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SUBJECT – VERB AGREEMENT
Agreement
of Subject an Predicate
The
following sentences all have present tense verbs.
Dr.
Sheila Avery teaches.
She
is lecturing.
Her
students are listening.
They
don’t study.
She
doesn’t approve.
The singular subjects in the third
person, like she and Dr. Sheila Avery, are followed by the –s form of either
the simple verb or an auxiliary.
Agreement and Compound Subjects
A
compound subjects may cause confusion in the agreement of the subject and
predicate.
If the parts of the compound subject are
joined by and, whether they are singular or plural, the plural form of the verb
is used.
The boys and girls are playing.
Mark and Helene approve.
If the parts of the compound subject are
singular and are joined by such connectives as or, nor, either …. Or, neither
…. Nor, not only …. But also, the singular form of the verb is used.
Either Juan or his friend is expected.
Neither Helene nor Alice works.
If the parts of the compound subject
joined by or, nor, either …. Or, neither …. Nor, not only …. But also are
different in number of person, the part nearest the verb determines the number
of the verb.
Neither Helene nor her sisters work.
Not only the students but also Prof.
Ober is waiting.
Agreement
and Collection Nouns
Occasionally,
a noun that is singular in form may be used in a plural sense.
The
crowed were waving their arms and shouting.
The
committee were arguing.
Usually, however, nouns like class,
group, committee, jury, and so oncalled collectives – are considered singular,
and the –s form of the verb is used with them.
The
committee is meeting.
The
jury has been dismissed.
Verb
Forms and Auxiliaries That Do Not Change Form for Agreement
The
following sentences have past tense verbs.
The books came. They worked.
The book came. Marie worked.
I came. We
worked.
The simple past form of the verb does
not change when the person or number of the subject changes. The same thing is
true of modal auxiliaries. The other class of auxiliaries is made up of the
ones in the illustration. They function only as auxiliaries and do not change
grammatical form in the way verbs do. These are called modal auxiliaries. Some
of them do function as the past tense form of some of the other. May changes to
might, will to would, and can to could under the influence of a past tense verb
in the main clause of the sentences or occasionally, as with could, under the
influence of a past adverbial. In the following sets of sentences, the
auxiliaries remain constant regardless of the person and number of the subject.
Prof.
Ober will lecture at 9:00
The
student will listen.
Mrs.
Todd and her children must leave early.
I
must go to the bank.
What
can I do for you?
Can
they help?
EXAMPLE
The engineers and the company president
are attending.
1.
Both the teacher and the students are reading.
2.
Neither Juan nor Tim is reading.
3.
Juan and Tim are talking.
4.
Either Juan or Tim is leaving.
5.
Prof. Ober and his students are vacationing.
6.
Mr. and Mrs. Avery are vacationing.
7.
Neither the students nor the professor is studying.
8.
Neither the professor nor the students are studying.
9.
Mrs. Todd, together with her daughters is shopping.
10. Mrs. Todd and her daughter are
shopping.
Sumber : - Judul Buku : Let’s Write English
- Penulis : George E. Wishon and
Julia M. Burks
-
Tahun : 1980
-
Penerbit : Litton Educational Publishing, Inc.
-
Edisi : Revised Edition
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