Module 1 | Lesson 1 - Subject – Verb Agreement

Lessons in this module will focus on two of the most basic but most needed language
skills – Subject-Verb Agreement and Reading Comprehension. These skills are prerequisite
for a better command of the higher language skills.
Pre-Assessment
1. Have your competence in using correct subject-verb agreement when speaking or
writing been appropriately honed during your years in basic education?
2. In a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your competence in using correct subject-
verb agreement?
Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. Familiarize with the rules on Subject-Verb Agreement.
2. Construct grammatically correct sentences thru proper use of subject-verb
agreement.
Core Content
Being able to find the right subject and verb will help you correct errors of subject-
verb agreement.

Basic Rule. A singular subject (she, Bill, car) takes a singular verb (is, goes, shines), whereas
a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Rules on Subject-Verb Agreement

1. The pronoun “YOU” always takes a plural verb.
Example: You were invited to come.
You are asked to clean the room.
You sing so well.

2. If a sentence begins with HERE or THERE, the verb agrees with the subject which follows
it.
Example: Here are the ways on how to preserve meat.
There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor.
3. If two subjects, one single and one plural, are connected by EITHER/OR or
NEITHER/NOR, the verb agrees with the nearer subject.
Example: Neither the players nor the coach is joining.
Either the conductor or the singers are attending the concert.

4. A singular subject followed by intervening words or phrases such as WITH, AS WELL AS,
IN ADDITION TO, ACCOMPANIED BY, TOGETHER WITH and NO LESS THAN, takes a
singular verb.
Examples: Jake, accompanied by his sisters, is enrolling in PCC.
Daddy, as well as my brothers, is enjoying the party.

5. Singular subjects joined by AND require a plural verb, except when they mean one thing.
Examples: Larry and Mercy are reading novels.
My teacher and friend is here.
My teacher and my friend are here.

6. Two singular subjects joined by EITHER/OR or NEITHER/NOR take a singular verb.

Examples: Either Mommy or Daddy is coming with me at the outbound.
Neither Ferdie nor Dulce is waiting for you.

7. If a singular subject is followed by a phrase containing a plural noun, the verb is singular.
Examples: One of the boys is yelling so loud.
One of the members is against the rule.

8. The indefinite pronouns SEVERAL, FEW, BOTH, MAN, OTHERS are always plural.
Examples: Both were asking to be freed.
Several are seeking justice.

9. The indefinite pronouns SOME, MOST, ALL, NONE are singular or plural according to the
meaning of the sentence.
Examples: Some of the girls were absent.
 Some of the ice cream is left.

10. When any of the following indefinite pronoun is the subject, the verb is singular:
EVERYBODY, EACH, NO ONE, ANOTHER, ANYBODY, NOBODY, EVERY, NOTHING,
EVERYTHING, ANYONE, EITHER, NEITHER, EVERYONE, SOMEBODY, SOMEONE.
Example: Every man and woman in this hall is a member.

11. Expressions of time, money, weight, and distance are singular even if the form is plural.
Examples: Two years is a long time to wait.
One million dollars was given back to the owner.

12. When the amount of money refers to separate units, the verb is plural.
Examples: Five 25-centavo coins were found.
Sixty 100-peso bills were added to the budget.

13. The following words are always plural: PANTS, TROUSERS, PLIERS, SCISSORS, SHEARS,
and TONGS. However, if the word PAIR is used, the verb is singular.
Examples: The pants are torn into two.
The pair of scissors was placed on the table.

14. Certain nouns, though plural in form, are singular in meaning and therefore take
singular verbs.
Examples: Mathematics is my favorite subject.
The latest news is alarming to the public.

15. When the word is preceded by A, it takes a plural verb. When it is preceded by THE, it
takes a singular verb.
Examples: A number of students are waiting outside.
The number of students outside is not recorded yet.

16. When fractions are used, the verb agrees with the object of the OF PHRASE.
 Examples: One half of the cake was consumed.
One fourth of the employees were attending the seminar.

17. These nouns may be singular or plural in meaning: ATHLETICS, GENETICS, POLITICS,
GYMNASTICS, STATISTICS. When the noun refers to an organized activity, it is singular;
when the noun refers to the activities of individuals within a group, or to varied activities, it
is plural.
Examples: Gymnastics is very popular among girls.
The gymnastics shown in the field today were outstanding.

18. The name of a country is always regarded as singular.

Examples: The Bahamas has beautiful beaches.
Philippines is a wondrous place.

19. Adjectives used as nouns are considered plural.

Examples: The poor are to be helped.
The efficient are what this country needs.
20. Collective nouns may be singular or plural depending on whether the individual
members are acting individually or collectively. These nouns are: COMPANY, GROUP,
COMMITTEE, CROWD, JURY, FLOCK, or TEAM.
Examples: The committee is against the plan. (acting collectively-singular)
The committee are of different opinion. (acting individually-
plural)

21. In the use of mathematical expressions, the following are accepted:

Examples: Seven plus three is ten. Five times two are ten.
Seven and three are ten. Five minus two is three.

22. Titles of books, plays, articles, movies, etc. are regarded as singular even though words
in the title may be plural.
Examples: “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities” is a story by D. Schwartz.
“Great Expectations” is a must-read novel.
 23. Names of organizations take a singular verb when the whole organization is referred to,
and a plural verb when the members are referred to.
Examples: Lopez and Sons is a successful organization.
Lopez and Sons are holding a two-day annual meeting.
24. If a sentence begins with the expletive IT, the verb is always singular even if the subject
that follows the verb is plural.
Examples: It is the schools which must assume the responsibility.
It is us who must take care of the environment.

Self-Assessment
Note: This activity is only for practice. You do not need to submit this to your professor.
DIRECTIONS: Underline the correct verb for the subject of each sentence.

1. Carl (doesn’t, don’t) remember the combination.

2. Either the battery or the bulb in my flashlight (has, have) just failed.
3. Two students from our school (was, were) sent to a press conference in Ohio.
4. In Vermont there (is, are) several big ski resorts.
5. A large shrub (grow, grows) in the front yard.
6. They (type, types) rapidly.
7. Every student and teacher (was, were) present at the special assembly.
8. Both Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill (is, are) legendary heroes in American folklore.
9. Neither mom nor my sisters (likes, like) that movie.
10. The plans and arrangements for the picnic (has, have) not been finalized yet.
11. Everyone in the room (is, are) a member of the debate team.
12. Nobody (remembers, remember) the right formula for the problem.
13. A card for Father’s Day (makes, make) my Dad very happy.
14. There (is, are) two fullbacks on a soccer team.
15. Here (is, are) the photos of the class party.
 Module 1 | Lesson 2 - Reading Comprehension
The job market now demands a workforce that is more highly educated than ever.
However, most people, children and adults, do not spend any significant portion of their
free time reading.
Without committing time to reading, no one can gain the reading skills or
knowledge they need to succeed in school, at work, or in life in general. The best way to
improve your reading efficiency is to read a lot.
In summary, people just aren't reading as much anymore and yet the need for
reading, comprehension, and communication skills (verbal and written) has increased.

Pre-Assessment
1. How often do you read? When you read, what purpose do you have? Is it merely for
course compliance or is it for personal knowledge development?
2. Is there a significant relationship between reading comprehension and competence
in other areas like Science or Mathematics?

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
1. Exercise effective reading skills for better comprehension of text read.
2. Determine word meaning, main ideas, details, and interpretations through proper
reading.

Core Content

What is Reading Comprehension?

 According to Webster's Dictionary, comprehension is "the capacity for
understanding fully; the act or action of grasping with the intellect."
 Webster also tells us that reading is "to receive or take in the sense of (as letters
or symbols) by scanning; to understand the meaning of written or printed matter; to
learn from what one has seen or found in writing or printing.

Skills in Reading Comprehension

1. Finding main ideas and supporting details/evidence

2. Making inferences and drawing conclusions
3. Recognizing a text's patterns of organization
4. Summarizing/Paraphrasing
5. Reading for Information/details
6. Reading and Interpreting non- prose forms (e.g., graphs, tables, charts, diagrams)
7. Understanding opinions and detecting biases
8. Identifying tone, mood and style
9. Rhetorical patterns such as (comparison-contrast, cause and effect, description and
narration)

Levels of Comprehension
The three levels of comprehension, or sophistication of thinking, are presented in
the following hierarchy from the least to the most sophisticated level of reading.

*Least = surface, simple reading

*Most = in-depth, complex reading

Level One: Literal

LITERAL - what is actually stated.
 Facts and details
 Rote learning and memorization
 Surface understanding only
TESTS in this category are objective tests dealing with true / false, multiple choice and
fill-in-the blank questions.
Common questions used to illicit this type of thinking are who, what, when,
and where questions.

Level Two: Interpretive

INTERPRETIVE - what is implied or meant, rather than what is actually stated.
 Drawing inferences
 Tapping into prior knowledge / experience
 Attaching new learning to old information
 Making logical leaps and educated guesses
Reading between the lines to determine what is meant by what is stated.
TESTS in this category are subjective, and the types of questions asked are open-ended,
thought-provoking questions like why, what if, and how.

Level Three: Applied

 APPLIED - taking what was said (literal) and then what was meant by what was said
(interpretive) and then extend (apply) the concepts or ideas beyond the situation.
 Analyzing
 Synthesizing
 Applying
In this level we are analyzing or synthesizing information and applying it to other
information.

IMPORTANT NOTE: For the sake of brevity, we will only be focusing on some of the most
important and most widely used comprehension skills. This would include Skimming and
Scanning for Details, Developing Vocabulary through Context Clues, Drawing Conclusions,
and Making Inferences.
Skimming
 Skimming - To read quickly to get the general idea of a passage
 When Skimming:
o Don’t read everything but try to skip the text.
o Read the first and last sentences of paragraphs.
o Read the introduction and the summary.
o Read a few examples until you understand the concepts they are meant to
illustrate.
 How to Skim:
o Read the title.
o Read the subtitle or introduction.
o Read the first sentences of each paragraph.
o Notice any picture, charts, or graphics.
o Read the summary or last paragraph if there is one.

Let’s skim the first and last sentences from the passage.
In recent years, evidence has been collected which suggests that the proportion of
British children and teenagers who are unhappy is higher than in many other developed
countries around the world. For example, a recently published report set out to measure ‘well-
being’ among young people in nineteen European countries found that the United Kingdom
came bottom. The report was based on statistics and surveys in which young people answered
questions on a wide range of subject. The United Kingdom is a relatively unequal country with
a relatively high proportion of young people living in households with less than half the
national average income. This seems to have a negative effect on how they feel about
themselves.
Choose the heading that best matches the previous paragraph.

a. Parents are to blame for the state of children today

b. A report with many conclusions and worries about the United Kingdom
c. Growing up unhappy generation
d. There are so many social problems young people face today

Scanning
 Scanning – searching for specific information (key words)
Specific information may range from name, number, date, program, etc.
Scanning is rapidly running your eyes over the text in order to locate specific
details.
 Three Steps to Scanning:
o search for key words
o move quickly over the page
o Less reading and more searching
Now let’s scan for the info we selected.
In recent years, evidence has been collected which suggests that the proportion of
British children and teenagers who are unhappy is higher than in many other developed
countries around the world. For example, a recently published report set out to measure ‘well-
being’ among young people in nineteen European countries found that the United Kingdom
came bottom. The report was based on statistics and surveys in which young people answered
questions on a wide range of subject. The United Kingdom is a relatively unequal country with
a relatively high proportion of young people living in households with less than half the
national average income. This seems to have a negative effect on how they feel about
themselves.

How many European countries are in the first report?

Answer: Nineteen
In conclusion:
 Skimming and scanning is used when reading all types of documents.
 We skim to get the idea of what a document is about and typically skim all documents
before we actually begin to read.
 As we skim, we…
o think about the topic
o think about what we already know about the topic
o start to guess or anticipate the details we are going to read
 We scan for specific information
 We work quickly when we skim and scan.

Context Clues
 Context - The use of words surrounding the unknown word to help determine the
unknown word’s meaning.
 Why are context clues important?
o They help us define unfamiliar, difficult words in texts.
o They help us to become better, perceptive readers.
o They come in handy during tests when a dictionary or the internet is not
available to us.
 Where are context clues found?
o In the same sentence as the difficult, unfamiliar word.
o In the same paragraph or passage as the unknown word. Context clues can
be in the sentences following the word, for example.
o They are called context clues because they are found in the “context” of the
sentence or passage.
 Context Clue No. 1: Definition
o The unfamiliar word is directly defined in the sentence in which it
appears.
o Definitions are usually set off by commas or dashes, and may include the
use of the words, as, or, that is, and in other words.
o Example: Apples, red fruits that grow on trees, are my teacher’s favorite.
 Context Clue No. 2: Antonym or Contrast
o The unfamiliar word is defined by using the word’s opposite or
contrasting meaning.
o This type of context clue usually includes the words: whereas, unlike, as
opposed to, however, in contrast to, but, on the other
o Example: Unlike Jen, who was easygoing, Jackie was fastidious.
 Context Clue No. 3: Synonym or Restatement
o Words with similar meanings are used within the same sentence, or
around the unfamiliar word.
o Example: Santa Clause was so portly that his doctor declared
him overweight.
 Context Clue No. 4: Inference
o Word meanings are not directly stated in the text, but definitions of
unfamiliar words can be assumed by both prior knowledge and the context in
which the word sits.
o Example: She was so famished that people felt sorry for her, and gave her
food to eat.
 Use the acronym SAID to remember the four types of context clues:
Synonym
Antonym
Inference
Definition
 Making Inferences
 Inference - a decision reached on the basis of evidence in the reading and your own
background knowledge.
-an inference IS an educated guess about the text.
-an inference IS “reading between the lines.”
-an inference is NOT directly stated in the text you’re reading.
 The author/character implies, but you the reader infer when you make an educated guess.
 How do you know when you’re being asked to make an inference? One of these verbs will
be used:
o suggest (Which answer does the text suggest is …)
o imply (Which answer does the author imply is …)
o infer (What can you infer from the text as the reason….)
o reasonably infer (What can you reasonably infer is…)
o suggested that (The author suggested that who…)
o with which would the author agree (With which answer would the author
agree as to…)
o which sentence would the author most likely use…(Which sentence would
the author most likely use to explain…)
 What Inferring Can do for You
o Define unknown words using context clues
o Learn about a character
o Picture the setting
o Determine the author’s/character’s feelings and bias
o Draw conclusions and make predictions based on facts
o Use your prior knowledge to better understand the reading
 Example 1:
“His previous album was one of the year’s bestsellers, but it paled in comparison with
his 1982 follow-up Thriller.”

Question: Who can you reasonably infer is the singer of this album? Pull from your
previous knowledge.
Answer: Michael Jackson
 Example 2:
“A woman walks into a hospital clutching her abdomen and cursing at her husband,
who trails behind her carrying a large bag.”

Question: What’s wrong with the woman?

Answer: Her water probably broke and she is about to give birth.

Drawing Conclusions
 Drawing Conclusions - You are making a judgment based on the information provided and
what you know in your head.
 When you are asked to draw a conclusion, you might have to:
o Find an example
o Note a contrast
o Generalize
o Identify a cause and effect relationship
o Detect a mood
o Recognize an analogy
o Identify a time-and-place relationship
o Make a comparison
o Anticipate an outcome
 When selecting a choice the correct answer is either highly likely or certain.
 Example 1:
“Martin Scorsese is a director of astonishing power, and Gangs of New York is a
movie of astonishing imagination, ambition, and scope. The first fifteen minutes are as
dazzling as any images ever put on screen. The rest of the movie veers from brilliant to
flawed, but it is unfailingly arresting, provocative, and powerful.”

Question: What will be the reviewer's final opinion on the movie?

a. The reviewer will give the movie a negative review.
b. The reviewer will not like the movie past its first fifteen minutes.
c. The reviewer will not recommend the movie because it was made by Martin
Scorsese.
d. The reviewer will give the movie a positive review.
 Example 2:
“Max has a very strong arm. He keeps his lucky leather glove in good condition.
All spring he practices to get in shape. He has a great fast ball and is working on his
curve ball. He plays for the City Diamondheads.”
Question: What position does Max play in the team?
Answer: Pitcher

Self-Assessment
Note: This activity only serves as your practice exercise. You do not need to submit this to
your professor.
DIRECTIONS: Read the following sentences/paragraphs carefully. Answer the questions
that follow.

For Questions 1-3:

 Mount Rushmore is a huge carving in a stone cliff. The carving shows the faces of four
U.S. presidents. They are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and
Abraham Lincoln. Mount Rushmore is in South Dakota. Each year many people visit this
amazing sight.

1. What is the main idea?a. what Mount Rushmore isb. where Mount Rushmore isc. the names
of the presidents

2. What is a detail that tells about the main idea?a. how the four presidents were chosenb.
which presidents are at Mount Rushmorec. why Mount Rushmore is in South Dakota

3. The best title for this paragraph would be?a. the face of Washingtonb. visiting South
Dakotac. Mount Rushmore carvings
For Questions 4-6:
Crows are the robbers of the bird world. Crows especially like to steal food from other
birds. Sometimes they are very bold about taking things. They might chase another bird,
cackle at it, or even bump into it. At other times crows are sneaky. They get close and then
snatch food away when another bird isn’t looking.
4. The main idea of the paragraph is -
a. why crows like to take food
b. the kind of food that crows eat
c. how crows act like thieves
5. A detail that tells about the main idea is -
a. how crows can be sneaky
b. how other birds fight crows
c. where crows make their nests
6. The best title for this paragraph would be -

a. A Bump from a Crow

b. Bandit Birds
c. What Crows Eat
7. At first, the surgery seemed to be successful. But several hours later, the patient’s
condition began to deteriorate, and it continued to worsen over the next few days. What is
the meaning of deteriorate?
a. stabilize b. surprise everyone c. decay or decline
8. When my grandfather meets someone with that much knowledge in a field, he finds
that their eruditionfrightens him and he is inclined to withdraw. What is the meaning of the
word erudition?
 a. rudeness b. scholarliness c. illiteracy
9. He is so timorous that he cannot sleep in the dark. What is the meaning of timorous?
a. fearful b. courageous c. timid
10. It is refreshing to see students so excited, so zealous in doing their homework.
a. dedicated b. indifferent c. jealous
11. “I circle several times while I lose altitude trying to penetrate the shadows from
different vantage points, getting the lay of the land as well as I can in the darkness.”
Infer who is speaking in the given passage.
a. photographer b. explorer c. pilot
12. Deliberately, his right hand fumbled at his waist. But then both his hands balled
themselves into mighty knotty fists of iron.
Infer the emotion of the character described.
a. disappointment b. pain c. anger
13. He always abhorred the idea of accepting aid from others; he felt that every man
should be sufficient unto himself.
Infer the characteristic of the person described.
a. selfish b. proud c. independent
For Questions 14-15:
The Cook’s Prayer
Lord of all pots and pans and things
Since I’ve no time to be
A saint by doing lovely things
Or watching late with Thee,
Or dreaming in the Dawnlight,
Or storming heaven’s gate
Make me a saint by getting meals
And washing up the plates.

14. Who is speaking in the poem?

a. a saint b. the Lord c. a cook
15. What do the last two lines mean? The speaker is saying that he _____.
a. be given patience so that he can do his work
b. likes his job and praying to his saints
c. wants to be a saint of pots and pans