As traffic regulations ensure safety and swiftness on the road, grammatical rules lay the foundation of good writing and promote understanding. Due to the differences of the languages, non-native students tend to make some simple grammatical mistakes in subject-verb agreement and the use of pronouns in their English writing.
Subject-Verb Agreement
The fundamental rule of subject-verb agreement is that verbs must agree with, or match, their subjects. For example:
The Beijing roast duck tastes delicious. (singular subject and verb)
The vegetables taste fresh. (plural subject and verb)
There are several types of subject-verb agreement:
1. Indefinite pronouns
Indefinite pronouns, such as each, every, no one, everyone, everything, etc., are singular in Standard English and are followed by a singular verb.
Everyone associated with the project is proud to be part of the effort.
Someone has to be responsible.
Don’t be confused by phrases that come between the subject pronoun and its verb phrases that may contain plural words.
Each of the project partners is responsible for writing a chapter summary.
2. All, half, none, some
Verbs that accompany pronouns such as all, half, none and some will be determined by whether the pronoun is referring to something that is countable or not.
Some of the students in the cafeteria have voted already.
Some of the grain was ruined by the flood.
None of the representatives has/ have indicated how he or she/ they will vote.
3. Together with, along with, as well as…
Though seeming to join subjects, phrases such as accompanied by, as well as, as much as, rather than, more than, no less than, in addition to/ with, along with, together with, combined with, except, but, besides, like, etc., are not conjunctions and do not work the same as and.
Some of the hay in the barn, as well as some major pieces of farm equipment, was ruined in the flood.
She, more than anyone else in the class, knows how to study efficiently.
4. Either, neither
In formal writing, when either or neither appears as a subject alone (without using or or nor), they are singular. This is true even though the subject seems to be two things.
Neither of these choices appears to be satisfactory.
When either or neither acts as correlative conjunction, the subject that is closer to the verb determines the form of the verb.
Either the employees or the manager has to be responsible for the year-end festival.
Neither the teacher nor the students were informed of the bad news.
5. Fractional expressions
With fractional expressions (fractions or decimal equivalents), the verbal forms will be determined by what is being measured, whether it is countable or uncountable.
Two-fifths of the grain is ruined.
One-half of the students were convinced that there would be no final exams this year.
6. Expletive construction
When a sentence begins with an expletive construction (there is, there are, here is, etc.), the subject (which determines the form of the verb) comes after the verb.
There are several explanations for the Civil War.
If the management team takes this attitude, there is very little latitude for negotiation.
Exercise 1
Cross out the incorrect verb form in each sentence. In addition, underline the subject or subjects that go with the verb. Then write the correct form of the verb in the space provided.
1. Why is Martha and her mother digging a hole in their garden so late at night?
2. Neither of my children look like me.
3. The dogs which roams around this area are household pets abandoned by cruel owners.
4. The little balls all over my pink sweater looks like woolen goose bumps.
5. Nosing through the garbage bags were a furry animal with a hairless tail.
6. The odor of those perfumed ads interfere with my enjoyment of a magazine.
7. One of my roommates are always leaving wet towels on the bathroom floor.
8. Either a giant jellyfish or oversize lobsters stars in this Japanese monster movie.
9. A person in his or her forties often begin to think about making a contribution to the world and not just about himself or herself.
10. Each of the child’s thirty-four stuffed animals have a name and an entire life history.
Exercise 2
Some of the following sentences are correct, but others contain common errors in subject-verb agreement. If a sentence is correct, mark it with a tick √; if it has an error, correct it.
1. I Love Lucy is one of those television shows that almost all Americans have seen at least once.
2. The committee presented its findings to the president.
3. Neither Western novels nor science fiction appeals to me.
4. Stage presence and musical ability makes a rock performer successful today.
5. It’s a Wonderful Life, like many old Christmas movies, seems to be shown on television every year.
6. Hearts are my grandmother’s favorite card game.
7. The best part of B. B. King’s songs are the guitar solos.
8. Time and tide waits for no man.
9. Aesthetics is not an exact science.
10. Vincent and Theo is Robert Altman’s movie about the French Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh and his brother.
