Like Peas in a Pod

Like Peas in a Pod
Romeo and Juliet
Spaghetti and meatballs
Peanut butter and jelly
The birds and the bees
Some things just seem to go together well. We carry this concept over into grammar by
matching all sentence parts. This matching of sentence elements is called agreement. It helps
you create smooth and logical sentences.
The basic rule of sentence agreement is simple: A subject must agree with its verb in num-
ber. Numbermeans singular or plural.
A singular subject names oneperson, place, thing, or idea.
A pluralsubject names more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
Here are some examples:
SingularPlural
SubjectsSubjects
Person:Ithey
Place:beachbeaches
Thing:deskdesks
Idea:freedomfreedoms
1.Singular and plural nouns
In English, the plurals of most nouns are formed by adding -s or -es to the singular form.
For example: bike ? bikes; race ? races; inch ? inches. Some nouns have irregular plu-
rals, such as mouse ? mice; woman ? women, goose ? geese. You can find the plural
forms of irregular nouns in a dictionary.
2.Singular and plural pronouns
Pronouns have singular and plural forms, too. Study the following chart.
SingularPluralSingular or
Plural
I we, they you
she, he
it

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3.Singular and plural verbs
As with nouns and pronouns, verbs show singular and plural forms. There are two areas
in which you may have difficulty identifying singular and plural forms of nouns: the basic
present tense and tenses using the helping verb to be.
As you study the following chart, notice that the form of the verb changes only in the
third-person singular column, the middle column. Find the -s or -es added to the verb.
That’s the tricky part:
Singular verbs end in -s or -es.
Plural nouns end in -sor -es.
Here are some examples:
First and SecondSingular ThirdPlural First,
PersonPersonSecond, Third
Person
(I, you) begin(he, she, it) begins(we, you, they) begin
(I, you) do(he, she, it) does(we, you, they) do
As you can see from this chart, subject-verb agreement is most difficult to determine in the
present tense.
4.Singular and plural forms of be
The form of the helping verb bemay also help you determine whether a verb is singular or
plural. The following chart shows the forms of bethat are different from singular to plural.
BeUsed as a Helping Verb
SingularPlural
am(we) are
(he, she, it) is(they) are
(I, he, she, it) was(we, they) were
(he, she, it) has been(they) have been
A Singular Subject Must Have a Singular Verb
Now that you can recognize singular and plural nouns, pronouns, and verbs, you will be able
to make all sentence parts agree in number. Remember the rule introduced in the beginning
of this chapter: A subject must agree with its verb in number.

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All the other rules follow from this one. The easiest rules are these two:
A singular subject must have a singular verb.
A plural subject must have a plural verb.
Let’s examine the first rule.
5.A singular subject must have a singular verb.
She hesitates at all intersections, making the other drivers angry.
sing. subjectsing. verb
The singular subject she agrees with the singular verb hesitates.
Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.
sing. subjectsing. verb
The singular subject procrastination agrees with the singular verb is.
I am ready for dinner now.
sing. subjectsing. verb
The singular subject Irequires the singular verb am.
6.Two or more singular subjects joined by oror normust have a singular verb.
This makes perfect sense: You are making a choice between two singular subjects. The or
shows that you are only choosing one.
Either the dog orthe cat has to go.
sing. subject. or sing. subjectsing. verb
Only one pet will go—the dog or the cat. Therefore, you will only have one pet left. Two
singular subjects—dog and cat—joined by ortake the singular verb has.
Neither Elvis Costello norElvis Presley is in the room.
sing. subjectnorsing. subjectsing. verb
Each subject is being treated individually. Therefore, two singular subjects—Elvis
Costelloand Elvis Presley—joined by nortake the singular verb is.
7.Subjects that are singular in meaning but plural in form require a singular verb.
These subjects include words such as measles, civics, social studies, mumps, molasses,
news, economics, and mathematics.
P.M.
The news is on very night at 11:00
sing. subjectsing. verb
The singular subject newstakes the singular verb is.
8.Plural subjects that function as a single unit take a singular verb.
Spaghetti and meatballs is my favorite dish.
sing. subjectsing. verb
The singular subject spaghetti and meatballs requires the singular verb is.
Bacon and eggs makes a great late night snack.
sing. subjectsing. verb
The singular subject bacon and eggs agrees with the singular verb makes.

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9.Titles are always singular.
It doesn’t matter how long the title is, what it names, or whether or not it sounds plural—
a title always takes a singular verb.
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a story about the Spanish Civil War.
sing. subjectsing. verb
The singular title For Whom the Bell Tolls requires the singular verb is.
Stranger in a Strange Land was written by Robert Heinlein.
sing. subjectsing. verb
The singular title Stranger in a Strange Land requires the singular verb was.
Most measurements are singular—even though they look plural. For example: “Half a dol-
lar is more than enough” (not “are more than enough”).
A Plural Subject Must Have a Plural Verb
Just as a singular subject requires a singular verb, so a plural subject requires a plural verb.
Here are some examples:
1.A plural subject must have a plural verb.
Men are from Earth. Women arefrom Earth. Deal with it.
pluralpluralpluralplural
subjectverbsubjectverb
The plural subject menrequires the plural verb are.The plural subject womenrequires the
plural verb are.
On average, people fearspiders more than they dodeath.
pluralpluralpluralplural
subjectverbsubjectverb
The plural subject people requires the plural verb fear (not the singular verb fears). The
plural subject theyrequires the plural verb do(not the singular verb does).
Studentsat U.S. colleges read about 60,000 pages in four years.
pluralplural
subjectverb
The plural subject studentsrequires the plural verb read (not the singular verb reads).
Facetious and abstemiouscontain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious,
pluralplural
subjectverb
meaning “containing arsenic.”
The plural subject facetiousandabstemious requires the plural verb contain (not the sin-
gular verb contains.) Think of the conjunction andas 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.

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2.Two or more plural subjects joined by oror normust have a plural verb.
This is the logical extension of the rule you learned earlier about two or more singular sub-
jects joined by or or nor taking a singular verb. Here, since both subjects are plural, the
verb must be plural as well.
Either the children orthe adults areclearing the table.
pluralpluralplural
subjectsubjectverb
Since both subjects are plural, one of them alone is still plural. Therefore, two plural
subjects—childrenand adults—joined by ortake the plural verb are.
Neither my relatives nor my friends are leaving any time soon.
pluralpluralplural
subjectsubjectverb
Since both subjects are plural, one of them alone is still plural. Therefore, two plural
subjects—relativesand friends—joined by nortake the plural verb are.
3.A compound subject joined by and is plural and must have a plural verb.
The conjunction andacts like a plus (+) sign, showing that 1 +1 =2 (or 1 +1 +1 =3, etc.).
Brownies and ice cream are a spectacular dessert.
sing.sing.plural
subjectsubjectverb
Brownies and ice cream =two desserts. 1 +1 =2. Therefore, the verb must be plural: are.
Nina and Christopher have donated money to charity.
sing.sing.plural
subjectsubjectverb
Nina and Christopher =two people. 1 +1 =2. Therefore, the verb must be plural: have.
4.If two or more singular and plural subjects are joined by or or nor, the subject closest to
the verb determines agreement.
This is basically an exception made for the sake of sound: It sounds better to match the
verb to the closer subject.
Margery or the twins arecoming on the trip to Seattle.
sing.pluralplural
subjectsubjectverb
Since the plural subject twinsis closest to the verb, the verb is plural: are.
The twins or Margery is coming on the trip to Seattle.
pluralsing.sing.
subjectsubjectverb
Since the singular subject Margery is closest to the verb, the verb is singular: is.
Collective Nouns and Indefinite Pronouns
A collective nounnames a group of people or things. Collective nouns include the words class,
committee, flock, herd, team, audience, assembly, team, and club. Collective nouns can be sin-
gular or plural, depending on how they are used in a sentence. Here are the basic guidelines:

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A collective noun is considered singularwhen it functions as a single unit. Collective nouns
used as one unit take a singular verb.
A collective noun is considered pluralwhen the group it identifies is considered to be indi-
viduals. Collective nouns that indicate many units take a plural verb.
Here are some examples:
The team has practiced for tonight’s big game for months.
sing.sing.
subjectverb
The singular subject team agrees with the singular verb has practiced because in this
instance, the team functions as one (singular) group.
The team have practiced for tonight’s big game for months.
pluralplural
subjectverb
The subject team becomes plural because each member of the group is now being consid-
ered as an individual.
Indefinite pronouns, like collective nouns, can be singular or plural, depending on how
they are used in a sentence. Indefinite pronouns refer to people, places, objects, or things
without pointing to a specific one. Indefinite pronouns include words such as everyone, some-
one, all, and more.
Singular indefinite pronouns take a singular verb.
Plural indefinite pronouns take a plural verb.
The following chart shows singular and plural indefinite pronouns. The chart also shows
pronouns that can be either singular or plural, depending on how they are used in a sentence.
SingularPluralSingular or
Plural
anotherbothall
anybodyfewany
anyonemanymore
anythingothersmost
eachseveralnone
eithersome
everyone
everybody
everything
little
many a
Continues

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SingularPluralSingular or
Plural
much
neither
nobody
no one
nothing
one
other
somebody
someone
something
Look back at the chart. You will see that the following patterns emerge:
1.Indefinite pronouns that end in -body are always singular. These words include anybody,
somebody, nobody.
2.Indefinite pronouns that end in -one are always singular. These words include anyone,
everyone, someone, and one.
3.The indefinite pronouns both, few, many, others, and several are always plural.
4.The indefinite pronouns all, any, more, most, none, and some can be singular or plural,
depending on how they are used.
Here are some examples:
Oneof the gerbils is missing.
sing.sing.
subjectverb
The singular subject onerequires the singular verb is.
Bothof the gerbils are missing.
pluralplural
subjectverb
The plural subject bothrequires the plural verb are.
All of the beef stew was devoured.
sing.sing.
subjectverb

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In this instance, all is being used to indicate one unit. As a result, it requires the singular
verb was.
Many of the guests are sick of Tedious Ted’s endless chatter.
pluralplural
subjectverb
The plural subject many requires the plural verb are.
Special Problems in Agreement
The rules for agreement are straightforward, but some thorny problems do arise. Here are
the two most challenging issues: hard-to-find subjects and intervening phrases.
1.Identify hard-to-find subjects.
Some subjects can be harder to find than others. Subjects that come before the verb are
especially tricky. However, a subject must still agree in
number with its verb, as the following examples show:
In the bottom of the lake are two old cars.
pluralplural
verbsubject
The plural subject cars agrees with the plural verb are.
Quick Tip
There were still half a dozen tires in the lake, too.
The words thereor
pluralplural
hereat the beginning of
verbsubject
a sentence often signal
The plural subject tires requires the plural verb were.
inverted word order.
2.Ignore intervening phrases.
Disregard words or phrases that come between the sub-
ject and the verb. A phrase or clause that comes between a subject and its verb does not
affect subject-verb agreement.
The strongest muscle in the bodyisthe tongue.
sing.prep.sing.
subjectphraseverb
The singular subject muscle agrees with the singular verb is. Ignore the intervening
prepositional phrase “in the body.”
The captain of the guards stands at the door of Buckingham Palace.
sing.prep.sing.
subjectphraseverb
The singular subject captainagrees with the singular verb stands. Ignore the intervening
prepositional phrase “of the guards.”

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