Agreement Subject and Verb / Pronoun and Antecedent Chapter 5.

Agreement

Subject and Verb /Pronoun and Antecedent

Chapter 5

Agreement Subject / Verb

Number Singular Plural

Intervening Indefinite Compound subjects Special problems

Pronoun / Antecedent Number Gender Person Indefinite

Subject / Verb Agreement

A subject must agree with a verb in number.

Singular subjects take singular verbs

Ex) Election Day is

tomorrow. My grandfather

trains dogs.

Subject / Verb Agreement

Plural subjects take plural verbs

Teachers are nerds.

Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.

Subject / Verb Agreement

Collective nouns can be singular or plural, depending on how they are used in a sentence. General Motors is

holding its annual meeting in Detroit

The Chicago Bears were awesome.

Subject / Verb Agreement

Indefinite Pronouns Some are singular, some are plural, and

some can be singular or plural, depending on how they are used.

Subject / Verb Agreement

Indefinite Pronouns Singular (need to remember

these): Anybody, anyone, anything,

each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, one, somebody, someone, something.

Ex) Everyone in America loves tourists.

Subject / Verb Agreement

The following indefinite pronouns are plural (need to remember these): Both, few, many

and several Ex. Both of the

chefs were Swedish.

Subject / Verb Agreement

The indefinite pronouns all, any, more, most, none, and some may be singular or plural, depending on their meaning in a sentence Most of the food

has already been eaten.

Most of the hot dogs have already been eaten.

Subject / Verb agreement

Compound Subjects Subjects joined by

and usually take a plural verb

Ex) Mr. Kelly and Mr. Waterman smell weird.

Subjects joined by or or nor take on a singular verb

Ex) Mr. Kelly or Mr. Waterman smells weird.

Subject / Verb Agreement

The LEAST you need to know: Agreement means that sentence parts

match Subjects must agree with verbs

Your turn

Page 100 – Exercise 2: Identifying Subject and Verbs that Agree in Number

Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement

A pronoun usually refers to a noun or another pronoun, which is called the pronoun’s antecedent.

Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement

A pronoun must agree in number. Singular pronouns

refer to singular antecedents

Kung-fu star Jim Kelly made his debut in the movie Black Belt Jones.

Plural pronouns refer to plural antecedents

Beth and Lisa talk on their phones

Pronoun / Antecedent agreement

Pronouns must agree in gender Ex) Tony eats his

Frosted Flakes

Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement

Pronouns must agree in person First person: I need

a transcript of my grades.

Second person: Have you fastened your seatbelt?

Third person: They create their own dances.

Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement

Indefinite Pronouns See page 111-112 for list of

indefinite pronouns. You will be responsible for these.

Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement

The most common of errors: When the subject is singular, use

either his, her or a combination of both. WRONG:

Each student completes their homework. RIGHT:

Each student completes his/her homework. Each student completes his or her

homework. Each student completes her homework. Each student completes his homework.

Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement

The LEAST you need to know Make a pronoun clearly refer to a single

antecedent Place pronouns close to their

antecedents. Make a pronoun refer to a definite

antecedent

Your turn

Page 114 Exercise 5: Supplying Pronouns that Agree with Their Antecedent

To Study for quiz Pages 119 – 121: Chapter Review