

The book contains good information (singular subject)

These books contain good information (plural subject)

He eats breakfast (3 person singular)

They eat breakfast (3 person plural)

An exception to the rule occurs with the pronoun “J” and “you” Both take the plural form of verb even when “you” refers to one person

I eat breakfast (1° singular person)

You prepare dinner (2" singular person)

Whether functioning as main verbs or auxiliary verbs, the irregular verbs

“be”, “have”, and “đo” change form to show agreement The irregular verb “be” has three forms in the present tense and two forms in the past tense

To be: Iam late

You are late

He/she/it/a student is late

We/they/students are late

I/he/she/it/the beanbag was full

6

You/we/they/the beanbags were full

Have: The applicants have experience

The applicant has experience

They have listened intently

She has listened intently

Do: Do they need help?

Does she need help?

1.2.3 Other cases of subject- verb agreement

1.2.3.1 Clauses, phrases, and adverbs functioning as subjects

the subject-verb agreement is singular

That the children want friends doesn't surprise me

(Larsen and Murcia, 1983)

How they got there doesn’t concern me! (Quirk et al, 1973)

Rule: The infinitive phrases, gerund phrases or adverbs act as subjects, the verb must be singular

Swimming laps is a good exercise (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

To eat three pies is gluttonous (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

Slowly is exactly how Jeremy speaks (Quirk et al, 1973)

Rule: Nominal relative clauses, since they are equivalent to noun phrases, may have plural as well as singular concord

What was once a palace is now nothing but a pile of rubble

(Quirk et al, 1973)

What ideas he has are his wife’s (Quirk et al, 1973)

1.2.3.2 Intervening phrases or clauses between the subject and its verb

= Prepositional phrases between subject and verb

Rule: When a prepositional phrase comes between the subject and the verb, make sure the verb agrees with the actual subject, not with the object of the preposition

The paper in those boxes is for the copy machine (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

7

[The singular verb is agrees with the singular subject paper, not with the plural object of the preposition, boxes]

The dogs in that class are well behaved (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

= Expressions such as together with, along with, as well as, in addition to,

plus, accompanied by, along with, etc., between subject and verb

Rule: These expressions introduce phrases that modify the subject without changing its number Although their meaning is similar to that of “and”, the use of them doesn’t form compound subjects

Fried rice, along with wonton soup, makes a delicious meal

(McGraw- Hill, 1999)

Tenita, as well as Mike, plays basketball well (Elliot, 1997)

= Appositives come between the subject and the verb

Rule: Appositives give information about the subject but don’t change its number

Emma, one of my good friends, visits Australia every year

(McGraw- Hill, 1999)

Four well-known writers, all very skilled at their craft, lecture at the seminar (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

= A “not phrase” comes between the subject and the verb

Rule: When the subject is both affirmative and negative, use a verb form that agrees in number with the affirmative part of the subject

IL, not Robert, am going to play (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

The department members but not the chair have decided not to teach on Valentine's Day (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

= Rule: When a relative clause intervens between the subject and the verb, the

verb is matched with the subject of the main clause, not the subject of the relative clause

The only people who are interested in the book seem to be lawyers

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1.2.3.3 Compound subjects by “and”

Quirk et al (1973) in the book divides the subject- verb agreement with compound subjects connected by “and” into two cases: appositional and non- appositional coordination

Rule: Under non-appositional coordination we include cases that can be

treated as an implied reduction of two clauses, so the verbs in these cases are plural

Tom and Mary are now ready (Quirk et al, 1973)

(Tom is now ready and Mary is now ready)

What I say and what I think are my own affair (Quirk et al, 1973)

(What I say is my own affair and what I think is my own affair.)

Rule: A singular verb is used in the case of appositional coordination

because the coordinated structure refers to the same thing

This temple of ugliness and memorial to Victorian bad taste was erected

at the Queen’s express wish (Quirk et al, 1973)

[The two noun phrases refer to the same thing]

The_chairman and chief executive officer drives his car to his office every day (Hewings, 1999)

[The chairman and chief chief executive officer refer to the same person] Rule: A singular verb is used with a compound subject connected by “and” which represents a single entity

Ham and eggs makes a filling breakfast (Hewings, 1999)

[Ham and eggs is considered to be one dish]

Rule: The subject has structures “both and ” and “both of ” are followed by a plural verb

Both apples and bananas are good for your health (Hewings, 1999) 1.2.3.4 Principle of proximity

Rule: Acorrding to Quirk et al (1973) in the book A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language , the principle of “proximity” denotes agreement of the verb with whatever noun or pronoun closely precedes it

9

No one except his own supporters agree with him (Quirk et al, 1973) One inten take drugs (Quirk et al, 1973)

More than one person has protested against the proposal

[1] The serving bowl or the plate goes on that shelf (Straus, 2008)

[2] Neither oranges nor milk is on my shopping list (Kreloff, 1996)

[3] Either Chet or his brothers sing at family weddings (Kreloff, 1996) [4] Either his brothers or Chet sings at family weddings (Hewings, 1999) Although correct, [2] and [4] may sound awkward You can eliminate the awkwardness by rephrasing the sentences

Oranges are not on my shopping list, and neither is milk

Either Chet sings at family weddings, or his brothers do

1.2.3.5 Collective nouns used as subjects

According to Penston (2005) in the book “Concise Grammar for English Language Teachers”, a collective noun names a group or a collection of people or objects

Here are some examples: family, orchestra, group, committee, jury, crowd, herd, audience, public, government, team, school, squad, staff, etc

Although singular in form, a collective noun may take either a singular verb

or a plural verb, depending on its meaning in a sentence

Rule: If the collective noun refers to a group considered as a single undivided body, use a singular verb

The_government is intact (Penston, 2005)

The audience is enormous (Quirk et al, 1973)

10

Rule: If the collective noun refers to individual members or part of a group

acting individually, use a plural verb

The government are of different minds on the issue (Penston, 2005) The chorus have separate parts to learn (Elliot, 1997)

[each individual member of the chorus]

The staff are in disagreement about the findings (Straus, 2008)

[The staff are acting as separate individuals in this case.]

The committee has not yet decided how they should react to the letter

- When subjects are some noun phrases referring a group of animals as followed, the verbs must be singular, whatever nouns following “of” is singular or plural

The flock of birds is circling overhead

The pride of lions is breaking away

A school of fish is being attacked by sharks

- Generic references with “the + adjective” mentioning a group of people in

the society require plural verbs

The rich are not always happy (Alexander, 1989)

The young like to listen to loud music (Alexander, 1989)

The old hate loud music (Alexander, 1989)

11

1.2.3.6 Relative pronouns used as subjects

Rule: In the book “Grammar and Composition Handbook High School 2”, authors of McGraw- Hill (1999) state that when the subject of an adjective clause

is a relative pronoun, such as “who”, “which”, or “that”, determining whether the

verb of the adjective clause should be singular or plural by finding the antecedent

of the relative pronoun (according to the noun directly in front of the relative pronoun.) If the antecedent is singular, the verb in the adjective clause should be singular

The man who teaches my yoga class dresses in white

(McGraw- Hill, 1999)

[The word in front of “who” is “man”, which is singular

Therefore, use the singular verb “teaches’’]

Classrooms that have computers are convenient (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

[The word in front of “that” is “classrooms”, which is plural

Therefore, use the plural verb “are”

Rule: If the adjective clause is preceded by “one of + a plural noun”, then the relative pronoun will refer to the plural noun, and the verb in the clause must be plural

Sanctuary is one of my favorite books that were written by Faulkner (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

[The relative clause refers to books because all of the books are written

by Faulkner]

Susan is one of the swimmers who run on the track team

(Hewings, 1999)

[The relative clause refers to swimmers, several swimmers run.]

the relative pronoun will refer to the word “one”, and the verb in the clause must

be singular

Pedro is the only one of the Fernandez children who owns a car

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[The relative clause refers to “one” because among Fernandez children, only Pedro owns a car.] (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

Carol is the only one of those girls who enjoys singing (Hewings, 1999) [The relative clause refers to “one” because among those girls, only Carol enjoys singing ]

1.2.3.7 Indefinite expressions as subjects

Indefinite pronouns replace nouns According to Hewings (1999) in the book Advanced Grammar in Use, indefinite pronouns are pronouns that refer to people

or things in general Some indefinite pronouns are always singular, some are always plural, and some may be singular or plural depending on their antecedents

one

each

more

much little

Everybody is coming (Hewings, 1999)

Nothing is happening (Hewings, 1999)

13

Acorrding to Penston in the book “Concise Grammar for English Language Teachers,” quantifiers are grammatical modifiers and precede nouns Quantifiers indicate the amount or quantity being referred to Some quantifiers can function both as determiners and as substitutes for nouns and noun phrases when functioning as pronouns If they are followed by nouns, they function as determiners; if they stand on their own, they function as pronouns and they are called quantifier pronouns The general quantifiers used pronominally are each,

many, much, few, little, and several See the following examples of the same word

used first as a determiner [1] and then as an indefinite pronoun [2]:

[1] Many children are wishing they did

[2] Many are called, but few are chosen.(Y ates, 1996)

Some other singular pronouns and quantifiers are: one, either, neither, each, little, much

How much money is there? There is little (Yates, 1996)

The two guests have arrived, and either is welcome (Elliot, 1997)

Each (of the five thousand computers) was on sale (Woods, 2010)

Rule: Some indefinite pronouns and quantifiers are always plural: both,

several, few, and many

The Martin girls are twins Both (of them) are here (Elliot, 1997)

I like possums Several are living behind my house (Elliot, 1997)

Rule: Some indefinite pronouns and quantifiers can be either singular or plural such as all, any, most, none, some, enough, plenty Their numbers depend on the nouns to which they refer When these pronouns or these determiners refer to nouns which are plural, their numbers are plural When nouns they refer to are

singular, theirs numbers are singular

[3] All (the cake) is gone (Elliot, 1997)

[Cake is singular, use a singular verb]

All (the boys) are gone.[ Boys is plural, use a plural verb]

[4] Some (of the ears) are going to be super-glued to scalps (Woods, 2010)

14

[Ears 1s plural, use a plural verb]

Although some was eaten by the guests, most was left for you

[Food is being referred to, the pronouns “some” and “most” are therefore singular in this case.] (Hewings, 1999)

[5] None (of the snow) has melted [snow is singular, use a singular verb] None (of the apples) are ripe {apples is plural, use a plural verb]

Every dog has a distinct personality (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

Every restaurant and diner servers sandwiches (Abrams, 1998)

- However, “no + a plural noun” requires a plural verb

No boys are in the class (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

plural noun” takes the singular

A number of automobiles in Los Angeles are increasing all the time The number of automobiles in Los Angeles is increasing all the time (Hewings, 1999)

1.2.3.8 Agreement in inverted sentences

In an inverted sentence, the subject follows the verb

Rule: Inverted sentences often begin with prepositional phrases Don’t mistake the object of the preposition for the subject In the following examples, the subjects are underlined

At the table sit the students (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

Near the head of the table sits Judge Peter (Hewings, 1999)

To pair the subject and its verb in this case, mentally rearrange the sentence into its normal subject-verb order, and then make the verb agree in number with its subject

15

The students sit at the table

Judge Peter sits near the head of the table

Rule: In sentences beginning with “there” or “here”, the subject also follows

the verb The words “there” and “here” almost never function as the subject of a

sentence

There is a bean in your nose (Woods, 2010)

There are the book and the magazine that you want (Hewings, 1999) 1.2.3.9 Plural words and phrases used as names, titles, and quotations

Rule: Titles of individual books, stories, plays, movies, television programs,

etc., take the singular form of the verb, even though the titles may contain plural words

“Crime and Punishment” is perhaps the best- constructed work

(Quirk et al, 1973)

“The House of the Seven Gables” was written in 1851 (Hewings, 1999) Rule: The names in plural forms of countries, towns, organizations;

quotations, etc., also take a singular verb

Is Honduras in Central America or South America? (Hewings, 1999) When was the Organization of American States formed?

(Hewings, 1999)

“Senior Citizens” means, in common parlance, people over sixty

(Quirk et al, 1973)

1.2.3.10 Expressions of amount, measurement, mathematical phrases,

fraction, and percentage as subjects

Rule: When a plural noun of amount refers to one unit, it acts as a singular subject When it refers to individual units, it acts as a plural subject

Eight dollars is the cost of the ticket (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

Eight dollars lie on the table (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

Five minutes doesn't seem long to wait (Eastwood, 1992)

Five years have passed since I’ve seen my cousins (Hewings, 1999)

16

Rule: When a fraction or a percentage refers to a singular noun (a mass noun), it requires a singular verb When it refers to a plural noun, it requires a

plural verb; either the singular or the plural may be used when it refers to a

(Larsen and Murcia, 1983)

One tenth of the population of Egypt is Christian

[The fraction “one tenth” refers to the collective noun “population’’| (Larsen and Murcia, 1983)

Rule: Mathematical phrases are often followed by singular verbs

Five times six is thirty (Elliot, 1997)

Rule: Units of measurement usually require singular verbs

Sixteen by twenty inches is a standard size for a picture frame

(McGraw- Hill, 1999)

Ten millimeters equals one centimeter (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

1.2.3.11 Plural forms of nouns as subjects

Nouns plural in form and meaning:

(original point)

The clothes were in the dryer (Eastwood, 1992)

The goods have been sent to you directly from our factory

(Eastwood, 1992)

17

= Nouns plural in forms but singular in meaning:

Sometimes a noun phrase sounds plural but describes something we think of

as a single unit These noun phrases take a singular verb

- The word news

The news arrives later here (McGraw- Hill, 1999)

- Some diseases: measles, mumps, rickets, shingles

Is measles still a common childhood illness? (Hewings, 1999)

However, a plural verb is sometimes possible:

Mumps are (is) fairly rare in adults (Alexander, 1989)

- Some games: billiards, bowls (especially BrE), darts, dominoes, draughts (BrE), checkers (Am), fives, ninepins

Bowls is boring (Eastwood, 1992)

- Subject names in “—ics”: classics, linguistics, mathematics, phonetics,

athletics

Mathematics is my easiest class (Elliot, 1997)

Note: Some “‘-ics’”’ nouns can be either singular or plural When the reference

is to an academic subject, the verb must be singular; and when the reference is

specific, then the verb is plural

Politics is an interesting career (Elliot, 1997)

(Elliot, 1997)

Statistics is my most interesting class (Elliot, 1997)

The statistics of the game are not good for our team (Elliot, 1997)

Other “-ics” nouns that work this way: acoustics, ethics, and economics

= Nouns having the same plural and singular form

A few nouns stay the same no matter whether you are talking about one of

them or a thousand of them These nouns are mentioned precisely in the book

“Concise Grammar for English Language Teachers ’’of Penston (2005)

These nouns take either singular or plural verbs, depending on their particular uses

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This_means of transport saves energy Both means of transport save energy (Eastwood, 1992)

This sheep looks small (Quirk et al, 1973)

This species of insect is quite rare All these species of insect are quite rare (Eastwood, 1992)

All of those sheep are mine (Quirk et al, 1973)

These are nouns of this type:

series

plaice craft (airplane)

= Unmarked plurals

Some nouns are plural even though they have no “‘s” added

Some people are never satisfied (Alexander, 1989)

The police have surrounded the building (Alexander, 1989)

These are nouns of unmarked plurals:

The British are a sea-fairing people (Alexander, 1989)

The English-speaking peoples share a common language

(Alexander, 1989)

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= Nouns of foreign plurals

Don’t forget that some common English words have foreign plurals

The data show that Angie never blows an economics test (Woods, 2010)

In the book “Collins Cobuild English Grammar’, Sinclair (1990) decribes quite completely nouns of foreign plurals The following table lists some nouns of

CHAPTER TWO COMMON ERRORS RELATED TO SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT

AMONG THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HA NOI

PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N°.2

This chapter focuses on the results of a practical survey with the first- year English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University N°.2 It consists three sections Section II.1 gives the survey questionnaire, which was designed to find

out some common errors made by the first- year English major students at Hanoi

Pedagogical University N°.2 Section II.2 presents common errors and causes Section III.3 gives some suggestions to minimize the errors related to subject- verb

agreement

II.1 Survey

The study gives an overall presentation of almost cases of subject- verb

agreement as well as common mistakes that learners often make when pairing the subject and the verb Due to the framework of a thesis, to map out all the mistakes made by students at all educational levels is impossible Therefore, this thesis is only focused on common errors related to subject- verb agreement made by the first- year English major students at Hanoi Pedagodical University N°.2 To find out the errors made by those students, a survey questionnaire was conducted II.1.1 Purpose of the survey

The overall objectives of the survey questionnaire are to test students’

knowledge of subject- verb agreement and find out common errors made by the first- year English major students at Hanoi Pedagodical University N°.2 when

matching the verb with the subject

11.1.2 Population of the survey

The number of participants in the survey questionnaire is one hundred first-

year English major students at Hanoi Pedagodical University N°.2 Most of them have been learnt English for 10 years and they are quite good at English grammar They have already known some rules of subject- verb agreement since secondary

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school However, it is not easy for them to have right number of verbs when

dealing with tricky cases of subjects

11.1.3 Type of the survey

To collect data, a completion test was used It involves such activities as choosing the correct answer; picking up verbs which don’t match with subjects; giving correct forms of verbs

11.1.4 Construction of the survey

The material in use in the test was taken from grammar books concerned with subject- verb agreement The survey is divided into two parts Part A, which consists of four sentences, is designed to get general information about participants and to remind them of subject- verb agreement Part B is conducted to find out how much the students have known and mastered subject- verb agreement rules

This part has three exercises

1) Exercise 1: Find out the subject and make the verb agree with the subject This exercise consists of 6 items

2) Exercise 2: Choose the right form of the verb

There are 15 items in this exercise

3) Exercise 3: Indicate the mistake of the verb form in the available sentences This exercise has 30 items

11.1.5 Preparation for the survey

1I.1.5.1 Test items

There are many possible errors in subject- verb agreement that a survey cannot find out Thus, it is necessary to predict possible errors and include them in

the survey In this survey, possible errors were classified into the following categories

1) Errors in subject-verb agreement in sentences containing compound subjects connected by “‘and”

2) Errors in subject- verb agreement when phrases or clauses intervene between subject and verb

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