Agreement of the predicate with the subject (general notion, rules of agreement).

The P agrees with the S in person and number. But in Modern English there's often a conflict between form and meaning. Agreement of the P with the S is restricted to the present tense apart from the verb "to be", because it agrees with the S not only in the present but also in the past.

PLURAL:

• Two or more homogeneous subjects connected by the conjunction "and" or asyndetically (Her father and mother were completely out of breath);

• A subject expressed by a noun modified by two or more attributes connected by "and" when two or more persons, things or ideas are meant (Heavy and light music have their own admirers);
• The subject expressed by a collective noun denoting the individuals of the group taken separately (people, infantry, cavalry, gentry, clergy, police, cattle, poultry, jury, etc.) (Hurry up, the police are coming!)

SINGULAR:

• Two or more homogeneous objects expressed by infinitives (To live and to find peace was all he needed);
• The sentence beginning with "here" or "there" (In the room there was a small chair and a big table);
• Two homogeneous subjects in the singular connected by the conjunctions "not only… but", "neither… nor", "either… or", "or", "nor" (Not only the rain stopped, but the wind also was gone);
• Two subjects in the singular connected by the conjunction "as well as" (The album "In Rock" as well as "Machine Head" has contributed a lot into the development of heavy rock);
• A subject expressed by a noun modified by two or more attributes connected by "and" when one person, thing or idea is meant (The big, bad and blood-red moon was looking down at the Earth);
• The subject expressed by a defining, indefinite, or negative pronoun (Everybody is going to get good marks; There was something pleasant in her words; Nobody leaves the room until I say so);
• The subject expressed by the emphatic "it" (Many agree that it is English businessmen who can be trusted);
• The title of a book, the name of a newspaper or magazine (even if the noun is in the plural) ("Great Expectations" was written by Dickens);
• The subject denoting time, measure, or distance when the noun represents the amount or mass as a whole (Five dollars is not a big sum when we talk about this item);
• The subject is expressed by a collective noun denoting a group or collection of similar individuals taken as a whole (mankind, humanity, etc.) (If the mankind is going to see the end of this century, it is bound to survive);
• The word-group "many a…" (Many a politician is a liar);
• Arithmetic calculation (addition, subtraction, division; multiplication is an exception – it can be both) (Six and four is ten; Thrice two is (are) six);

PLURAL OR SINGULAR:

• When the subjects of different number connected by the conjunction "not only… but", "neither… nor", "either… or", "or", "nor", the predicate agrees with the one next to it (Neither you nor your sister is to blame; Neither your sister nor you are to blame);
• When the subjects of different person and number connected by the conjunction "as well as", the predicate agrees with the one that stands first (The Nile as well as its effluents is amazingly enchanting);
• When the subject is expressed by an interrogative pronoun (who, what) the predicate depends on the number of persons the question is referred to (Who is to apply for the job?; Who were the 11 people who won the World Cup in 2006?);
• If the subject is expressed by a relative pronoun (who, which, that) the predicate agrees with its antecedent (Mr. Smith, who was engaged, looked worried; He looked into her eyes which were filled with admiration);
• With collective nouns (family, committee, crew, army, board, chorus, choir, band, government, party, team, company, etc.) as subject the predicate depends on what is uppermost in the mind, the idea of oneness or plurality (The crew was beginning to play as an experienced band; The family were sitting at the table);

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1299