Subject-Verb
Agreement (Concord)
PART ONE
Agreement is that two or more
words must agree with each other for a meaningful sentence.
For example, the gender and
number of a pronoun or possessive adjective must match the gender and number of
the noun it refers to. If you wish to say that ‘a man wants to wear a new shirt
he just bought’, you would say the following.
John is putting on his new
shirt.
That meaning is lost if you
change the gender or number of either the subject or the possessive adjective.
Mary is putting on his new
shirt.
John is putting on our new
shirt.
The boys are putting on my new
shirt.
The rules of agreement do not
mean that these three examples are incorrect— they could be. But in this case,
they are not, because the desired meaning is that a man wants to wear a new
shirt he just bought: He puts on his own shirt.
Third-Person Singular and Plural
In subject-verb agreement in
the third person, the difference between a singular and a plural subject is
important. In most cases, a plural subject has a different present-tense verb
ending from a singular subject.
The
boy plays tag in the street.
The
boys play tag in the street.
She
learns a lot about English.
They
learn a lot about English.
When the auxiliary ‘have’ is
used in the present perfect tense, there is also a difference between the singular
and the plural.
My
friend has been in France for two weeks.
My
friends have been in France for two weeks.
Using a singular verb with a
singular subject and a plural verb with a plural subject is essential for
writing and speaking correctly in English.
The Verb Be
‘Be’ is the only English verb
that has more than two forms in the simple present tense, which means that
agreement involves more than third-person singular and plural forms.
First Person- I am (present
singular), we are (present plural)
Second Person- you are (present
singular), you are (present plural)
Third Person- he/ she / it is (present
singular), they are (present plural)
In the past tense, it has two
forms.
First Person- I was (past
singular), we were (past plural)
Second Person- you were (past
singular), you were (past plural)
Third Person- he/ she / it was
(past singular), they were (past plural)
If the subject of the verb ‘be’
is a noun, the third-person form of the verb is used.
The
boy is at school.
Mary
and Jane were named co-chairpersons.
Expressions
of Quantity
For many expressions of
quantity, the verb form is determined by the noun or pronoun that follows the
word ‘of’. If the phrase ‘some of’ or ‘most of’ is followed by a singular noun
or pronoun, the verb form is singular.
Some
of the icing is runny.
Most
of the equipment was sold.
But if these phrases—as well
as many of—are followed by a plural noun, the verb form is plural.
Some
of the movies are good.
Most
of these people were in need of help.
Many
of these people are my friends.
This concept applies to many
other expressions of quantity.
One
third of this land is mine.
Two
thirds of the diamonds are mine.
A
number of people miss the bus.
If the number is used instead
of a number in such an expression, the verb form is singular, because a
specific number is being referred to.
The
number of students on the bus is 50. (50 is the number of people.)
The
number of people at the bar is 15. (15 is the number of students.)
Similarly, expressions with one
of, each of, and every one of take a singular verb form.
One of
my parents is about to get here.
Each
one of my children is here.
Every
one of my cousins is here.
In very formal English,
subjects with ‘none of’ are singular, but it is common to hear ‘none of’ used
with a plural verb in casual speech.
None of the girls is here. –
formal
None of the girls are here. –
casual
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