ESL 100 Ð Ford
Supplementary Grammar
Materials
The rule of subject-verb agreement is that in finite clauses, the verb phrase in a clause agrees with the subject in terms of number (singular or plural) and person (first, second or third person). Except for the verb be, subject-verb agreement is limited to the present tense, and to the choice between the base form (e.g. walk) and the s-form (e.g. walks) of the finite verb. There is no subject-verb agreement with modal auxiliaries (can, should, might), non-finite verbs (I want to eat), or imperatives (Be quiet!): these do not vary for number or person.
Although the rules for subject-verb agreement are easy to
state, in practice they are not always so easy to apply. Difficulties arise
because 'singular' and 'plural' can be understood either in terms of form or in
terms of meaning. We consider some special cases below.
A. Agreement with plurals not ending in -s
Zero plurals, like sheep, do not change between singular and plural. These forms appear to break the agreement rule, but in fact do not. (The subject noun phrase is marked by [ ] in examples.)
1a. [The sheep] is infected by ingesting the mollusc. (ACAD)
1b. In its grassy center [the dark-wooled sheep] were grazing. (FICT)
The different forms of be used in 1a and 1b obey the agreement rule: sheep in 1a is singular, and in 1b it is plural.
There are also some pronouns and semi-determiners which do not change between singular and plural, e.g. which, who, the former, the latter:
2a He is beside a rock face [which] is like the loose side of a gigantic mule. (FICT)
2b These are the moments [which] are calculable, and cannot be assessed in words. (FICT)
In these cases, the agreement is shown by the antecedent nouns of the pro-form: e.g. singular a rock face in 2a, v. plural the moments in 2b.
B. Agreement with singular forms ending in -s
Some nouns ending in -s are singular (e.g. billiards, checkers, measles, etc.), and therefore take a singular verb. Nouns denoting fields of study (e.g. mathematics, economics, politics) are also singular, but they allow some variation between singular agreement (in 1) and plural agreement (in 2):
1 [Politics] wishes to change reality, it requires power, and thus it is primarily in the service of power. (NEWS)
2 [The oppositionist politics] of the 1970s and early 1980s are over. (NEWS)
In these cases the singular tends to be used where the meaning is 'field of study', and the plural where reference is to 'mode(s) of behavior'.
Coordination by and
Subjects consisting of noun phrases coordinated by and take plural agreement, since and gives these subjects plural reference:
1 [The trees and the church] are reflected in the water. (ACAD)
However, there are occasional exceptions to this rule. Where we find singular agreement, the subject refers to something that can be viewed as a single entity:
2 [The anxiety and anger] is then taken away and suddenly erupts in the family environment, placing stress on other members of the household. (NEWS)
For example, in 2 anxiety and anger are merged into a single emotional state.
Coordination by or
Subjects consisting of noun phrases coordinated by or generally take singular agreement if both noun phrases are singular:
Check that [no food or drink] has been consumed. (ACAD)
However, examples with plural agreement also occur occasionally:
I'll wait until [my sister or mother] come down, and I'll eat with them. (FICT)
Where one of the noun phrases linked by or is plural, plural agreement is the rule:
Whether [interest rates or intervention] were the chosen instrument, and in what combination was probably a secondary question. (NEWS)
Coordination by neither É nor
Subjects consisting of phrases coordinated by neither ... nor have singular agreement where both noun phrases are singular, and plural agreement where both are plural:
[Neither geologic evidence nor physical theory] supports this conclusion. (ACAD)
But [neither the pilots nor the machinists] appear interested. (NEWS)
Coordination of different grammatical persons causes no problem with and, since a plural verb is used (in accordance with the general rule). Where or or neither É nor link different grammatical persons, the verb tends to agree with the closest noun phrase:
Not one leaf is to go out of the garden until [either I or my chief taster] gives the order. (FICT)
In many years of service [neither Phillips nor I] have seen anything like it. (FICT)
This pattern follows the principle of proximity (see below).
The indefinite pronouns anybody/ anyone, everybody/ everyone, nobody/ no one, and somebody/ someone agree with singular verb forms:
1 [Everybody]Õs doing what they think they're supposed to do.(FICT)
2 [Nobody] has their fridges repaired any more, they can't afford it. (FICT)
Here subject-verb agreement is singular, even though co-referent pronouns and determiners may be plural, as we notice from the forms they and their in 1 and 2 above.
Quantifying pronouns such as all, some, any, none, a lot, most can take either singular or plural agreement, according to whether they have singular or plural reference. If an of-phrase follows, the noun phrase after of indicates whether singular or plural is required:
3 [Some of it] is genuine, some of it all a smoke-screen. (NEWS)
4 [Most of the copies] are seized in raids. (NEWS)
5 Yeah all people are equal yet [some] are more equal than others. (CONV)
In 3, the agreement is singular, as signalled by the singular pronoun it in the subject phrase. In 4, the agreement is plural, signalled by copies. Example 5 illustrates the case where there is no of-phrase, but the context signals a plural meaning (some = some people).
Singular agreement is normal with each and one. Both singular and plural forms are found with either and neither, although the singular is often considered more 'correct':
[Neither of these words] is much help. (FICT)
[Neither of us] believe in useless symbols. (FICT)
Agreement patterns also vary with any and none. With these pronouns, the singular was traditionally considered 'correct', but there is little sign of such a deliberate preference these days:
[None of us] has been aboard except Vinck. (FICT)
[None of us] really believe it's ever
going to happen. (FICTt)
Singular agreement is the norm with collective nouns in American English:
[The flock] is infected with Bird Flu. (NEWS)
[The family] was absolutely devastated. (NEWS)
[His committee] approves covert operations only when there's a consensus.(NEWS)
[The Government] has
indicated it will make provision in the Bill for such an amendment. (NEWS)
Competing with the rule of grammatical agreement, there is a tendency to follow notional agreement, that is, to let the notion of singular/ plural in the subject determine the form of the verb, rather than the grammatical form of the subject. Notional agreement helps explain many of the special cases considered in sections C, D, and E above. Notional agreement is also behind the following cases.
Agreement with names, titles, etc,
Plural names, titles, and quotations take singular agreement if the reference is to a single thing (a country, a newspaper, a dish, etc.):
The country can ill afford an operation that would permit others to argue that [the United States] does not respect international law. (NEWS)
[The New York Times] was, as usual, dryly factual. (FICT)
Plural measure expressions take singular verb forms if the reference is to a single measure (amount, weight, length, time, etc.):
[Two pounds] is actually quite a lot. (CONV)
[Eighteen years] is a long time in the life of a car. (NEWS)
In addition to grammatical agreement and notional agreement, the principle of proximity sometimes plays a part in subject-verb agreement. This principle is the tendency, especially in speech, for the verb to agree with the closest (pro)noun, even when that (pro)noun is not the head of the subject noun phrase. For example:
Do you think [any of them] are bad Claire? (CONV)
[Not one of the people who'd auditioned] were up to par. (FICT)
Singular agreement is the rule when the subject is a finite or non-finite clause:
[Carrying cases, boxes, parcels, or packages] was a task only for servants. (FICT)
But nominal relative clauses can have plural as well as singular agreement:
[What we do know] is this.(NEWS)
[What is needed] are effective regulators. (NEWS)
There are some clause patterns where the subject follows, rather than precedes, the verb phrase. This pattern, known as subject-verb inversion, can give rise to opposing tendencies in the choice of subject-verb agreement.
With existential there is/ are, the noun phrase which follows the main verb be is termed the notional subject. In written registers, the notional subject generally determines agreement with the verb:
There was [candlelight], and there were [bunks with quilts heaped on top]. (FICT)
However, in conversation a contrary trend is observed: the verb is likely to be singular even when the following notional subject is plural:
There's [so many police forces that don't even have computers yet]. (CONV)
Gary, there's [apples] if you want one. (CONV)
Other patterns similar to there is/ are occur in conversation, where there is a tendency to attach the singular verb contraction 's to the preceding adverb:
Here's your shoes. (CONV)
Where's your tapes? (CONV)
Here again, agreement in conversation is singular even where the following Ônotional subject' is plural.
Regarding subject-verb inversion, it is important to understand that the written form and the spoken form are often very different. Whereas in conversation, inverted plural subjects are allowed to take the singular verb form, in writing, inverted plural subjects usually require the plural verb form.
There is normally agreement between subject-verb agreement and any following personal pronouns that refer back to the subject:
In two short years [the government] has seemed to lose its grip. (NEWS)
However, there are exceptions to this where the plural pronoun they is used as a singular reference unspecified for sex:
Everybody's doing what they think they're supposed to do. (FICT)
It is common in speech to use they for a person whose sex is unspecified or unknown, and this use is increasingly found in written as well as spoken registers.
Major points of subject-verb agreement