When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use a plural verb.. When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or nor,
Trang 1Making Subjects and Verbs Agree
This handout gives you several guidelines to help your subjects and verbs agree.
1 When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use a plural verb
She and her friends are at the fair.
2 When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or nor, use a singular verb
The book or the pen is in the drawer.
3 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 nearer the verb
The boy or his friends run every day.
His friends or the boy runs every day.
4 Doesn't is a contraction of does not and should be used only with a singular subject Don't is a
contraction of do not and should be used only with a plural subject The exception to this rule appears in the case of the first person and second person pronouns I and you With these pronouns, the contraction don't should be used
He doesn't like it.
They don't like it.
5 Do not be misled by a phrase that comes between the subject and the verb The verb agrees with the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the phrase
One of the boxes is open
The people who listen to that music are few.
The team captain, as well as his players, is anxious.
The book, including all the chapters in the first section, is boring The woman with all the dogs walks down my street.
6 The words each, each one, either, neither, everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody, somebody, someone, and no one are singular and require a singular verb
Each of these hot dogs is juicy.
Everybody knows Mr Jones.
Either is correct.
Trang 27 Nouns such as civics, mathematics, dollars, measles, and news require singular verbs.
The news is on at six.
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
Five dollars is a lot of money.
Dollars are often used instead of rubles in Russia.
8 Nouns such as scissors, tweezers, trousers, and shears require plural verbs (There are two parts to these things.)
These scissors are dull.
Those trousers are made of wool.
9 In sentences beginning with there is or there are, the subject follows the verb Since there is not the subject, the verb agrees with what follows
There are many questions.
There is a question.
10 Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person but that are considered singular and take
a singular verb, such as: group, team, committee, class, and family
The team runs during practice.
The committee decides how to proceed.
The family has a long history.
My family has never been able to agree.
11 Expressions such as with, together with, including, accompanied by, in addition to, or as well do not change the number of the subject If the subject is singular, the verb is too
The President, accompanied by his wife, is travelling to India.
All of the books, including yours, are in that boxDirections: Fill in the
blank with the appropriate article, a, an, or the, or leave the space blank if no
article is needed
1 I want apple from that basket
2 church on the corner is progressive
Trang 33 Miss Lin speaks Chinese.
4 I borrowed pencil from your pile of pencils and pens
5 One of the students said, " professor is late today."
6 Eli likes to play volleyball
7 I bought umbrella to go out in the rain
8 My daughter is learning to play violin at her school
9 Please give me cake that is on the counter
10 I lived on Main Street when I first came to town
11 Albany is the capital of New York State
12 My husband's family speaks Polish
13 apple a day keeps the doctor away
14 ink in my pen is red
15 Our neighbors have cat and dog
Articles Exercise #1: Answer Key
Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab
1 I want an apple from that basket
2 The church on the corner is progressive.
3 Miss Lin speaks Chinese (no article needed)
4 I borrowed a pencil from your pile of pencils and pens.
5 One of the students said, "The professor is late today."
6 Eli likes to play volleyball (no article needed)
7 I bought an umbrella to go out in the rain.
8 My daughter is learning to play the violin at her school.
9 Please give me the cake that is on the counter.
10 I lived on Main Street when I first came to town (no article needed)
11 Albany is the capital of New York State (no article needed)
Trang 412 My husband's family speaks Polish (no article needed)
13 An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
14 The ink in my pen is red.
15 Our neighbors have a cat and a dog.
Articles Exercise #2
Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab
Directions: Write the following paragraphs, inserting a, an, and the where needed.
1 I have horse of my own I call her Pretty Girl She is intelligent animal, but she is not thoroughbred horse I could never enter her in race, even if I wanted to But I do not want to She is companion, for my own pleasure I took her swimming day or two ago
2 Horse knows when he is going to race How does he know? His breakfast was scanty (He is angry about that.) He does not have saddle on his back He is being led, not ridden, to grandstand He is led under grandstand into unusual, special stall Horse is nervous Sometimes he does not know what to do when starting gate flies open and track is before him If he does not begin to run instantly, other horses are already ahead of him During race, when he sees another horse just ahead of him, he will try to pass him Sometimes jockey holds him back to save his energy for last stretch Eventually horse gets to run as fast as he can
Exercise boy, watching owner's favorite jockey riding horse he has exercised day after day, says nothing Secretly, he is planning for day when he will be jockey himself, and his horse will be first to cross finish line
3 Most people have fewer hours to give to time-consuming activities of clubs than they used to have, but most people in small town belong to club or two One of clubs is likely to be social and benevolent organization, such as Rotary or Elks Business people are likely to belong, also to either Kiwanis Club or Lions Such business people's organizations may meet as often as once a week in one of private dining rooms of town's leading hotel for lunch They have good lunch, hear good program, and continue their fundraising program for worthy organization, such as local hospital
You can check your answers at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/esl/eslartA2.html
Articles Exercise #2 Answer Key
Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab
1 I have a horse of my own I call her Pretty Girl She is an intelligent animal, but she is not a
thoroughbred horse I could never enter her in a race, even if I wanted to But I do not want to She is a companion, for my own pleasure I took her swimming a day or two ago.
2 A horse knows when he is going to race How does he know? His breakfast was scanty (He is angry about that.) He does not have a saddle on his back He is being led, not ridden, to the grandstand He is
Trang 5led under the grandstand into an unusual, special stall The horse is nervous Sometimes he does not know what to do when the starting gate flies open and the track is before him If he does not begin to run instantly, other horses are already ahead of him During the race, when he sees another horse just ahead
of him, he will try to pass him Sometimes the jockey holds him back to save his energy for the last stretch Eventually the horse gets to run as fast as he can The exercise boy, watching the owner's
favorite jockey riding the horse he has exercised day after day, says nothing Secretly, he is planning for
the day when he will be a jockey himself, and his horse will be the first to cross the finish line.
3 Most working people have fewer hours to give to time-consuming activities of clubs than they used to
have, but most people in a small town belong to a club or two One of the clubs is likely to be a social and benevolent organization, such as the Rotary or Elks Business people are likely to belong, also to either the Kiwanis Club or the Lions Such business people's organizations may meet as often as once a week in one of the private dining rooms of the town's leading hotel for lunch They have a good lunch, hear a good program, and continue their fundraising program for a worthy organization, such as a local
hospital
Making Subjects and Verbs Agree
This handout gives you several guidelines to help your subjects and verbs agree.
1 When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use a plural verb
She and her friends are at the fair.
2 When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or nor, use a singular verb
The book or the pen is in the drawer.
3 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 nearer the verb
The boy or his friends run every day.
His friends or the boy runs every day.
4 Doesn't is a contraction of does not and should be used only with a singular subject Don't is a
contraction of do not and should be used only with a plural subject The exception to this rule appears in the case of the first person and second person pronouns I and you With these pronouns, the contraction don't should be used
He doesn't like it.
They don't like it.
5 Do not be misled by a phrase that comes between the subject and the verb The verb agrees with the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the phrase
One of the boxes is open
Trang 6The people who listen to that music are few.
The team captain, as well as his players, is anxious.
The book, including all the chapters in the first section, is boring The woman with all the dogs walks down my street.
6 The words each, each one, either, neither, everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody, somebody, someone, and no one are singular and require a singular verb
Each of these hot dogs is juicy.
Everybody knows Mr Jones.
Either is correct.
7 Nouns such as civics, mathematics, dollars, measles, and news require singular verbs
The news is on at six.
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
Five dollars is a lot of money.
Dollars are often used instead of rubles in Russia.
8 Nouns such as scissors, tweezers, trousers, and shears require plural verbs (There are two parts to these things.)
These scissors are dull.
Those trousers are made of wool.
9 In sentences beginning with there is or there are, the subject follows the verb Since there is not the subject, the verb agrees with what follows
There are many questions.
There is a question.
10 Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person but that are considered singular and take
a singular verb, such as: group, team, committee, class, and family
The team runs during practice.
The committee decides how to proceed.
The family has a long history.
Trang 7My family has never been able to agree.
11 Expressions such as with, together with, including, accompanied by, in addition to, or as well do not change the number of the subject If the subject is singular, the verb is too
The President, accompanied by his wife, is travelling to India.
All of the books, including yours, are in that box.
Legal Information
Will you wait for me the bus stop?
2 Jane is her bedroom
3 Daria's books are lying the floor
4 The girls didn't want to spend a long time the carnival
5 I let the cat sit my lap, but then suddenly it jumped my face!
6 Do you live the city or the country?
7 Trent arrived the school building just in time
8 The rancher built a fence to keep his cows the pasture
9 Kevin and Mack are out practicing the football field
10 From afar, Heathcliff could see a light the window
11 The old house had so much grime the windows that Bradley could hardly see inside
12 The shepherd boy grazed his flock the grassy hillside
13 The audience threw tomatoes the terrible comedian
14 Wrestling isn't real; those guys the ring are just pretending
15 David works the field of network administration, while Marty works
web design
16 The car stalled and got stuck the street
Trang 817 Audrey lives Third Street
18 If William doesn't make any money on his book, he'll be out the street
19 I'll use my cellular phone when I'm the bus, but never while I'm
the car
20 Passengers are not allowed to use electronic devices airplanes during takeoff and landing
Complete the following sentences with the correct preposition: at, in, or on.
1 Will you wait for me _ the bus stop?
2 Jane is _ her bedroom
3 Daria's books are lying _ the floor
4 The girls didn't want to spend a long time _ the carnival
5 I let the cat sit _ my lap, but then suddenly it jumped _ my face!
6 Do you live _ the city or _ the country?
7 Trent arrived _ the school building just in time
8 The rancher built a fence to keep his cows _ the pasture
9 Kevin and Mack are out practicing _ the football field
10 From afar, Heathcliff could see a light _ the window
11 The old house had so much grime _ the windows that Bradley could hardly see inside
12 The shepherd boy grazed his flock _ the grassy hillside
13 The audience threw tomatoes _ the terrible comedian
14 Wrestling isn't real; those guys _ the ring are just pretending
15 David works _ the field of network administration, while Marty works _ web design
16 The car stalled and got stuck _ the street
17 Audrey lives _ Third Street
18 If William doesn't make any money on his book, he'll be out _ the street
Trang 919 I'll use my cellular phone when I'm _ the bus, but never while I'm _ the car
20 Passengers are not allowed to use electronic devices _ airplanes during takeoff and landing
Adjective or Adverb Exercise #1
Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab
Choose the correct item from the choices in the parentheses:
1 He (correct, correctly) defined the terms The answer sounded (correctly,
correct)
2 She (quickly, quick) adjusted the fees She adapted (quick, quickly) to any
situation
3 He measured the floor (exact, exactly) They proved to be (perfectly, perfect) (exact, exactly) measurements
4 The stillness of the tomb was (awfully, awful) The tomb was (awfully, awful) still
5 It was a (dangerously, dangerous) lake to swim in The man was (dangerous, dangerously) drunk The gas smelled (dangerously,dangerous)
6 She performed (magnificent, magnificently) It was a (magnificent,
magnificently) beautiful performance
7 Her voice sounds (beautifully, beautiful) She sang the song (exact, exactly) as it was written We heard it (perfectly, perfect)
8 He was a very (sensibly, sensible) person He acted very (sensible, sensibly)
9 Mike wrote too (slow, slowly) on the exam He always writes (slow, slowly)
10 Talk (softly, soft) or don't talk at all The music played (softly, soft)
11 Andrea knows the material very (good, well) She always treats us (good, well)
12 You must send payments (regular, regularly) We deal on a (strictly, strict) cash basis
13 The mechanic's tools were (well, good) The foreman said that his work was (good, well) done
14 She worked (careful, carefully) with the sick child She was a very (careful, carefully) worker
15 He did not pass the course as (easy, easily) as he thought he would
Trang 1016 I find this novel very (interesting, interestingly) It was (interesting,
interestingly) written
Adjective or Adverb: Exercise 2
Choose the correct form of the word to complete the sentence.Click on the check your answers button to check your answers (For a non-interactive version of this quiz, please visit our printer-friendly version )
PLEASE NOTE: The answer numbers on this quiz do not correspond to the question numbers Each drop-down answer has a separate number even if it belongs to a differently numbered
question We're aware that it's confusing and we're going to switch to a new system
1 Terrence plays quarterback as as Brian
2 The game hardly begun before it started to rain
3 This was a mild winter
4 Jane behaves more than Joan
5 When you are a parent, you will think about children
6 I felt about not having done on my final exams
7 Whether you win is not as important as how you play
8 Asian music often sounds to Western listeners
9 Does your car run enough to enter the race?
10 I felt enough to go out at night on my own
11 You can see the distant mountains with these binoculars
12 Our team was sharp last Saturday afternoon during the game
13 You must send payments We deal on a cash basis
14 The mechanic's tools were The foreman said that his work was done
15 She worked with the sick child She was a very worker
16 He did not pass the course as as he thought he would