GEPURPCO - 1st Semester (Midterm)  The students bring their experiment

equipment at the science lab.

The 3 Main Types off Verbs
2. Indefinite pronouns each, everyone, no
Action Verbs
one, someone, nobody, and every takes
 Tells what action something or someone singular verb.
is performing.
Examples:
Linking Verbs
 Everyone is expected to join the English
 Connects a noun or a pronoun with a competition.
word that identifies or describe it.  No one seems to like him.

Helping Verbs
 Added before another verb to make it a 3. Collective nouns take singular verbs if
verb phrase. they are taken as a single unit.
Examples:

Linking Verb Examples  The class spends its free time in the
library.
Examples formed from the verb BE:  The committee decides on the case
about drug addiction.
be were may be
was am have been
will be are is
4. Collective nouns take plural verbs if they
act individually.
Other linking verbs:
Example:
appear seem taste
smell sound stay  The crew disagree on the decision of the
manager.
turn feel

Subject-Verb Agreement 5. Compound subjects joined by either-or

You need to realize that in the English Language,
the subject and verb must agree in person and in
number.
1. Singular subjects take singular verbs;
plural subjects take plural verbs.
Examples:
Examples:
 An obstinate man does not hold
opinions.
and neither-nor, the verb agrees with the
nearest subject. If the subject near the
verb is singular, it takes singular verb. It
takes plural verb if the subject near the
verb is plural.
 Neither mother nor her daughter watches
the children play.
 Either the coach or the player comes on
time.
  Neither the principal nor the teachers
arrive late at the assembly.
 Either the president or the secretaries
move in the right direction.
6. Intervening words do not affect the
number of the verb.
Example:
 The staff, together with its member,
stands firm to impose the rule.
7. Nouns that are plural in form but singular
in meaning agree with singular verbs.
Examples:
 Physics is a difficult subject.
 The news brings joy or sadness to a
person.
8. The expression a number takes plural
verb; the expression the number takes
singular verb.
Examples:
 A number of people die in the Pakistan
earthquake.
 A number of children were affected by
the economic crises.
 The number of absentees was reduced
during the second quarter.
 The number of enrollees has increased
this school year.
9. An amount of money, space of time, or
unit of measurement even in plural form
takes singular verb.
Examples:
 Three meters of cloth is enough for the
table.
 Twenty pesos is what I need.
10. Compound subject connected by and
takes a plural verb.
Examples:
 Meriam and Joyce visit me in my house.
 The teacher and the researcher discuss
the weak points of the demonstrator.
11. Compound subject connected by and
takes a singular verb if the subject
means the same thing or person.
Examples:
 My cousin and friend travels to the US
for study tour.
 The secretary and treasurer is
trustworthy.
12. A title is singular and must have a
singular verb.
Examples:
 “Trees” is a popular poem written by
Joyce Kilmer.
 Mona Liza is a beautiful artwork of Da
Vinci.
13. In a compound subject, one negative,
one positive, the verb agrees with the
positive subject.
Examples:
 The students, not the teacher perform on
stage.
  The teacher, not the students teaches
the lesson.

14. Two nouns thought of together take a
singular verb.
Examples:
 Rice and fish is what I have for breakfast.
 Coffee and milk is a good blend.

15. Few, several and many take plural verbs

when used as pronouns.
Examples:
 Few are willing to leave the country.
 Several have consented to migrate.

16. Fractions take singular verbs. But, if the

fraction is followed by an of- phrase the
number of the verb depends on whether
the noun in the of- phrase is singular or
plural.
Examples:
 Three-fourths of the melon is enough.
 Three-fourths of the apples are green.

17. All takes plural verb when it refers to

concrete nouns; all takes singular verb
when it refers to abstract nouns.
Examples:
 All of the students are loyal to her.
 All she had was hope.