MAKING SUBJECTS AND VERBS AGREE
• Count nounsCount nouns have both singular and plural forms. They can be counted.
noun - nouns
sentence - sentences have singular and plural forms. The verb must agree with the noun.
A new building is going up near the Arena.
New condominiums are being built where the old canneries used to be.
• Noncount nouns and abstract nouns Noncount nouns cannot be counted. They include substances (coffee and caffeine; milk and calcium) and abstract nouns (generosity, happiness, love, hatred). are always singular in form.
The president's popularity is declining even further.
Fundamentalism is a simplistic approach to religious belief.
• When a collective noun refers to a whole group of animals, the noun is singular.
The herd of cattle is soon to be slaughtered.
A flock of birds is flying south in V-formation.
• When a collective noun refers to a group of people, it is singular when the group is perceived as a single entity acting in unison and plural when the members of the group are perceived as individuals acting separately.A collective noun is used to define or classify a whole group of people, animals, things, etc. Some examples are audience, government, team, faculty, family, board, etc. Their number is usually singular (the group is regarded as a whole) but can be plural (when members of the group act individually).
Her family celebrates Christmas in Mexico.
The faculty are preparing their final exams.
• When an adjective combines with the definite article the, it forms a group noun and takes a plural verb.
Group nouns are formed by using the definite article + adjective. They always take a plural verb, and in this way they are different from collective nouns, which can be singular or plural depending on the writer's interpretation of the unity or separateness of the members' actions, decisions, or intentions.
the Vietnamese
the Chinese
the rich
the poor
the sick
the dead
Ethnic designations, however, do not always use the article THE. Note this example:
• Blacks and Hispanics have shown little improvement in standardized test scores, which mainly reflects a socio-economic disparity. The poor are always among us.
The rich don't always notice.
PRACTICE: Read each sentence carefully and identify the subject. Select the verb that agrees with the subject.