Common errors related to subject verb agreement among the first year english major students at ha noi pedagogical university no 2

Hanoi pedagogical university no.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 NO.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

i


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 No.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 No.2 for their enthusiastic cooperation in the process of
implementing my survey.
I also wish to thank my close friends for their willingness in helping me

collect valuable reference documents and data for my research.
Last but not least, I owe a debt of gratitude to my beloved family, for their
whole hearted encouragement and endless support.

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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.

iii


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Title: Common Errors related to Subject-Verb Agreement among the first
year English major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University No.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

Student

Supervisor

Bui Thi Huong

Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. i
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... ii
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... iv

PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
I- RATIONALE................................................................................................... 1
II- RESEARCH PRESUPPOSITION ................................................................. 2
III- RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ......................................................................... 2
IV- RESEARCH SCOPE ..................................................................................... 2
V- RESEARCH TASK......................................................................................... 2
VI- RESEARCH METHODS .............................................................................. 3

VII- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH .............................. 3
VIII- DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH WORK................................................... 3

PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
I.1. Literature review in brief .............................................................................. 4
I.2. Subject- verb agreement ................................................................................ 5
I.2.1. Definition of subject and verb. ................................................................... 5
I.2.2. General rules of subject- verb agreement .................................................. 6
I.2.3. Main cases of subject- verb agreement ...................................................... 7
I.2.3.1. Clauses, phrases, and adverbs functioning as subjects ................................ 7
I.2.3.2. Intervening phrases or clauses between the subject and its verb ................ 7
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I.2.3.3. Compound subjects by “and” ..................................................................... 9
I.2.3.4. Principle of proximity ............................................................................... 9
I.2.3.5. Collective nouns used as subjects ............................................................. 10
I.2.3.6. Relative pronouns used as subjects ........................................................... 12
I.2.3.7. Indefinite expressions as subjects ............................................................. 13
I.2.3.8. Agreement in inverted sentences .............................................................. 15
I.2.3.9. Plural words and phrases used as names, titles, and quotations. ............... 16
I.2.3.10. Expressions of amount, measurement, mathematical
phrase, fraction, and percentage as subjects ........................................... 16
I.2.3.11. Plural forms of nouns as subjects ........................................................... 17

CHAPTER TWO: COMMON ERRORS RELATED TO SUBJECT- VERB
AGREEMENT AMONG THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR
STUDENTS AT HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY No.2

II.1 Survey .......................................................................................................... 22
II.1.1. Purpose of the survey ................................................................................. 22
II.1.2. Population of the survey ............................................................................ 22
II.1.3. Types of the survey.................................................................................... 23
II.1.4. Construction of the test .............................................................................. 23
II.1.5. Preparation of the survey ........................................................................... 23
II.1.5.1. Test items................................................................................................ 23
II.1.5.2. Arrangement of the test items ................................................................. 24
II.1.6. Administration of the try-out ..................................................................... 25
II.1.6.1. Preparation of the try-out ........................................................................ 25
II.1.6.2. Try-out .................................................................................................... 26
II.1.7. Method of the data analysis........................................................................ 26
II.1.8. Result of the survey ................................................................................... 26
II.2. Common errors and causes........................................................................ 28
II.2.1. Errors related to subject-verb agreement in sentences containing compound
subjects connected by “and” ....................................................................... 28
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II.2.2. Errors in matching the verb with the subject when subjects are nouns of
foreign plural .............................................................................................. 29
II.2.3. Errors in matching verbs with subjects modified with quantifiers “every”,
“each”, and “many a” ................................................................................. 30
II.2.4. Errors in using plural verbs after some nouns singular in meaning but plural
in form ....................................................................................................... 30
II.2.5. Errors in matching verbs with subjects when subjects are nouns having the
same plural and singular form .................................................................... 31
II.2.6. Errors related to subject- verb agreement when subjects
are collective nouns ................................................................................... 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
only one of” ................................................................................................ 33
II.2.9. Errors in using singular verbs after 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
II.2.11. Errors when breaking the principle of proximity ...................................... 35
II.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
of” .............................................................................................................. 35
II.2.13. Errors related to subject- verb agreement when phrases or clauses intervene
between subject and verb ............................................................................ 36
II.3. Suggested solutions and exercises .............................................................. 37
II.3.1. Suggested solutions.................................................................................... 37
II.3.2. Suggested exercises ................................................................................... 39

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PART THREE
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION................................................................................................... 41
REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 43
APPENDICES .................................................................................................... 45
SURVEY QUESTIONARE ....................................................................... 45
SUGGESTED EXERCISES ....................................................................... 50

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 No.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.
1

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 No.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 No.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 No.2?
III. 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 No.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 No.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
No.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 No.2.
The population involved in the study is one hundred first- year English
major students at Hanoi Pedagogical University No.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 No.2. On

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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:
1)

Input for learners of English in order to minimize their errors related to
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

No.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.

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PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
I.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
rules 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.
I.2. SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT
I.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.
I.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. (3rd person singular)
They eat breakfast. (3rd person plural)
An exception to the rule occurs with the pronoun “I” and “you”. Both take
the plural form of verb even when “you” refers to one person.
I eat breakfast. (1st singular person)
You prepare dinner. (2nd singular person)
Whether functioning as main verbs or auxiliary verbs, the irregular verbs
“be”,“have”, and “do” 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: I am 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?
I.2.3. Other cases of subject- verb agreement
I.2.3.1. Clauses, phrases, and adverbs functioning as subjects
`

Rule: When That-clauses or Wh-interrogative clauses function 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)
I.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.
Robert, not I, is going to play. (McGraw- Hill, 1999)
I, 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.
8


I.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 nonappositional 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)
I.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 in ten take drugs. (Quirk et al, 1973)
More than one person has protested against the proposal.

(Quirk et al, 1973)
Rule: For the structures “...or...”, “...nor...”, “either ... or...”, “neither ...
nor...”, and “not only... but also...” traditional grammarians also argue for the
proximity rule, that is, subject-verb agreement should occur with the noun nearest
to the verb:
[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.
I.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.]
Note:
- In American English grammatically singular collective nouns are generally
treated as singular, especially when they refer to government and sport team.
- Both in British English and American English, plural pronouns are often
used to refer to singular collective nouns.
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.
flock of birds, sheep

herd of cattle

pack of dogs

school of

pride of

fish

lions

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)

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I.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.]
Rule: If an adjective clause is preceded by “the only one of + a plural noun”,
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.]
I.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.

Singular

Either
Singular
or Plural

Plural

everyone/everybody

any

both

anyone/anybody

all

many

someone/somebody

some

few

no one/nobody

most

several

one
each

more

much
little

none
enough

either/neither

plenty
Rule: Compound indefinite pronouns beginning with any (anyone, anybody,
etc.), no (no one, nobody, nothing), every (everyone, everything, etc.), and some
(something, someone, etc.) are always singular and take a singular verb.
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.(Yates, 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)
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[Ears is 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]
Notes:
- When “each”, “many a”, “every” or “no” precede a singular subject,
whether simple or compound, the subject is considered singular.
Each editor and proofreader needs a style manual. (Abrams, 1998)

Many a joke and cartoon was included. (McGraw- Hill, 1999)
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)
- “A number of + a plural noun” takes the plural, but “the number of + a
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)
I.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.
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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.
Here are five beans. (Woods, 2010)
There is a bean in your nose. (Woods, 2010)

There are the book and the magazine that you want. (Hewings, 1999)
I.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)
I.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)
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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
collective noun.

Sixty percent of the money was spent on food. (McGraw- Hill, 1999)
Sixty percent of our resources were used. (McGraw- Hill, 1999)
One-half of the toxic waste has escaped. (Larsen and Murcia, 1983)
Two-thirds of the students are satisfied with the class.
(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)
I.2.3.11. Plural forms of nouns as subjects
 Nouns plural in form and meaning:
Some nouns have only a plural form (with “s”) and take a plural verb.
These are:
Arms (weapons), belongings (the things you own), clothes, congratulations,
contents (what is inside something), customs (bringing things into a
country), earnings (money you earn), goods (products, things for sale),
outskirts (the outer part of a town), remains (what is left), surroundings (the
environment, the things around you), thanks, troops (soldiers), roots
(original point).
The clothes were in the dryer. (Eastwood, 1992)
The goods have been sent to you directly from our factory.
(Eastwood, 1992)
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