Unit 7 – subject-verb

agreement
 Some nouns can look singular, but
are followed by a plural verb
conjugation and vice versa.
Let’s look at:
1. Nouns followed by a singular or plural verb conjugation.
2. Nouns followed by either a singular or plural verb conjugation.
3. Complex nouns.
4. Nouns that refer to quantity.

Nouns with a singular or

plural verb conjugation?

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 singular or plural verb conjugations
Read the text and then match the nouns.
Sociology is my favourite subject at school. I love learning about how the world works and how society is affected
by nature as well as nurture. We talk a lot these days about how the rich are different from the poor, or how the
elderly have opposing views to the young, but the media are responsible for changing our views a lot too. We
have to look at how the world has developed as well. Nowadays, Starbucks is on every corner, dominoes is a
game of the past (it’s all about online computer games now), and the police have less influence. The book Social
Media Generation talks about all these changes – I definitely recommend it!

singular verb conjugation plural verb conjugation

society the police games

names of stores adjectives which describe a whole group

subjects
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B2+ media titles of books
 singular or plural verb conjugations
singular verb conjugation
subjects
society
games
names of stores
titles of books
These nouns can be used
with singular or plural
verbs:
Audience, class, company,
data, department, group,
government, staff, team,
and places that are plural
like The United States. E.g.
The team is ready/The
team are ready.
Copyright © 2018 by Pearson Education      Gold Experience 2nd Edition B2+
plural verb conjugation
the police
adjectives which describe a whole group
media
● Sociology is my favourite subject at school.
● Society is affected by nature as well as nurture.
● Dominoes is a game of the past.
● Starbucks is on every corner.
● The book Social Media Generation talks about all
these changes.
● The police have less influence. Complex nouns and
nouns that refer to
● The rich are different from the poor.
quantity...
● The media are responsible for changing our
views a lot.
 complex nouns and nouns of quantity
Look at the conversation and answer the questions.
Did you know that
80% of people only
speak one language?
Learning a language
and speaking it to a
high level is more
valuable than I
thought!
I’m not sure that’s true.
The majority of our
generation speaks
another language
because they learn it at
school. My friends who
come from all around
the world all speak two
languages or more.

There are two

When expressing complex
quantity, what nouns in this
determines if we use a conversation.
singular or plural verb Find them. 1. Learning a
conjugation? language and
speaking it to a high
level…
The main How do we
noun, not the determine if 2. My friends who
quantity word we use a The main come from all
singular or subject around the world...
Copyright © 2018 by Pearson Education      Gold Experience 2ndplural verb?
Edition B2+
 Form: complex nouns and nouns of
quantity
With complex nouns, the verb agrees with the main subject (usually the first word).

Singular
Learning a language and speaking it to a high level is valuable.

Plural
My friends who come from all around the world speak two languages.

With nouns that refer to quantity, the verb agrees with the main verb.
Plural

80% of people only speak one language. Singular/

uncountable

The majority of our generation speaks another language.

Let’s practise...
Copyright © 2018 by Pearson Education      Gold Experience 2nd Edition B2+
 Practice activities
Complete the gaps with the verbs in brackets.

understands/understand (understand) the needs of the people they are serving.

1. It’s important that the government ……………………………...

take (take) additional courses in their free time.

2. 25% of the employees …………

have (have) one of the largest manufacturing industries in the world.

3. The Chinese …………..

is imported (be imported).

4. Two thirds of their food supply ………………..

is (be) recommended.
5. Studying a subject which can help you get a better job ……...

respond (respond) quickly if they know it’s an emergency.

6. The police ……………

save (save) a lot of money.

7. Children who live with their parents while at university ………..

saves (save) students a lot of money.

8. Living at home while at university …………

Copyright © 2018 by Pearson Education      Gold Experience 2nd Edition B2+