The complete idiot guide part 14 doc

_
Chapter 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»
Part
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
US
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.
116
Part
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
Singular
Plural
Singular
or
Plural
another
anyone
each
both
few
many
all
any
more
Chapter 9:
Reaching

an
Agreement:
Matching
Sentence Parts
117
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
118
Part
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
Chapter 9:
Reaching
an
Agreement:
Matching
Sentence Parts
119
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
120
Part
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
Chapter 9:
Reaching
an
Agreement:
Hatching
Sentence
Parts
121
The helping verbs are even nastier because they aren't regular. The following chart
shows the forms of
to
be.
Singular
Be Verbs
Plural
Be Verbs
(I) 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
As
a result, subject-verb agreement is most tricky in the present tense.
Mix and
Match
You know the drill, so sharpen your pencils and get crackin'
with
the following
10
items. In each
case,
choose the verb
that
agrees
with
the subject.
1.
There (is/are) a
method
to this madness.
2.
The hostess trilled: "The
Bengels
(are/is) here!"
3.
One reason for her success (was/were) her sunny personality.
4.

The many mistakes made by the
tour
guide in
giving
directions (was/were) the
reason
we fired her.
5.
(Does/Do) fig trees grow in this region?
6. (Is/Are) some the pie still in the refrigerator?
7.
(Here's/Here are) more freeloaders for the open-house.
8. There (was/were) two good reasons for his decision.
9. Another example
of
Juan's
fine leadership (is/are) the excellent roads.
10.
Here (is/are) two gifts I'd especially like to receive: a wheelbarrow filled
with
cash
and a diamond as big as the Ritz.
Answers
1.
is
2.
are
3.
was
4.

were
5.
6.
7.
8.
Do
Is
Here
are
were
9.
is
10.
are
1Z2
Part
2:
Under
the Grammar
Hammer
Agree
to Disagree
Like
subjects and verbs, pronouns and antecedents (the words to which they refer)
must
agree.
A pronoun replaces a noun. To make sure
that
your writing is clear,
always

use the noun before using the pronoun. Follow these rules to make sure
that
your pronouns and antecedents get on well:
1.
A pronoun
agrees
(or matches) its antecedent in
number,
person,
and
gender.
•
Number is amount: singular or plural.
•
Person
refers to the
first
person, second
person, or third person (the person speak-
ing,
the person spoken to, or the person
spoken about).
Danger,
Will
Robinson
Not all verbs add
-s
or
-es
when they become plural. For

example words
that
end in -y
such
as fry change the -y to -/'
before
adding
-es.
So
I
fry
becomes
he fries. Be on the
look-
out for the
different
ways
that
verbs
form
their
plurals.
•
Gender
refers to masculine, feminine, or
neuter references. He and him are mascu-
line
in gender,
she
and her are feminine,

and
it and its are neuter.
For
example:
Louise
gave
her paycheck straight to the orthodontist.
Both
the antecedent
Louise
and the pronoun her are
singular,
in the third person,
and
feminine in gender.
•
Errors often occur when
there
are incorrect shifts in person and gender.
For
example:
Error:
Herman will screen the video teleconference, which
you
need to stay
timely.
Correct:
Herman will screen the video teleconference, which he needs to
stay
timely.

2.
Use a singular personal pronoun
with
a singular indefinite pronoun.
•
If
anyone
questions the amount, refer him or her to payroll.
The singular pronouns him or her refer to the singular pronoun
anyone.
•
Each
police officer and firefighter has to watch his
or
her figure.
Use
a singular pronoun if the nouns are preceded by
each
or
every.