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Agreement ๏ Present tense verbs in English should agree with the subject of the sentence ๏ Singular subjects use singular verbs Jack robs liquor stores (s on the verb) ๏ Plural subjects use plural verbs Bonnie and Clyde rob banks (no s on the verb) ๏ Most native speaker do this instinctively ๏ More complex problems require you to learn a few rules Compound Subjects using Orโ โ ๏ When the subject is joined with โorโ or โnorโ the verb agrees with the words closest to the verb Neither the instructor nor the students has / have any control over the number of 8 oโclock classes Neither the instructor nor the students has / have any control over the number of 8 oโclock classes (plural verb) Either two credit cards or a membership is / are needed before you can rent movies Either two credit cards or a membership is / are needed before you can rent movies (singular verb) โ Note: While the above example is correct, it is usually better to place the plural word closer to the verb Either a membership or two credit cards are needed before you can rent movies (plural verb) Indefinite Pronouns ๏ Indefinite pronouns are singular every, everyone, everybody, each, neither, either, none, one, no one โ Every student has / have a unique student number โ Every student has / have a unique student number โ None of us admit / admits to sending the e-mail message โ None of us admit / admits to sending the e-mail message ๏ Ignore prepositional phrases coming between the subject and the verb โ Each of the five departments is / are hiring new instructors โ Each of the five departments is / are hiring new instructors Collective Nouns ๏ Words such as jury, committee, or herd will be singular when everyone in the group is acting together The jury is / are deciding the fate of the accused The jury is / are deciding the fate of the accused ๏ Collective nouns will be plural when the members of the group are not acting together The jury is / are undecided on the guilt of the accused The jury is / are undecided on the guilt of the accused Money and Measurement ๏ Units of time, money, distance, and weight use singular verbs Twenty kilometres is a long distance to skate to work each day Eight dollars an hour is a poor rate ๏ The expression the number is singular The number of failures is decreasing ๏ The expression a number is plural A number of people are leaving Titles ๏ The title of a movie, book or magazine requires a singular verb Lost Horizons is a book about a utopia The Simpsons is my favourite TV show Interactive Exercises ๏ Click on the button below to get to the interactive exercises ๏ No disk is required
