Writing Effectively
Avoiding Errors in Subject-Verb and Pronoun
Antecedent Agreement
Getting Sentence Parts to Agree
Avoiding The Most Common Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement
“
Ribbons of sinewy, pulsating highways weave throughout
Austin, the heart of Travis County.
A verb must always agree in number (singular or plural) with its subject.
”
In the sentence above, ‘ribbons’ is the subject and ‘weave’ is the verb. Generally, singular verbs
end in ‘s’; plural verbs do not.
“
The professor, together with her precocious young
scholars, is tackling the unnerving subject of grammar
with unflappable enthusiasm and aplomb.”
Don’t be confused by words that come between the subject and the verb.
While the context of the sentence might suggest a plural subject, look only to the word
‘professor’ as the subject of the sentence, not ‘scholars.’
”
“
Neither inadequate resources nor a dearth of creativity
prevents our hero from pursuing his quest.”
For compound subjects joined by ‘or’ or ‘nor,’ the verb should agree in number with
the subject closest to it.
”
Inadequate resources prevent. A dearth of creativity prevents. Remember: compound
subjects joined by and require a plural verb. Alacrity and drive are requisite characteristics of a
capable grammarian, not intellect alone.
“
There are many spirited students at James Bowie High
School, and there is present among them a yearning to
excel.
Watch out for so-called delayed subjects when the verb comes before the subject in a
sentence.
Spirited students are at JBHS, and a yearning to excel is present among them.
”
If a sentence contains a form of the verb to be (think: is, are, was or
were) and a noun precedes and follows that verb, the verb must agree
with the noun that comes before the verb (the subject), not the
complement (the noun coming after the verb).
• The cause of his malaise was the slings and arrows of his outrageous
fortune.
• The slings and arrows of his outrageous fortune were the cause of his
malaise.
“ The committee leads the assembly as a unified force for
positive change, but the committee advocate for many
different ways to effect that change.
Always consider the context of the sentence to ensure that collective nouns and their
verbs agree.
Collective nouns, like faculty, committee, team, congress, species, crowd, army, pair or squad, must be
paired with singular verbs when they refer to a group acting as a unit, but when they refer to
the members of the group acting individually, the verbs paired with those collective nouns
must be plural.
”
Agreement in the Case of Indefinite Pronouns
Some indefinite pronouns are
singular and require singular verbs.
Each
Everyone
Nobody
Either
Anybody
Everything
Neither
Another
Somebody
One
Everybody
Someone
Some indefinite pronouns are always
plural.
Both
Many
Few
Several
Singular Indefinite Pronouns
• “To each his own”
• Everyone is welcome.
• Nobody knows the trouble I’ve
seen.
• Neither answer is correct.
• Either opinion is ludicrous.
Plural Indefinite Pronouns
• Several know how this
process works.
• Many are chosen; few
succeed.
• Both are absurd.
Some indefinite
pronouns can be
singular or plural.
These pronouns are singular if the
nouns that are the objects of the
prepositional phrases modifying
them are singular. They are plural
if the noun/objects are plural.
All
Any
Some
Most
None
Most of the ruckus was
caused by the unruly mob.
Ruckus—a
singular noun—is
the object of the proposition
of; therefore, most is
considered to be singular and
takes the singular past tense
form of the verb to be or was.
Some of the mistakes were
the result of inadvertent
error.
Mistakes—a plural noun—is
the object of the proposition
of; therefore, some is
considered to be plural and
takes the plural past tense
form of the verb to be or were.
“ One of the most difficult grammatical concepts to grasp
is the rule for relative pronouns, and this is one of the
concepts that are the most challenging for newly minted
grammarians.
Relative pronouns are pronouns like who, which, and that.
”
When a relative pronoun is used as the subject of a clause, the number of the verb must agree
with the antecedent of the pronoun. The antecedent is the word to which the pronoun
refers. In the sentence above, the clause ‘that are the most challenging for newly minted grammarians’ is
a clause modifying the word concepts, and the antecedent of the relative pronoun that is the
word concepts.
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Remember: the antecedent is the word to which the pronoun
refers.
Earnest gave his best effort to the task, while Grace brought her
patience.
Use a singular pronoun to
refer to these antecedents.
Each
Everybody
Somebody
Either
Everyone
Another
Neither
Anyone
Nobody
One
Anybody
A person
Neither of the students dislikes his or
her professor.
Everybody has his or her own ideas of
what constitutes the ‘good life.’
A person must follow his or her unique
path through life.
“
Neither the trapeze artists nor the acrobat was daunted
by the alarming height from which she was required to
descend.
Neither the manager nor the employees were vexed by the throng of customers
clamoring for their attention.
”
If one of the antecedents joined by or or nor is singular and
the other is plural, the pronoun should agree with the
antecedent closest to it.