SUBJECT -VERB AGREEMENT

SUBJECT -VERB AGREEMENT

SENTENCE  = SUBJECT + VERB

SUBJECT	SETENCE
I	I work
She	She works
The car in the garage	The care in the garage is mine
The man with the black jacket	The man with the black jacket is my father
The man who is standing before the door	The man who is standing before the door is my father

Basic Rule / Principle

Singular Subject need Singular Verb

Plural Subject need Plural Verbs

Example :   - My brother is a nutrisionist

                    - My sisters are mathematicians

RULE 1

Indifinite Pronoun ( Kata ganti tidak jelas /tidak menentu)

Anyone , everyone, someone, no one, no body always singular and require Singular Verb

Example :

·         Everyone has done  his or her homework

·         Somebody has left her purse

·         Nobody is in the the room

EXCEPTION 1 :  ALL & SOME

ALL & SOME are singular or plural depending on what they are reffering to .(is the thing reffered to countable or not.

·         Some of the books are mising

·         Some of the water is gone

EXCEPTION 2 : NONE

NONE can be singular or plural depending on the noun that follows

·         None of the student are in the class

·         None of the food is fress

SPESIAL CASE : EACH (always singular )

·         Each of the students is responsible for his/her homework

·         Each of the cars has different color

RULE 2 : TOEGTHER WITH , AS WELL AS , and  ALONG WITH

Togther with , as well as ,&  along with are not same as and . They don’t add or compound the subject.

·         The mayor , as well as his brother , is going to prison

·         The mayor and his brothers are going to jail

·         My friends , together with Rani are at school

ADDITIONAL EXPLANATION

Sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by words such asa along with , as well as, besides or not. Ignore these expression when determining whether to use a singular or plural verb

Example :

·         The politician , along with the newsmen, is expected shortly

·         Excitement , as well as nervousness , is the cause of her shaking

RULE 3 : SUBJECT SEPARATED FROM THE VERB (APPOSITIVE)

Sometime modifiers will get between a subject and its verb, but these modifiers must not confuse the agreement between the subject and its verb.

·         The mayor , who has been convicted along with his for brothers on four counts of various crimes but who also seems , like a cat , to have several political lives , is finally gpoing to jail

RULE 4 : THE PRONOUN OF ADJECTIVE CLAUSE

Sometimes the pronoun who , that , or which is the subject of a verb in the middle of the sentence. The pronouns who,that, and which become singular or plural according to the noun directly in front of them. So ,if that noun is singular , use a singular verb. If it is plural , use a plural verb.

·         Salma is the scientist whoo writes the reports

·         He is one of the men who does the work

RULE 5: EITHER + OR and NEITHER + NOR

Or doess not conjoin ( as and does ) : when nor or or is used the subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb.Whether the subject comes before or after the verb doesn’t matter :

·         Either my father or my brothers are going to sell the house

·         Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house

·         Are either my brothers or my father responsible?

·         Is either my father or my brothers responsible?

·         Neither of the two traffic lights is working

·         Either of us is capable of doing the job

·         Which shirt do you want for Christmas?

- Either is fine with me

BE CAREFUL!

In informal writing , neither and either sometimes take a plural verb when these pronouns are followed by a preposional phrase beginning with of . This is particularly true of interrogative constructions :

·         Have either of you two clowns read the assignment?

·         Are either of you taking this seriously?

RULE 6 : THERE and HERE

The words there and here are never subjects . The real subjects come after the verbs

·         There are two reasons ( plural subject) for this

·         There is no reason for this

·         Here are two apples

·         Here is the key

RULE 7 : THIRD PARTY SINGULAR ( He , She , It , Personal Name )

Verbs in the present tense for third-person, singular subjects have s-endings.Othet verbs do not add s-endings.

·         She teaches English

·         Rani teaches English

·         The cat eats fish

·         It eats fish

Have -> has

·         He has good personality

·         It has beautiful fur

REMEMBER!

Add -s/es only to present verb, not to past or past participle verb . The past form of singular “be” is “was”

Singular Pesent

·         She is here

·         She takes the offer

Singular Past

·         She was here

·         She took the offer

RULE 8 : WORDS END IN –S

SINGULAR	PLURAL
Some words end in –s and appear to be plural but are really singular and require singular verbs	Some word end in –s an appear to be plural and require plural verbs
List of singular word end in –s : ·         Diseases ( measles , rabies , fields of study and) ·         Occupation ( economics , ethics , linguistics , politics , physics , gymnastics ) ·         Games ( dominoes , dats , cards)	List of plural word end is –s (ony with certain meanings) ·         Customs (at the airport , not practices ) ·         Guts (courage , not intestines) ·         Quarters (lodgings, not 1/4s) ·         Clothes (garments, not fabrics) ·         Goods (merchandise , not the opposite of bad) ·         Arms ( weapons , not limb) ·         Pants ·         Jeans ·         Binoculars ·         Forceps ·         Throusers ·         Tongs ·         Shorts ·         Tweezers ·         Pajamas ·         Police ·         Glasses ·         Scissors ·         Googles
Example ·         The news from the front is bad ·         Measles is a dangerous disease for pregnant woman ·         Mathematics is my favorite lesson	Example ·         My assets wew wiped out in the depression ·         The average worker’s earnings have gone up dramatically ·         Our thanks go to the workers who supported the union. ·         The goods are in the warehouse ·         The scisors are on the table ·         The pair of the the jeans needs to be washed

RULE 9 : FRACTIONAL EXPRESSIONS HALF OF, A PART OF, A PERCENTAGE OF, AND SO FORTH

Dengan kata-kata yang menunjukkan porsi seperti part, percent, some, all dst lihat kata benda setelah kata o nya jamak atau tunggal, jika objek tunggal maka kata kerjanya juga tunggal begitu sebaliknya.

Example: Fifty percent of the pie has disappeared. (Pie sebagai objek)

                Fifty percent of the pies have disappeared

                One-third of the city is unemployed

                One-third of the people are unemployed

RULE 10 : NEGATIVE & POSITIVE SUBJECTS

Suatu kalimat yang memiliki 2 subjek yaitu subjek positif dan negatif namun yang dipakai hanyalah subjek positifnya saja. Dan kata kerja akan mengikuti subjeknya.

Example:

• The department members, but not the chair have decided not to teach on valentine’s day (subjek jamak)
• It is not the faculty members but the president  who decides this issue (subjek tunggal)
• It was the speaker, not his ideas, that has provoked  the students to riot (subjek tunggal)

RULE 11 : SUM OF MONEY OR PERIODS

Apabila berkaiatan dengan waktu dan uang itu selalu tunggal.

Example: Ten dollars is a high price to pay

    Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense