Reaching an Agreement - Matching Sentence Parts

Chapter Reaching an Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts In This Chapter • Define agreement • Learn how to make subjects and verbs agree • Learn how to make pronouns and antecedents agr

Chapter

Reaching an Agreement:

Matching Sentence Parts

In This Chapter

• Define agreement

• Learn how to make subjects and verbs agree

• Learn how to make pronouns and antecedents agree

So a man said to his dentist, "Doctor, my teeth are yellow What should I do?"

"Wear a brown tie," the dentist suggested

That's all that agreement is about: matching In this chapter, you learn how

to match subjects and verbs, pronouns and antecedents, and maybe even a few outfits You find out how agreement works with collective nouns and indefinite pronouns, too Agreement is a biggie, because it occurs at least once a sentence By the end of this chapter, your subjects and verbs will go together like Romeo and Juliet, Ben and Jerry, and Bert and Ernie

1 1 2 P a r t Z : Under the Grammar Hammer

Anyone Got a Match?

Agreement means that sentence parts match Subjects must agree with verbs and

pro-nouns must agree with antecedents Otherwise, your sentences will sound awkward and jarring, like yellow teeth with a red tie

The basic rule of sentence agreement is really quite simple:

A subject must agree with its verb in number (Number means amount The number can

be singular—one—or plural—more than one.) Here's how it works

You Could Look It Up

Agreement means that sentence parts match Subjects must agree with verbs,

and pronouns must agree with antecedents Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs

In grammar, number refers to the two forms of a word: singular (one) or plural (more

than one)

Singular Subjects and Verbs

The following guidelines make it easy to match singular subjects and verbs

1 A singular subject takes a singular verb For example:

• He who hesitates is probably right

The singular subject he agrees with the singular verb is

• Isaac Asimov was the only author to have a book in every Dewey Decimal

System category

The singular subject Isaac Asimov requires the singular verb was

2 Plural subjects that function as a single unit take a singular verb For instance:

• Spaghetti and meatballs is my favorite dish

The singular subject spaghetti and meatballs agrees with the singular verb is

• Ham and eggs was the breakfast of champions in the 1950s

The singular subject ham and eggs agrees with the singular verb was

3 Titles are always singular It doesn't matter how long the title is, what it names,

or whether or not it sounds plural As a result, a title always takes a singular verb Here are two examples:

• Moby Dick was a whale of a tale

_ C h a p t e r 9 : Reaching an Agreement: Hatching Sentence Parts IB

The singular title Moby Dick agrees with the singular verb was

• The Valachi Papers is a good read

The singular title The Valachi Papers agrees with the singular verb is—even

though the title appears plural, it is singular That's because all titles are singular

4 Singular subjects connected by either/or, neither/nor, and not only/but also require a

singular verb That's because the connecting words show that you are choosing only one item

• Either the witness or the defendant was lying

Only one person is lying: the witness or the defendant Therefore, the subject is singular And the singular subject (the witness or the defendant) matches the singu-lar verb (was)

Plural Subjects and Verbs

Matching plural subjects and verbs is a snap with these simple guidelines: Here's the

#1 rule:

1 A plural subject takes a plural verb

• The rejected New Mexico state motto: Lizards make excellent pets

The plural subject lizards matches the plural verb make

• Mosquitoes are attracted to blue more than any other color

The plural subject mosquitoes matches the plural verb are

Think of the conjunction and as a plus sign Whether the parts of the subject

joined by and are singular or plural (or both), they all add up to a plural subject

and so require a plural verb

• Anwar and Hosni are going to the movies

The plural subject Anwar and Hosni agrees with the plural verb are

• Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were great presidents

The plural subject Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln agrees with the plural verb were

2 If the subject is made up of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by or, nor, not only, or but also, the verb agrees with the noun closest to the pronoun

• Neither the contract nor the page proofs are arriving in time to meet the

deadline

l|f» P a r t 2 : Under the Grammar Hammer

The plural subject proofs agrees with the plural verb are

• Neither the page proofs nor the contract is arriving in time to meet the

deadline

The singular subject contract agrees with the singular verb is

3 Ignore words or phrases that come between the subject and the verb A phrase

or clause that comes between a subject and its verb does not affect subject-verb agreement

• The purpose of working out for several hours is to get fit and buff

The singular subject purpose matches the singular verb is Ignore the intervening

prepositional phrase "of working out for several hours."

• Downward mobility—a quick ride down the social and economic ladders—

poses a serious problem

The singular subject downward mobility agrees with the singular verb poses Ignore

the intervening appositive "a quick ride down the social and economic ladders."

Seventh-lnninq Stretch

Take a second to get these first few rules down pat Circle the correct verb in each sentence Feel free to look back at the rules you just read

1 A typical Radio City Music Hall Rockette (is/are) between 5 feet and 5 feet 9 inches tall

2 An apple or a pear (contains/contain) about 75 calories each

3 The supply of stupid drivers (increase/increases) during holidays

4 Residents of our country (spend/spends) more than $31 billion a year on fast food

5 Bill Cosby's cartoon characters (includes/include) Fat Albert and Weird Harold

6 In winter, camels (is/are) able to go without water for eight weeks

7 Contrary to popular thinking, camels (does/do) not store water in their humps

8 The average person (breathes/breathe) 7 quarts of air per minute

9 Camels also (urinates/urinate) very little, compared to other animals of roughly the same size

10 Every year the Washington Monument (sink/sinks) an average of 6 inches into the ground

Answers

1 is

2 contains

3 increases

4 spend

5 include

6

7

8

9

10

are

do breathes urinate sinks

Chapter 9 : Reaching an Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts U S

Collective Nouns

Collective nouns are singular in form but plural in sense Here are some examples of

collective nouns:

assembly

audience

class

committee crew crowd

faculty family flock

herd jury team

For purposes of agreement, collective nouns can be singular or plural, depending on how they are used in a sentence Collective nouns used as one unit take a singular

verb; collective nouns that indicate many units take a plural verb

1 Singular collective nouns

Singular collective nouns include molasses (one kind of syrup) and chicken pox (one kind of disease) Other examples include measles, civics, social studies,

mumps, news, cast, social studies, economics, and mathematics

• The play's cast is rehearsing for today's show

The singular subject cast takes the

sin-gular verb is The members of the cast

are functioning as a single unit

• The jury returns a unanimous

verdict

The singular subjectyz/ry requires the

singular verb returns; the members of

the jury are working together as one

unit

You Could Look It Up_

A collective noun names

a group of people or things

Examples of collective nouns

include class, committee, flock,

herd, team, audience, assembly, team, club, and so on

1 1 6 P a r t Z : Under the Grdmmar Hammer

2 Plural collective nouns

A collective noun is treated as plural when the group it names is considered to

be made up of individuals Because members of the group can act on their own, the word is considered plural

• The play's cast are rehearsing their lines

The plural subject cast requires the plural verb are because the members of the

cast are functioning as individual people doing separate things

• The jury often have different reactions to the evidence they hear

The plural subject jury requires the plural verb have because the members of the

jury are being considered as individuals

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns, like collective nouns, can be singular or plural, depending on how

they are used in a sentence Singular indefinite pronouns take a singular verb; plural indefinite pronouns take a plural verb Here are some guidelines to follow:

• Indefinite pronouns that end in -one are always singular These words include

anyone, everyone, someone, and one

• Indefinite pronouns that end in -body are always singular These words include anybody, somebody,

nobody

• The indefinite pronouns both, few, many, others, and several are always plural

• The indefinite pronouns all, any, more, most,

none, and some can be singular or plural,

depending on how they are used

Flag this chart for ready reference

You Could Look It Up

Indefinite pronouns refer

to people, places, objects, or

things without pointing to a

spe-cific one See Chapter 4 for a

complete description of indefinite

pronouns

Indefinite Pronouns

another

anyone

each

both few many

all any more

C h a p t e r 9 : Reaching an Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts 1 1 7

Singular Plural Singular or Plural

everyone others most

everybody several none

everything some much

nobody

nothing

other

someone

anybody

anything

either

little

neither

no one

one

somebody

something

Check out these examples:

• One of the Elvis impersonators is

missing

The singular subject one requires the

singular verb is

• Both of the Elvis impersonators are

missing, thank goodness

The plural subject both requires the

plural verb are

Take My Word for It

British English follows the same rules of agreement, but there are subtle differences in

usage For example, our neighbors across the pond consider the words company

and government plural rather than singular nouns

Danger, Will Robinson

The indefinite pronoun

many a is always singular, as in

"Many a person is sick and tired

of eating sautéed antelope on melba toast."

VT 1

1 1 8 P a r t 2 : Under the Grammar Hammer

Quoth the Maven

In many cases, a

preposi-tional phrase intervenes between

the subject and the verb See

Chapter 3 for a review of

prepo-sitional phrases

• All the sautéed rattlesnake was devoured The singular subject all requires the singular verb was

• All the seats were occupied

The plural subject all requires the plural verb

were

The Pause That Refreshes

Circle the correct verb in each sentence

1 Economics (depends/depend) heavily on mathematics

2 The light at the end of the tunnel (are/is) the headlight of an approaching train

3 News of a layoff (causes/cause) many people to get worried

4 Millions of Americans watched the high-speed chase and most (was/were) mes-merized by the event

5 Some people believe that TV rots your brain; others, in contrast, (believes/ believe) that TV can teach us important social lessons

6 Both of those cities (were/was) on my vacation route

7 The commuters wait at the bus stop A few (sleep/sleeps) standing up

8 One of our satellites (is/are) lost in space

9 The supply of beta-endorphins in the brain (is/are) increased during exercise

10 Too many onions in a stew often (causes/cause) an upset stomach

Answers

1 depends

2 is

3 causes

4 were

5 believe

6

7

8

9

10

were sleep

is

is cause

C h a p t e r 9 : Reaching an Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts 1 1 9

Walk This Way

Now you know the main rules of agreement, so the rest of this business must be a

piece of cake Not so fast Follow these three steps to check whether subjects and

verbs in your sentences really agree:

1 Find the sentence's subject

2 Figure out if the subject is singular or plural

3 Select the appropriate verb form to match the form of the subject

Here's where the problems occur:

1 Figuring out what is the subject

2 Figuring out if the subject is singular or plural

3 Selecting the appropriate verb form to match the form of the subject

Let's look at each step in the process

Hide and Seek

Some subjects can be harder to find than Judge

most among these hard-to-find subjects is the

the verb Inverted word order can make it

difficult to find the true subject But

wher-ever the subject is, it still must agree in

num-ber with its verb, as these examples show:

• On the top of the hill are two Elvis

impersonators

The plural subject impersonators agrees

with the plural verb are

• There are still several agitators in the

audience

The plural subject agitators requires the

plural verb are

Crater, Bigfoot, or Jimmy Hoffa Fore-subject that has the nerve to come after

a^Js Quoth the Maven _

The words there or here at the

beginning of a sentence often signal inverted word order

Strictly Speaking

Remember that a predicate

nomi-native is a noun or pronoun that

follows a linking verb It renames

or identifies the subject

Another tricky agreement situation occurs with linking verbs As with all other verbs,

a linking verb always agrees with its subject Problems crop up when the subject and

1 2 0 P a r t 2 : Under the Grammar Hammer

the linking verb (the predicate nominative) are not the same number For example, the subject can be plural but the linking verb can be singular Here's an example:

• Speeding trucks are one reason for the

abun-dance of fresh produce in our grocery stores

The plural subject trucks agrees with the plural verb are Don't be tricked by the singular predi-cate nominative reason

Danger, Will Robinson

Most measurements are

singular—even though they look

plural For example: "Half a

dol-lar is more than enough" (not

"are more than enough") or "Ten

inches is more than enough" (not

"are more than enough")

One reason for the abundance of fresh produce

in our grocery stores is speeding trucks

Here, the singular subject reason agrees with the singular verb is Here, the plural noun trucks is

the predicate nominative

Playing the Numbers

As you learned in the beginning of this chapter, in grammar, number refers to the two forms of a word: singular (one) or plural (more than one) With nouns, number is rela-tively easy to figure out That's because most nouns form the plural by adding -s or -es

Here are some examples

Singular Nouns

stock report

interest rate

debt

Plural Nouns

stock reports interest rates debts

You learned the few exceptions in Chapter 3 (deer, oxen, men, women, feet, and so on)

There are more tricky plural words listed in Chapter 18

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match

Forget everything you learned about nouns when you start dealing with verbs That's

because we add s or -es to the third-person singular form of most verbs This is

oppo-site to the way we form singular nouns For example:

Singular Verbs

1st and 2nd Person 3rd Person

I start he starts

I do he does

Plural Verbs

1st, 2nd, 3rd Person

we start

we do