>> OK everyone, good morning.
So my name is Julie Guzman.
I am from the Writing Center.
And we are doing a workshop today on subject verb agreement.
So, we have a presentation here on subject verb agreement.
And subject verb agreement is just an area
of grammar in English.
The idea is that in every sentence, we have a verb,
which is the action word in a sentence, and the subject,
which is the person or thing that is performing the action.
And with subject verb agreement, we just need to make sure
that the subject and the verb always agree with each other,
they always go together.
So in this workshop, we're going to talk about the basic rules
for subject verb agreement and how to make sure
that our subjects and our verbs always go together according
to the rule, OK?
One thing to note with subject verb agreement,
this rule basically applies to present tenses in English.
So like your simple present tenses,
present progressive, present perfect.
There are sometimes exceptions like perhaps with the past tense
but for the most part, subject verb agreement applies
to your present tenses, OK?
So, we're going to start looking at the rules for this.
Basically, every verb must agree with its subject.
So, if you have a singular subject,
you need to match it with a singular verb.
If you have a plural subject,
it needs to have a plural verb, right?
So, we're going to next look at an example
of a verb with some subjects.
OK. So with this example, we need to watch the verb endings.
We're going to look at the verb walk, walk.
And the subjects we're going to look at first are pronouns,
your basic subject pronouns such as I, you, he, she,
it, we, you and they, OK?
So the basic rule for subject verb agreement with pronouns,
subject pronouns is, I walk, you walk, he, she, it walks,
we walk, you walk and they walk.
The important thing to note here is
that with the third person singular subject, he, she, it,
the verb takes an s. So that's the important thing to remember.
With your subject pronoun subjects,
when you have the third person singular subject, he, she or it,
make sure that the verb takes an s at the end, OK?
And you can contrast that with the other verb endings.
Notice there is no s for all the other subject pronouns,
we, they, I, you.
OK. Now, let's say, we want to be more specific
with the third person singular subject.
Let's say, we want to be more specific than he.
So instead of saying he, we might say Joe.
OK, Joe walks.
Joe is still a third person singular subject.
The verb needs to have an s at the end, walks.
Let's say, we want to be more specific than she, OK?
The girl, so instead of saying she, we say the girl.
Again, we still need that s at the end, the girl walks,
because it's still a third person singular subject, OK?
When I say third person, I'm always referring to something
like he or she or it, OK?
First person is I.
Second person is you.
Third person is he, she or it, OK?
All right.
Now, let's contrast these verb endings here, Joe walks,
the girl walks, these are all singular, singular subjects, OK?
Let's contrast that with plural subjects, they, they, plural,
more than one, OK, two or more.
Let's say, you want to be more specific than they.
Well, instead of saying they, you might say Joe and Maria.
OK, that's two people.
It's plural.
Joe and Maria walk, right, no s at the end.
It's a plural subject, therefore, plural verb,
no s at the end of walk.
Again, if you want to be more specific than they, let's say,
you say, the girls, the girls, OK, two or more girls, again,
plural subject, right?
Therefore, the verb also has to be a plural verb,
again, no s at the end, OK?
So the important thing to note is the difference
between third person singular subjects and plural subjects.
Make sure your third person singular subjects always have a
verb with an s at the end.
And the plural subjects take a verb that don't have an s, OK?
OK, so that's a basic overview.
We're going to start looking at some more examples here.
OK. Let's look at three irregular verbs,
all right, irregular verbs.
And these are just irregular verbs
that you should simply be aware
of because the spelling is actually a little different
compared to regular verbs, all right.
So it's something you just need to memorize.
The three irregular verbs are do, have and be.
OK, let's say, we're going to use the verb do.
If you have a singular subject, again,
a third person singular subject like he or the boy, OK,
then the verb is going to be does.
Now, notice it has an s at the end, OK,
but just notice the spelling.
It's D-O-E-S, OK, so just notice the spelling, does.
It still has an s at the end of the verb.
Contrast that with plural subjects, they or the boys,
they do, no s at the end of the verb, OK?
Let's take a look at another verb,
another irregular verb, have, have.
OK. If you have a third person singular subject like she has,
again, there is an s at the end
but just notice the spelling H-A-S, all right?
Contrast that with the plural subject they have, no s. OK.
And then finally, the verb be.
The verb be has a different spelling
for a lot of its subjects.
Third person singular subject, he, is, there's an s at the end.
Contrast that with plural subjects, they are, OK,
different spelling, just have to memorize it.
This is actually past tense so this is an example
of an exception where it actually applies
to a past tense, she was, there is an s at the end, OK?
Contrast that with plural subject they were.
OK. But the important thing to note is that even
with these irregular verbs, you still have an s at the end
of the verb if you have a third person singular subject, OK?
OK, so those are just the irregular verbs.
Just keep those in mind.
OK. So moving on.
So let's start looking at tips, some helpful hints
for subject verb agreement.
OK. So, generally, generally,
if the subject doesn't end in s, the verb will.
So that means, if the subject is singular, OK, and doesn't end
in s, so for example, the boy, OK, and not the boys.
If the subject doesn't end in s, the verb will.
The verb will most likely end in s. OK.
And we'll look at an example of that, OK?
If the subject does end in s, so in other words,
if the subject is plural, so for example,
the boys, the verb won't.
The verb probably won't end in s. Now keep in mind this tip,
this helpful hint is applicable to regular subjects, OK?
So it's not going to be for irregular nouns.
It's going to be pretty much
for regular noun subjects, all right?
OK. Now let's take a look at an example,
first for this rule here.
Generally, if the subject doesn't end in s,
in other words, if it's singular, their verb will end
in s. So let's take a look at that.
The girl, the girl, OK.
So this is singular or plural?
This is singular, OK?
It doesn't end in s, it's one girl.
But notice dances, the verb ends in s. So in general,
if the subject does not end in s, it's singular,
the verb will end in s. The girl dances, OK?
OK. If we look back at that other rule over here,
if the subject does end in s, the verb won't.
So the idea if the subject is plural and it ends in s,
the verb won't end in s. So let's take a look
at an example of that.
OK. The girls, the girls,
this is a plural subject because it ends in s.
It's two or more girls.
There is an s on the subject.
Take a look at the verb.
There is no s on the verb, OK?
The girls dance.
So this is a general rule that you can follow.
But again, it's mainly
for regular nouns, not irregular nouns.
So it can be a helpful tip.
OK so now, we're going to look at some more specific situations
that you might have in your sentences.
And we want to make sure we understand how
to have correct subject verb agreement
when we have these specific situations.
So let's look at this particular situation.
Compound subjects joined by and.
OK, compound, that means two.
So, you have two subjects joined together by the word and.
OK, so what do we do?
What do we do in that situation?
If there are two or more subjects joined by and,
the subject must be plural because we have two or more
so the verb will not end in s. OK.
So if you have two or more subjects joined by and,
the subject is automatically plural, the verb will not end
in s. Let's take a look an example.
The boy and the girl dance.
We have the boy, subject number one, and the girl,
subject number two, there are two together, it's plural,
therefore, the verb has to be a plural verb,
no s at the end of dance.
It's like saying they dance, OK?
OK. Compound subjects joined by or.
Here is another situation, another situation.
What if you have two subjects joined by the word or?
What do we do?
If there are two or more subjects joined by or,
the verb agrees with the part of the subject closest to it.
OK. So now we have to look at the location.
We have to look at the location of the two subjects.
Whichever subject is closest to the verb then the verb has
to agree with that subject.
So let's look at a couple of examples.
All right, here we go.
The professor or the students walk the halls.
We have two subjects.
The first subject is the professor.
Is the professor singular or plural?
Singular. Or the students, here is the next subject, students.
Is that singular or plural?
It's plural.
What's the verb?
Walk. Walk is a plural verb because it's closest
to the subject students, which is plural.
So we can't say, the professor or the students walks the halls.
We can't do that because the students, which is plural,
is closest to the verb.
Therefore, the verb has to agree with this plural subject.
Now, let's switch the subjects and see what happens.
The students or the professor walks the halls.
Mm-hmm, look what happened to the verb.
Look what happened to the verb here.
So, the students, that's the first subject, is plural,
or the professor, which is singular, walks.
Walks has an s. It's a singular verb because it's closest
to the subject that is singular, all right?
So, keep that basic rule in mind.
If you have compound subjects joined by the word or,
just keep that in mind.
All you have to do is pay attention to the order,
in whichever subject is closest to the verb, the verb has
to agree with that subject.
OK. So that's another situation you might have
in your sentences, all right?
All right, let's look at another situation.
What about indefinite pronouns?
Indefinite pronouns.
OK. Well let's define what an indefinite pronoun is.
An indefinite pronoun does not refer
to a specific person, place or idea.
That's why it's indefinite
because we really don't know what person,
place or idea is being talked about, OK?
All right, let's look at some examples of indefinite pronouns,
someone, anything, many, several.
OK, all right.
So those are some examples of indefinite pronouns.
OK. Now how do we use indefinite pronouns
in subject verb agreement?
A few indefinite pronouns are plural.
All right.
So, these indefinite pronouns here will all take plural verbs
because these are plural subjects, many,
several, few, both, some.
All of those mean more than one thing or person.
OK. Therefore, they're plural, therefore,
their verbs have to be plural.
Let's look at a couple of examples.
Many, many of the students have A's.
Notice the verb, have is a plural verb.
We don't say many of the students has A's.
It's many of the students have A's.
OK? Plural verb.
Few of the students are discouraged.
Notice the verb are.
It's a plural verb.
We don't say, few of the students is discouraged.
It's few of the students are discouraged.
OK. Because few, it's more than one.
It's plural.
OK? So keep these indefinite pronouns in mind
and just understand, they're plural subjects, therefore,
their verbs have to be plural.
Let's take a look at some more indefinite pronouns.
Most indefinite pronouns are singular.
They're actually singular, most of them, OK?
Most indefinite-- Most singular indefinite pronouns begin
with some, any, every, no,
and end with body, one and thing, OK?
So you might say, somebody, someone, something, anybody,
anyone, anything, everybody, everyone, everything,
nobody, no one, nothing.
Those are all singular subjects.
Therefore, their verbs have to be singular.
So let's take a look at an example.
Examples of singular indefinite pronouns.
Does anybody here like grammar?
OK, this is in the form of a question, OK,
rather than a sentence.
But even in a question, you still have
to practice subject verb agreement.
The subject is anybody.
Remember, it's singular, therefore, the verb,
does, has to be singular.
It ends in s, does anybody here like grammar?
OK? Let's take a look at another example.
Everybody loves grammar.
OK. Everybody is singular.
Now this is confusing for some people.
Everybody is actually a singular subject.
OK. And just think of it as every, each body, person.
Think of it as each person, each one,
singular verb, loves grammar.
OK? OK. Is anybody lying?
OK? Anybody is singular, therefore,
the verb is-- must be singular.
No one is lying.
OK. No one is singular, the verb has to be singular, is.
OK? And well someone, that's singular,
is stretching the truth, OK, singular, singular.
And then finally, each, OK, each, if you have the word each,
immediately each is singular.
Each of the students, it's like saying one
of the students denies that, OK?
Denies is singular because of the s. OK.
So these are just some examples of singular indefinite pronouns.
So if you have these in your writing,
just make sure you have a singular verb
that goes with them.
OK? OK, possible pitfalls, in other words,
possible problems you might encounter in your sentences.
OK. So here is the first possible problem.
Sometimes several words come
between the subject and the verb.
Sometimes several words come
between the subject and the verb.
OK. So in other words, the subject
and the verb are not right next to each other, OK?
There is something in between them, all right.
Let's look at an example.
The student, though she had lots of problems in other schools,
finds or find her new class easy?
So which verb is it?
Is it finds or find?
Well the first thing we have
to ask ourselves is what is the subject.
Who or what are we talking about?
We are talking about the student.
The student is singular.
It's one student.
OK. Now we know what our subject is.
Let's look at the verb.
The verb needs to be singular, so it's going to be finds
with an s, singular verb because we have a singular subject.
Now, let's look at it in a different way.
The student is the subject,
it matches the singular verb finds here in blue.
Now, look at the words in red.
Though she had lots of problems in other schools,
these words in red are simply extra information,
extra information about the student.
That's all they are.
So you really don't want to get distracted by the words in red.
They're separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.
It's just extra information about the student.
You could take out the words in red
and simply simplify the sentence and say,
the student finds her new class easy, right?
But you need to keep this situation in mind,
this second bullet, in mind,
because there are times we read sentences like this.
There are times you might write sentences like this.
It's a longer, more sophisticated sentence,
it's a fine sentence, OK?
Just don't get distracted by extra information
that describes the subject.
OK. Know what your subject is, find the verb,
make sure the two match, OK?
So keep that in mind.
Keep that in mind.
OK, let's look at another possible pitfall,
a possible problem.
Sometimes people think the subject is one of the words
in a prepositional phrase.
It's not. The subject can never be part
of a prepositional phrase.
OK the first thing we need to do is define prepositional phrase.
OK. So I'm actually going to switch
to the document camera here and let's talk
about what a preposition is, first of all.
We need to know what a preposition is.
OK. So what are some possible prepositions?
In, on, at, with, these are just a few examples of prepositions.
There are many, many prepositions in English, OK?
OK, so these are some examples of prepositions.
Now what is a prepositional phrase?
A prepositional phrase is a group of words
that begin with a preposition.
OK, a prepositional phrase is a group of words
that begin with a preposition.
So let's go back to the document camera and look
at how we can make a prepositional phrase
out of these four prepositions.
So for example, in the room.
OK. This is an example of a prepositional phrase,
we have some words here and they begin with a preposition,
in the room, on the table, OK same idea,
at the office, with my son, OK?
These are all examples
of prepositional phrases, all of this.
OK. So--
>> Do they have to be singular?
>> Oh, I'm sorry.
Can you use the--
>> Do they have to be singular
to start a prepositional phrase in that pretense?
>> OK. So do the words here have to be singular?
No. They could be plural.
So for example, in the rooms, on the tables, at the offices,
with my sons, it doesn't matter.
>> It doesn't matter.
Yeah. So--
>> So they can either be plural or singular?
>> Exactly.
>> How about in the third term?
The--
>> The third person?
>> The third person.
>> Well, you would have
to change the sentence a little, OK?
You can't use a third person singular subject pronoun.
So you can't say, he or she or it, OK?
You could use some possessive adjectives,
which are like possessive pronouns.
For example, in his rooms, right, or on her tables,
at his offices, OK, with her sons,
but that's really what you could do.
You couldn't use the subject pronouns like he, OK?
But let's take a look at subject verb agreement
with prepositional phrases because sometimes,
people get a little confused and they think
that the subject is somewhere inside the prepositional phrase
here and it's usually not, OK?
So I'm going to go back to the PowerPoint presentation
and let's look at some examples.
So let's look at the rule again.
The subject can never be part of a prepositional phrase, never.
OK. So let's take a look at an example.
The students in my class study or studies hard?
Well first of all, let's isolate the prepositional phrase.
Let's take it out a little bit here.
The prepositional phrase in this sentence is in my class,
the preposition is in, here is the rest of the phrase,
my class, OK, in my class.
OK. So, isolate that a little bit, OK?
Now go back to the sentence and we need to find the subject.
Who or what are we talking about?
We're really talking about the students.
The students, is it singular or plural?
It's plural because students with an s. OK,
so now we know the subject is plural.
Now we need to decide which verb we're going
to use, study or studies?
Well, if we have a plural subject, we need a plural verb.
So we're going to say study.
The students in my class study hard.
OK. So the important thing to note here is, don't get confused
or distracted by the prepositional phrase.
You don't want to think that my class is the subject and say,
the students in my class studies hard.
You don't want to do that.
You want to focus on who we're talking about.
We're actually talking about the students,
in my class is just extra information.
It's just extra description about the students, OK?
We're still just focusing on the students,
the students, plural, study, OK?
So keep that in mind.
Keep that in mind.
OK. We're going to look at another possible pitfall here.
Sometimes the subject comes after the verb, particularly
in questions or when the sentence begins with there.
So we've already looked at situations
where the subject comes before the verb, before the verb.
But sometimes there are situations like questions
or there is, there are, when the sentence has the subject coming
after the verb.
So let's look at some examples.
Why are they falling asleep?
OK, this is a question.
OK. Who are we talking about?
They. They is plural.
Therefore, the verb, which in this situation
because it's a question, OK, so it's part
of the grammar order rule for questions,
the verb here is before the subject.
It doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter that the verb is before the subject here.
It still has to agree with the subject.
It still has to be a plural verb.
Why are they falling asleep?
OK. So, let's take a look at an example with there are, OK.
There are no excuses for such behavior.
The subject is no excuses.
It's plural, we have an s at the end, excuses, OK?
The verb is are and again, it's plural, it has to agree
with the plural subject no excuses.
OK? So don't let the order of the subject or the verb
in the sentence or question confuse you.
Just make sure you know what the subject is.
Find the verb.
Make sure the two of them agree with each other.
It doesn't matter, the order in the sentence.
OK, OK. So tip, OK, helpful hint.
The subject can come anywhere at a sentence.
Identify the subject correctly and you'll be OK.
First, locate the verb and then just ask yourself who
or what is doing it, OK?
Or if you can find the subject first, that's fine.
You can then locate the verb, OK,
whichever one you're able to do, OK?
OK. All right, let's take a look at another possible pitfall,
another possible situation you might have.
Relative pronouns.
OK. What if you have a relative pronoun,
such as who, which, that?
Relative pronouns can be either singular or plural,
depending on the word they refer to.
OK. So, if you use the words who, which or that,
they can be singular or plural.
It's fine, OK?
You still just need to identify the subject in your sentence
and make sure that subject agrees with the verb.
That's all you have to do.
You don't have to worry about changing who, which or that.
It's fine.
So let's look at two examples.
The student who works hard will succeed.
OK, so in this situation, we have the student.
Singular or plural?
It's singular, OK?
Therefore, the verb works has to be singular, it has an s, OK?
We have who, OK, who refers to that student, but again,
the verb is works, it's a singular verb.
Let's say, we want to make the subject plural,
students, OK, so two or more.
Students who work hard will succeed.
OK. Who refers to students, it's fine, who can be singular
or plural, doesn't matter.
You don't have to worry about the word who.
The important thing to note is, this is the subject, students,
it's plural, this is the verb, work,
it's a plural verb, no s at the end.
So again, just make sure your subject agrees with the verb.
That's all you need to do.
And don't get distracted by relative pronouns, OK?
All right, how do I get this right?
OK. OK, we're now getting
into the review mode here of our presentation.
So we are coming close to an end on this presentation.
First, identify whether or not you have problems
with subject verb agreement.
OK. So if you feel you have problems,
then you want to study this.
If you don't have any problems, don't worry about it.
If you do have problems, identify the verb.
OK, we've talked about that.
Identify the verb.
Ask who or what is doing the verb.
This will identify the subject.
Find the verb.
Find the subject.
Read the subject and verb together.
Do they sound right?
See if the subject and verb match in number.
This part is the important part.
If you have a singular subject, make sure the verb is singular.
The verb has to have an s. If the subject is plural,
make sure the verb is also plural
and does not have an s. The biggest problems
that people have, forgetting about word endings altogether,
that means, sometimes people simply forget the s
at the end of the verb.
They just ignore the s whenever they have a third person
singular subject.
OK. So that's one of the biggest problems that people have.
Or confusing the subject with another noun in the sentence.
So remember, we talked about sentences that have a group
of words in between the subject and the verb.
So in that situation, sometimes people get confused
and think the subject is somewhere
in the middle when it's not.
Or we talked about prepositional phrases, OK,
and how you might accidentally get confused and think
that the subject is in the prepositional phrase
and it's never in the prepositional phrase.
So these are a couple of the biggest problems people have.
OK. So just some review, identify the real subject,
find the verb and then ask yourself
who is what is performing that action.
The subject is never part of a prepositional phrase.
The verb is always plural when subjects are joined by and, OK?
The verb agrees with the part of the subject closest to it
when subjects are joined by or.
Most indefinite pronouns are singular, so for example,
someone, anybody, everyone, everybody.
Relative pronouns can be either singular or plural, who, which,
that, it doesn't matter.
They can be singular or plural.
Just check the subject.
The subject and verb form the skeleton of every sentence.
Make sure you fit the parts together correctly.
And if you do so, you'll be just fine.
OK. So this concludes the PowerPoint presentation.
I think we have-- yes, we do have some extra time.
I have an online exercise that we can do
to make sure we understand it.
But before we go to the online exercise,
do you have any questions for me, any questions
about the presentation that we just talked about?
We're OK? We're sure?
OK. So I'm going to leave this presentation here and go
to an online exercise.
And we're just going to make sure
that we understand our subject verb agreement rules, OK?
OK. So, at this point, we want to look at the website, OK.
This is Purdue Online Writing Lab.
Actually, people, if you go
on to the Sacramento City College website,
and if you click the dropdown menu in the middle
and choose Writing Center, it will take you
to the Writing Center website.
And if you click on a link called Resources for Students
or For Students, you will find this Purdue Online Writing Lab
website there and it's a really great website to use
to practice grammar and writing, OK?
So let's take a look at this exercise,
subject verb agreement exercise.
So, the directions here say, choose the correct form
of the verb that agrees with the subject.
OK. Can you read that OK?
Is it too small?
Do you want me to make it bigger?
You're OK?
OK. OK. Let's look at number one, OK, number one.
Annie and her brothers is, are at school.
So what do you think is the correct answer,
is, are at school?
Yeah, it's are.
Annie and her brothers are at school.
And the reason is, if we think about the rules we just learned
from the presentation, we have a compound subject joined by and.
OK, therefore, the verb has to be plural
because the subject we are talking about is plural, OK?
All right.
Just stop me if you have any questions on any of these.
Let's look at number two.
Either my mother or my father is, are coming to the meeting.
So what do you think?
Is, yeah. OK.
Is. So remember, when you have a compound subject joined by or,
you want to look at the subject that is closest to the verb.
OK? So the subject that is closest
to the verb is my father, it's singular, is.
OK? OK. Let's take a look at number three.
OK. The dog or the cats is, are outside.
The dog or the cats is, are outside.
Uh-huh, and the reason is-- exactly.
We have a compound subject joined by or, therefore,
we need to look at the subject that is closest to the verb,
cats, it's plural because it has an s at the end, therefore,
the verb must be plural.
The dog or the cats are outside.
OK. Let's look at number four.
Either my shoes your coat is, are always on the floor.
Either my shoes or your coat is, are always on the floor.
Mm-hmm, because again, we have a compound subject joined by or,
therefore, you have to look at the subject
that is closest to the verb.
Coat is singular, therefore, the verb has
to be singular as well, is.
Either my shoes or your coat is always on the floor.
Let's take a look at number five.
George and Tamara doesn't, don't want to see that movie.
OK, George and Tamara don't want to see that movie.
That's correct.
That's correct because George and Tamara,
these are two people, two subjects joined by
and so remember the rule, you have two subjects joined
by the word and, it's automatically plural, right?
Therefore, we can't say doesn't, OK?
That's singular.
That's a negative singular verb.
We need to make it a plural, a negative plural verb,
don't want to see that movie.
OK. Let's take a look at number six.
Benito doesn't, don't know the answer.
Doesn't, because Benito is one person, it's a singular subject,
therefore, the verb must be singular.
OK? Benito doesn't know the answer.
All right, let's take a look at number seven.
One of my sisters is, are going on a trip to France.
>> Is.
>> Is. OK.
And the reason is one, one.
It's like saying each or it has to be singular,
it's one of my sisters, not all of them, just one,
is going on a trip to France.
Therefore, the verb has to be singular.
All right, let's try number eight.
The man with all the birds live, lives on my street.
>> Lives.
>> Uh-huh.
OK. So, do you see a prepositional phrase
in this sentence?
There are actually two
but do you see a prepositional phrase that's closest
to the subject?
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, you've got it, you've got it, with all the birds.
So, with is the preposition,
with all the birds is the prepositional phrase, right?
So, you don't ever want to put the subject
in the prepositional phrase.
So birds, that's plural.
You don't want to say live, you want to say lives
because we're talking about the man, OK?
With all the birds simply is extra information,
description about the man.
The man is still singular, therefore,
the verb lives must be singular.
OK. So we're good, we're good with that.
Number nine, the movie, including all the previews,
take, takes about two hours to watch.
The movie, including all the previews, take,
takes about two hours to watch.
>> Takes.
>> Uh-huh, it's takes because the movie is the subject.
The movie is what we are talking about.
Therefore, it's singular.
You don't want to get confused
by all this extra information about the movie.
We don't care, OK?
We care about the movie, which is singular, therefore,
the verb has to be singular, OK?
So, we want to watch out for that.
Number 10, the players, as well
as the captain, want, wants to win.
The players, as well as the captain, want or wants to win.
>> Want.
>> OK, in this situation, want, because careful,
there is extra information.
There are words in between the subject, which is players,
players is plural, OK.
The players want to win.
We're mainly talking about the players want to win.
So all this information in here, as well as the captain,
that's just extra information.
So, remember that from the PowerPoint presentation, OK?
So you want to be really careful with that.
Separate that extra information from the rest of the sentence
and then look at the sentence again.
It's like saying the players want to win.
Think of it that way.
The players want to win.
OK. OK. Let's take a look at 11.
Either answer is, are acceptable.
>> Is.
>> Is, right because either, either.
Either answer, we're talking
about one answer or the other answer.
It doesn't matter.
But both of them, you know, either answer is acceptable.
Number 12, every one of those books is, are fiction.
Every one of those books is, are fiction.
>> Is.
>> Uh-huh.
Yeah, we're talking about an indefinite pronoun here.
Every one, every one of those books is fiction,
because we're talking about each one.
So therefore, it has to be singular.
Nobody know, knows the trouble I've seen.
No-- It is.
Yeah, it is a song.
Nobody know, knows the trouble I've seen.
So, what do we think here?
>> Knows.
>> Yeah. Because this is an indefinite pronoun so remember,
we talked about nobody, no one, nobody knows,
it's a singular subject.
Therefore, the verb has to be singular as well.
OK. Let's take a look at number 14.
This one is a little confusing here.
And it's something a little different.
Is, are the news on at 5:00 or 6:00?
>> Is.
>> It is-- Right.
So, yeah, well actually, it's--
the word news, even though it has an s on it,
it's considered a singular noun.
Therefore, we're talking about the news, it's a--
it actually is a singular noun, a singular subject.
Therefore, you have to use a singular verb.
Is the news on at 5:00 or 6:00?
Yeah. OK, let's look at number 15.
This is also a little different, OK?
Mathematics is, are John's favorite subject.
OK. Let's do the first part first
and then we'll finish the rest of the sentence.
Mathematics is, are John's favorite subject.
So, what do we think?
Is, are?
>> Is.
>> Right. So even though mathematics ends with an s,
mathematics is a subject
and we always make school subjects singular.
Mathematics is John's favorite subject while civics is,
are Andrea's favorite subject.
Civics is, are Andrea's favorite subject.
>> Is.
>> Yeah. So civics, even though civics ends
with an s, it doesn't matter.
Anytime we talk about school subjects, even if they end
with an s, they're considered singular.
OK. Number 16, $8 is, are the price of a movie these days.
$8 is, are the price of a movie these days, is yeah so,
even though it's dollars, $8, more than $1.
Whenever we're talking about price, price is always singular.
>> Price is always--
>> Price is always-- so yeah, $100 is a lot of money to spend.
So just keep that in mind.
It's one of those special subject verb agreement rules
in English.
OK, number 17.
Is, are the tweezers in this drawer?
>> Are the tweezers in this--
>> OK. Are the tweezers in this drawer?
Yeah. So, this is just your basic subject verb agreement
rule in the form of a question.
OK, tweezers, tweezers are plural.
Therefore, the verb has to be plural.
OK. Number 18.
Your pants is, are at the cleaners.
>> Are.
>> Yeah, your pants are at the cleaners.
So your pants, a piece of clothing,
those are considered plural.
Your pants are at the cleaners.
So basic subject verb agreement rule.
OK. Let's look at this, number 19.
There was, were 15 candies in that bag.
OK. So this is an example of the sentence that starts with there.
There was, were 15 candies in that bag.
Well what's the subject?
The subject is candies and is it singular or plural?
It's plural, therefore, we have to say were.
There were 15 candies in that bag.
Now, there is, are only one left.
There is, are only one left.
>> Is.
>> Exactly, OK?
There is only one.
Because what's the subject?
One, one candy, is, we have to have a singular subject.
OK. All right, we're getting down to the end here.
All right, number 20 and 21 are a little confusing.
The committee debates, debate these questions carefully.
>> Debates.
>> Yeah, it's debates.
Now, the word committee is an example of a collective noun.
And a collective noun is a unit.
Think of it as a unit that has many people
or things inside that unit.
So when you're talking about a noun that's a unit, as one unit,
it has to be singular, OK?
So in this situation, the committee debates, it's singular
because we're talking about the committee as a unit, OK,
even though there are many people inside that unit, OK?
Now, let's contrast number 20 with number 21, OK,
because a collective noun can sometimes be singular
and sometimes be plural.
It just depends on whether you're talking about the unit
which is singular or all the people inside the unit.
OK. So let's look at number 21.
The committee leads, lead very different lives in private.
So in this situation, what do you think?
>> Lead.
>> OK, in this situation, it's actually lead.
OK. So-- And the reason we know it's plural is
because of the rest of the sentence,
very different lives in private.
So, in this situation, the collective noun, committee,
is now plural because now we are suddenly talking
about all the people inside that unit.
So when we talk about all the people inside that unit,
suddenly the committee becomes a plural subject, therefore,
it has to take a plural verb, lead.
So, how do you get this right?
How do you know?
You simply have to read the whole sentence and try
to figure out, is the writer talking about the unit
which is singular, OK, or is the writer talking all the people
inside that unit which becomes plural, OK.
And there are other examples of collective nouns, team,
team is another example, like a football team, OK?
Well, are you talking about the unit or are you talking
about all the team members, OK, the players?
OK. Let's take a look at-- We have about five minutes left
so we have two more here.
Let's take a look at these two.
The prime minister, together with his wife, greets,
greet the press cordially.
The prime minister, together with his wife, greets,
greet the press cordially.
>> Greets.
>> OK, it's actually greets.
OK. Because who are we really talking about?
Who are we really talking about?
We're-- And well-- But we're really focused
on the prime minister.
And the prime minister is one minister,
therefore, he is singular.
Remember to not get distracted by extra words
in between the subject and the verb.
Together with his wife is just extra information.
It's just extra information about the minister.
But we're not really interested in that extra information
for this subject verb agreement.
We're really interested in what the prime minister does.
He's singular, therefore, the verb has to be singular.
The prime minister, together with his wife,
greets the press cordially.
So I know that might seem a little confusing.
It may seem like it doesn't make any sense, logically,
but we want to focus on the main subject we're talking about.
And then find the verb.
All of the CDs, even the scratched one,
is, are in this case.
All of the CDs, even the scratched one,
is, are in this case.
>> Are.
>> OK, right.
Because we're mainly focused on all of the CDs, it's plural,
all of the CDs with an s, it's plural.
Therefore, the verb has to be plural.
Don't get distracted by the extra words
in between the subject and the verb, even the scratched one,
it's just extra information.
But we're not focused on that, we're focused on all
of the CDs, plural, plural, OK?
OK. All right, so, we have about three minutes left
so do you have any questions for me, any questions
about the exercise, the presentation
about subject verb agreement in general?
>> We're good.
>> OK, we're OK?
Do you have a better understanding of it?
OK, good. Just review these rules.
Keep these in mind.
I would encourage you to practice more online exercise
such as this one from this Purdue,
from this Purdue Online Writing Lab website.
If you do a Google search
on subject verb agreement exercises,
you could find other grammar websites
that will give you practice with subject verb agreement.
You can type in the answers and then they'll tell you
if you're right or wrong.
They'll give you some more information
and examples of these sentences.
So try that-- If you have a grammar book, I don't know
if any of you are taking ESL grammar classes or anything
like that but if you have your grammar book,
your grammar book should have a chapter
with exercises and information.
So I would encourage you, just practice, practice and read.
The more you read, if you just read books, magazines,
articles, it doesn't matter.
Just read, as you're reading, just notice all of the sentences
and how they do subject verb agreement,
because you will find these long sophisticated sentences.
And it's helpful to see examples of that
and notice how they made sure the subject and the verb agreed
with each other, even in these long sophisticated sentences,
OK?
OK. So that concludes our presentation.
Thank you for coming, everyone.
>> Thank you for giving it.