Agreement: Agreement: Subject-Verb Agreement Pronoun Antecedent Agreement

Agreement:Agreement:Subject-Verb Agreement

Pronoun Antecedent Agreement

Pronoun- Antecedent Agreement

FILL IN THE BLANK:

1. The student should put _____binder on the desk.

A) his or her

B) their

FILL IN THE BLANK:

2. The clerk is on the way to ______house.

A) his or her

B) their

FILL IN THE BLANK:

3. The teacher is eating _______lunch.

A) his or her

B) their

FILL IN THE BLANK:

4. The doctor is examining ______patient.

A) his or her

B) their

FILL IN THE BLANK:

5. The lawyer is reviewing _______case.

A) his or her

B) their

The following pronouns are SINGULAR:

FILL IN THE BLANK:

6. Each of the students _____ purchased new books.

A) has

B) have

FILL IN THE BLANK:

7. Each of the boys tore up_____ old notes.

A) his

B) their

FILL IN THE BLANK:

8. Neither of the girls _____going to the party.

A) is

B) are

FILL IN THE BLANK:

9. Either of the girls can bring _____IPOD to the gym.

A) her

B) their

FILL IN THE BLANK:

10. Nobody here is going to _____ house after school today.

A) his or her

B) their

FILL IN THE BLANK:

11. One of the students left ______history book in my class.

A) his or her

B) their

Answers

1-11: A12: B13: A

SINGULAR OR PLURAL?

SINGULAR: each, either, neither, one, no one, nobody, nothing, anyone, anybody, anything, someone, somebody, everyone, everybody, everything, every

PLURAL: several, few, both, many

EITHER SINGULAR OR PLURAL: some, any, none, all, most

EITHER SINGULAR OR PLURAL: some, any, none, all, most

All of the jewelry is in the safe. singular

All of the necklaces are in the safe. plural

None of the chocolate is here. singular

None of the books are here. plural

Two subjects joined by AND

Compound subjects joined by and always take a plural referent.

Example:

Two Subjects Joined by Or/Nor

With compound subjects joined by or/nor, the referent pronoun agrees with the antecedent closer to the pronoun.

Example #1 (plural antecedent closer to pronoun):

With compound subjects joined by or/nor, the referent pronoun

agrees with the antecedent closer to the pronoun.

Example #2 (singular antecedent closer to pronoun):

12. Neither the president nor the senators ___

on vacation.A) isB) are

13. Neither the senators nor the president ___on vacation.

A) isB) are

Collective Nouns

Collective Nouns may be singular oror plural, depending on their meaning in a sentence.

Singular—Function as a unit

Plural—Function as separate entities

Army

Assembly

Audience

Class

Club

Family

Fleet

Flock

Group

Herd

Jury

Public

Swarm

Faculty

Staff

In this example, the jurythe jury is acting as one unit; therefore, the referent pronoun is singular.

In this example, the jury members act as individual members rather than as a unit; therefore, the referent pronoun is plural.

EXAMPLE: The jury are still arguing among themselves.

plural plural

Jury is a collective noun.

Single or Plural?

Amounts

An expression of an amount (a measurement, a percentage, or a fraction, for example) may be singular or plural depending on how it’s used in the sentence.

Thirty dollars is too much for a concert ticket. (A word or phrase stating an amount is singular when the amount is thought of as a unit.)

Five dollars are scattered all over the floor. (Sometimes, however, the amount is thought of as individual pieces or parts. If so, )

Amounts (continued)

Three fourths of the pizza isis gone.Of these songs, three fourths areare new.

Two hours isis a long time to wait.Two hours—one before school and one

after—areare all I have for practice.

When the Subject Follows the Verb

Here is a list of addresses.Here are two lists of addresses.

There is my notebook.There are my notebooks.

Where is Heather? Where is Chris?Where are Heather and Chris?

Words that End in ‘S”

SINGULAR:Politics is a controversial topic.The news of the nominee was a surprise.Rickets is a serious health problem in

some countries. PLURAL:The scissors need to be sharpened.They Olympics are on television.

TitlesTitles Of Creative Works, Names Of Organizations, Names Of Cities And Countries Are Usually SINGULARSINGULAR

The Souls of Black Folk is often cited as a classic of African American literature.

“Greensleeves” is an old English folk song.

The United Nations was founded in 1945.

White Plains is home to several colleges.

Subjects preceded by “every” or “many a” take a singularsingular verb

Every homeowner and storekeeper has joined the cleanup drive sponsored by the town council.

Many a litterbug was surprised by the stiff fines.