Week 2

8. TOPIC: SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT PART 1

General Description:

- Subjects and verbs must always agree in number. The key is to know the quantity of the
subject - how many of them - or is it only one? Then you know which verb to use. 

For instance: Singular subjects take singular verbs (verb + s/es), plural subjects take plural
verbs (base form)

Examples:

 The company is very strict at implementing its policies.

 The contracts are available at the human resource office.

Words coming in between the subject and the verb might confuse you; to identify the subject,
get rid of them!

Examples:

 Isabelle Sanders, one of the applicants, is in the conference room right now.
o get rid of ‘one of the applicants’ => Isabelle Saunders [singular, there’s only one
of her!] 
 The work performance of the employees is discussed after every shift.
o get rid of ‘of the employees’ => the work performance [singular]

If the sentence begins with “here” or “there,” it is important to identify what the subject is first, so
you can work out what verb to use

Example:

 Here is the stapler you can use to fasten the documents.

o get rid of all the ‘extra bits’ and it becomes “the stapler fastens the documents”;
the stapler is singular so the correct verb to use will be is

Remember: It is important to identify the number of the subject in a sentence to know the
correct verb to use.

Comprehension Check:

Choose the appropriate linking verb.

The pantry, filled with employees, (is/are) a very noisy place. [what words will you ‘get rid of’ to
help identify the subject?]
Exercise: Incomplete Sentences

1. Here is the memo written by your team leader regarding your daily evaluation. 
2. My working breaks are not considered overtime. 
3. The breaks of each employee are set for fifteen minutes.

9. TOPIC: SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT RULES PART 2

General Description:

- The verb must agree with the subject to make a grammatically correct sentence. The
subject can be singular or plural and the verb to be used depends on that.
 

1. For sentences that ask questions, subjects don’t appear before the verbs. This is
confusing!  Try answering the question, to work out the subject!
a. Ex: Where is the printer? answer: “the printer is over there.”
b. subject = printer (singular), verb = is (singular)
2. When two or more subjects are connected by the word and, the subject requires a plural
verb; you have to ‘add them together’!
a. Ex: The man and the woman walk down the street. subject = the man and the
woman, added together, make two people so they become plural; the correct
verb will be walk (plural) [ not walks (singular)]
3. When there seem to be two subjects, but they actually refer to the same person or thing,
the subject is singular and takes singular verb.
a. Ex: The manager-and-owner orders his employees to work harder.
b. subject = the manager-and-owner [one and the same person so he’s singular,
the correct verb is orders (singular)
4. Words like each, every, no one, anyone, and everyone are always singular, so use
singular verbs.
a. Ex: Each employee gets a new computer.
b. subject = each (singular), verb = gets (singular)
 

Comprehension Check:

Choose the proper verb to use in the following sentence:

His secretary and companion (advise, advises) him to buy a new cash register.
 

Exercise: Incomplete Sentences

1. The watchman and security guard takes care of the office building at night.
2. Where are the copier machines that I leased?
3. According to the new rule, every worker is required to have a good knowledge of
computers.
 
 10. TOPIC: SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT RULES PART 3

General Description:

- If the subjects are both singular, and are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor,
either/or, and not only/but also, the verb is singular - because it’s “either one [Joe
singular] or the other [John also singular]”

o Either Joe or John is going to talk to the boss. BUT…… If one or both the
subjects are plural and are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor,
either/or, and not only/but also, the verb is plural.
o Neither the supervisors [plural] nor the trainees [also plural] like the activity.
[we’ll see the rule for when the subjects are ‘a mixture of the two’, plural +
singular, next time!!]

- If you see some, half, none, more, and all followed by “…of the…”, the verb agrees
with the noun that comes straight after the “…of the…”

o Singular
o  Half of the day [singular] has been wasted in the office.
o Plural
o  Half of the days [plural] that Tom worked were very busy.
units of measurement are singular.

Ten gallons of ink was delivered yesterday. [ten-gallons-of-ink is a unit, it’s singular]

Exercise: Incomplete Sentences

1. Alvin recorded the five kilograms of powder that was delivered yesterday. 
2. None of the tasks given to John by his boss was accomplished. 
3. Either Mr. Johnson or Mr. Wills is going to run the company from now on.
 

11. TOPIC: SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT RULES PART 4

 General Description:

1. When a singular subject and another plural subject are joined together by the words or,
nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, the form of the verb will follow the
subject NEAREST TO the verb.
a. Ex: Neither the manager [singular] nor the employees [plural - this is the one
NEAREST TO the verb] know about the new rule. But …
b. Neither the employees [plural] nor the manager [singular - this is the one
NEAREST TO the verb] knows about the new rule
 2. Indefinite pronouns like each, everybody, nobody, someone, etc. are singular BUT…
the pronouns few, many, several, and both which always take plural.
a. Examples: Someone is responsible for the missing documents. But…
b. Both of them were responsible for the missing documents
 
3. Two infinitives (to + verb) joined together always take the plural form of the verb.
a. Example: To speak about the issue and to tell others about it are not allowed in
the office.  [to-speak-about-it + to-tell-others added together becomes like “both”]
 

Exercise: Incomplete Sentences

1. Not only Mr. Jenkins but also his supervisors were present yesterday. 
2. Many employers require their applicants to have experience. 
3. To measure and to evaluate one’s performance are the tasks of the HR people.
 

12. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT RULES PART 5

General Description:

- Gerunds are noun-like words that are made up from verbs. They’re very easy to spot,
since every gerund is a verb with -ing tacked onto its tail. 
- Swimming in the ocean is great fun.
- Let’s go dancing !
- I delayed telling him the bad news.
- Flying above the clouds was a wonderful experience.
- Barrie avoided doing his homework.

Here are rules for using gerunds:

 When a gerund is used as the subject of a sentence, it takes a singular verb. But when
there are two or more gerunds, they take a plural verb.
Ex.: Restaurant-dining is expensive. Watching TV and cooking are cheaper options.
 

- Collective nouns are words for a single thing - but it’s made up from lots of individual
things or people.  For example, you can’t have a team without individual members; even
so, we always talk about ‘the team’ as a single entity
- Collective nouns usually take a singular verb.
Example: The senate is considering an investigation regarding the case.
The media is allowed to report the investigation as it unfolds.
 
Titles are treated as singular nouns and therefore take singular verbs.
Example: Memoirs of a Bank Robber is a book which was later made into a movie.
Principles of Accounting is the textbook for this class.
 
Exercise: Incomplete Sentences

1. Delegating and motivating are strategies of good managers

2. Annie is supposed to give reports on the status of all her tasks.
3. Donna’s team covers for Annie while she’s away.
 

13. TOPIC: “I” AS SUBJECT

General Description:

- The subject in a sentence is the person [or thing] doing the action. The pronoun “I” can
be used as subject of a sentence.

Ex.
 I will apply for a different position in this company.
 I am going to Australia for a business trip.
 This morning, I attended an office meeting.
 Last year, I participated in an English language training.
 

Remember: When using “I” as subject, you can use past, present, or future tense of the verb,
depending on what you are trying to say.

“I” is the subject in a sentence when it is the one performing the action [the verb = the ‘action
word’].

Examples:

 I checked all the reports that was submitted by my team members.

 I reviewed the cost of our company trip held last summer.
 I arrived at the office late because of the heavy traffic.
 Two days ago, I conducted a training lesson for the new nurses in our hospital.
 During my childhood, I used to attend junior high school.
 

Comprehension Check: Identify what is the subject “I” doing in the sentence?
 I attended a meeting with our company president this morning.
 I conducted a research for our department last month.
 I bought a new laptop for my office.
 

Exercise: Incomplete Sentences

1. I am leaving tomorrow to go to Europe to attend our training.

2. I saw you at the company seminar last month.
3. I explain to the staff about the supplies that we need for the training day.
 14. TOPIC: SUBJECT – VERB AGREEMENT (“YOU” AS A SUBJECT)

General Description:

- The pronoun “you”, when used as a subject can be both singular and plural. [in Old
English we used to have ‘thee/thou’ for ‘you [singular] but we do not use it anymore,
which makes life easier!]
- Nowadays, “You” always takes the plural form of the verb.
o You show such a warm personality to the guests we invited.
 Subj. + plural verb
o You always invite us to the best parties.
 Subj. + plural verb

Remember: Personal pronouns can be singular or plural. However, “you” is both plural and
singular - we do not use ‘thou’ any more

Comprehension Check:

Choose the verb that should be used in the sentence:

You __________ (is, are) invited to attend the office gathering.
 

Exercise: Incomplete Sentences

1. You scare the kids away.

2. Are you going to ride the motorbike?
3. “Thank you very much!”
“You are welcome!”