SUBJECTS – VERB AGREEMENT (PART 2)

Kinds of intervening words, phrases or clauses

a. Adverb
Ex. Mother always bakes a chocolate cake for our birthday.
Channel 5 sometimes shows anime early in the afternoon.
Father oftentimes brings us novelties from his trips abroad.
b. Appositive - a word or phrase directly following the noun it modifies.
Ex. 1 The focal point of the garden, (the giant cabbage roses), has attracted a lot of visitors. The
appositive”roses” is plural. The plural appositive does not affect the relationship between point, singular
subject and has attracted, singular verb.
Ex.2. Mother’s favorite pre-occupation, (collecting coins), usually irritates father. “collecting coins”
is the appositive to pre-occupation
c. Prepositional Phrase (the most common intervening phrase)
Ex. The work (of the masons) requires a thorough knowledge of structural rocks.
The old love letters (from her long-lost love) are kept inside an antique jewelry box. The leader
(of the rebels) refuses to accept the terms of the truce.
d. Present participial phrase
Ex. The players, (following the coach’s order), practice until 7 o’clock on Fridays.
The old man (selling the colorful balloons) usually stays in front of the elementary school.
e. Infinitive phrase
Ex. The general’s order, (to penetrate the enemies’ lines) was immediately carried out. Melanie’s
ambition, (to become a world class ballet dancer), is fully supported by her mother.
f. Past participial phrase
Ex. The antique statue (of the Blessed Virgin)*, (taken by the thieves), was mysteriously
returned to its niche a week later.(*prepositional phrase)
The students, (led by their principal) are joining the campaign for the greening of the countryside.
g. Adjective clause
Ex. The girls (that Sally Villaluz is coaching for an Olympic medal), swim fifty laps everyday.
Melissa, (whom the basketball players have chosen as their muse), excels in many curricular
activities
2. Take note that in inverted sentences ,the verb, especially the helping or auxiliary
verb, comes before the subject.
Kinds of Inverted Sentences
[Link] introduced by Here or There
Ex. (Here) comes the bride.
Normal order of the sentence is: The bride comes (here).
Here come the bride and her entourage.
Normal order of the sentence is: The bride and her entourage come (here).
b. Sentences introduced by Interrogative Pronouns. What, Which, Whom, Why, When, Where,
How.
Ex. Why is that girl crying?

1
 Normal order of the sentence is: That girl is crying. Why? How are
the boys progressing in their experimental car?
Normal order of the sentence is: The boys are progressing in their experimental car.
How?
Which book have you chosen?
Normal order of the sentence is: You have chosen which (book)? Book is the direct object of the
verb.
c. Sentences introduced by linking verb “to be”
Ex. Is Anne happy in her new job?
Are the girls excited about meeting Manny Pacquiao in person?
d. Sentences introduced by auxiliary or helping verb “to be”
EX. Are your parents attending the meeting?
Is Jake starring in this movie?
e. Sentences introduced by auxiliary verb “to do” or “to have”.
Ex. Has Emmanuel completed his requirements for graduation?
Does the word “quirt” strike a chord in your memory?
f. Sentences introduced by prepositional phrase
Ex. Behind the clouds lies a vast blue sky.
Inside that computer rest various data for your research.
g. Sentences introduced by present participle
Ex. Lining along Rizal Avenue are the people eager to catch a glimpse of their favorite actors and
actresses.
Protesting loudly against unjust accusations is the primary suspect of the murder case.
h. Sentences introduced by past participle
Ex. Hidden among the brown leaves is a solitary mottled quail egg.
Taken in captivity are the members of the Al’ Qaida break-away band.
3. Compound subjects in which one is used affirmatively and the other negatively, will have the verb
agreeing with the subject used affirmatively.
Yasmin, not I, is making the presentation for our project.
I, not Yasmin, am making a presentation for our project.
4. When the subject and the linking verb complement differ in number, the verb agrees with the
subject and not with the linking verb complement.
Ex. Sharon’s studies and her budding career as a writer are her main pre-occupation these days.
Sharon’s main pre-occupation these days is her studies and budding career as a writer.
5. Words that are plural in form but singular in meaning take on singular verbs.( news, measles,
chassis, mumps, viscus, abacus, atlas, abscess, aegis, genesis, apparatus, neurosis, etc)
The chassis of your car needs treatment against rust.
The abscess in your leg has accumulated a lot of pus.
6. Words ending in –ICS are singular in meaning if they refer to a subject, a branch of science or
a field of concentration.
Ex. Tactics 102 is taught during Third Year in PMA. (subject)
Military tactics teach a soldier to penetrate the mind of the enemy. (strategies)
7. Some nouns may be construed as singular or plural according to context. (ashes, wages, amends,
remains, accommodation, archives, bowels, communications, goods, wood, information, advice, knowledge,
barracks, crossroads, means, species, usually collective nouns)
Ex. Amends to compensate for the loss of his belongings was given to Mr. Cruz.
Amends are distributed to the family* of the victims of landslide due to mining activities. The
wages for sin is death.
8. Series is singular when used to refer to a set of things even if it is followed by the preposition
of and a plural noun
Ex. A series of competitive games will be shown in Sports Network on Saturday.
9. Series takes on a plural verb when it refers to two or more sets of things
Ex. Three series of political sorties are planned by the Liberal Party next week.
10. Titles of books, essays, movies, plays, musical compositions, paintings or other such works, that are
plural in form, take on a singular verb.
2
 Ex. The Three Musketeers was written by Alexander Dumas. (Title of a book)
The Three Stooges stars Charlie Chaplin. (Movie)
11. Names of groups, organizations or countries that are plural in form, take on a singular
verb. Ex. The United Nations has sent peacekeeping forces to Iraq.
The Netherlands is a land of dikes.
12. Some nouns take on only plural verbs.(clothes, fireworks, scissors, trousers,* credentials, earnings,
headquarters, etc.)
Ex. Nina’s clothes are badly sewn.
The magnificent fireworks have awed the onlookers.
13. Some nouns take on a secondary plural form. ( fish, water, hair, land, money*, cheese, sand, etc)
Ex. The white hairs on grandmother’s head increase as the years pass.
The monies* that undergo devaluation include the US dollar, Greek drachma, British pound, Italian lira,
etc.
14. The expression “the number” takes on a singular verb while “a number” takes on plural verb.
Ex. The number of high school graduates opting to take up nursing has grown to enormous proportions.
A number have chosen nursing as a career because it’s the fastest way to go abroad.
15. “The contents” when used as a subject takes on a singular verb if it refers to quality or mass noun and a
plural verb when it refers to quantity or count nouns.
Ex. The contents of the chest were (are) old clothes. (plural noun)
The contents of the chest was (is) Grandma’s wedding dress.(a unit)
The contents of the bottle was (is) strawberry jam. (mass noun)
16. Relative pronouns who, that, which will take on the number of the word they refer to.
Ex. This is the group of islands that attract thousands of tourists. (This refers to group; that
refers to islands)
I have brought the boy who has painted this mural. (who refers to boy)
17. In sentence constructions containing one of and only one of, in which a relative pronoun is subject
of the verb in the subordinate clause, the verb agrees with the antecedent of the relative pronoun.
Ex. He is one of the soldiers who never get tired of patrolling. (He belongs to the soldiers who never
get tired of patrolling)
He is the only one of the candidates who is willing to debate the issues. (who refers to
one)
18. Clauses when used as a subject depend on other words in context to determine the number of its
verb.
Ex. What you plan requires an enormous outlay of money. (outlay is singular and it determines the
verb)
What you plan require skilled workers and good managers.(workers and managers determine the
number of the verb.)
19. A subject based on verbal noun (gerund or infinitive) is treated as singular.
Ex. Reassembling the watch’s broken pieces takes steady hands and patience
Telling lies does not improve one’s character at all.
To have lots of money is the desire of many.
20. A subject consisting of a single noun clause is treated as singular.
Ex. Why Felix just walked out without explanation still baffles us.
How the baby manages to get out of his crib remains a mystery to his parents.
21. Some nouns have the same form for singular and plural.( moose, tuna, milkfish, species, deer)
Ex. The means justifies the end.
The means to save the European nations from economic collapse are drying up.
Tuna abound in that cold water bay.
Tuna makes a delicious sandwich.
22. Be careful of the plural forms of nouns derived from foreign language.( datum-data; basis-
basis; criterion-criteria; bacterium-bacteria; genus-genera; phenomenon-phenomena,; die-dice, etc)
Ex. The data* for this experiment are available in the laboratory.
(*use with singular verb already acceptable. cf. Angelina S. La Viña, Master Trainer, Training for Less,
[Link])

3
 The phenomena baffle the scientists.
One criterion has been omitted from the list.
23. “It” can be personal pronoun or an expletive. An expletive is a sentence filler or introducer. The most
common expletives are here, there, and it . That, whether, and If are considered expletives when they
introduce noun clauses. The expletive It is also called a false subject.
Ex. #1. It is obvious that he has studied hard.
Normal sentence: That he has studied hard is obvious. The clause functions as subject of
the sentence.
#2. It makes sense to save a part of your monthly wages.
Normal order of the sentence: To save a part of your monthly wages makes sense. NOTE 1: In the
normal order of the sentence, the expletive “it” disappears.
NOTE 2: Take care not to mistake the expletive “it” for the personal pronoun “it”.
#3. It is amazing that Robin can read at the age of four.
Normal order of the sentence: That Robin can read at the age of four is amazing.
Ex. of It as Personal Pronoun: Robin’s mother enrolled him In L’Ecole. It is a school that
specializes in teaching gifted children.
It is a personal pronoun substituting for L’Ecole.
#4. It is wonderful to be alive.
Normal order of the sentence. To be alive is wonderful.
24. Quantifiers ( generally, indefinite pronouns used as modifiers: all, less, more, most. much, some)when
modifying a mass noun take on a singular verb; when modifying a count noun take on a plural verb.
Ex. #1: All this rushing water empties into a gigantic inland lake.
#2. All the invited participants are wearing the official yellow uniform. #3.
More precious oil is wasted by an inefficient combustion engine.
#4. More inhabitants of the island are leaving it for the big city each year.
25. Business names, companies, names of organizations may take on a plural form but they will take a
singular verb because they refer to only one entity. (The Residences, Cojuangco and Sons, The Jaycees)
Ex. #1. The Residences offers condominium units of your choice at affordable prices. #2.
The Jaycees holds “The Search for Ten Outstanding Young Men” every year.
#3. Mediaquest Holdings, a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust, is the vehicle being considered to
acquire GMA 7.
26. Names of Sports teams will require plural verbs. (even if they don’t end in “s”)Basketball: Utah Jazz;
Orlando Magic: Oklahoma City Thunder. Baseball: Boston Red Sox; Chicago White Sox, English
Premier League (Football) Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, ; European Football Real
Madrid, Ajax (Amsterdam) Juventus (Torino, Italy) AC Milan (Milan)
Ex. #1. Miami Heat prevail over Chicago Bulls.
# 2. Chelsea reach finals in European Champion Leagu