Lesson 5: Grammar

Review
By Ms. Lydia Quinn
Friday 18th August 2023
ICEBREAKER

 Game: Read My Mouth -What am I Saying?

Usage - Subject-Verb Agreement
Subjects and verbs must AGREE with one another in number (singular or plural).
Thus, if a subject is singular, its verb must also be singular; if a subject is plural, its
verb must also be plural.
In present tenses, nouns and verbs form plurals in opposite ways:
nouns ADD an s to the singular form,
BUT
verbs REMOVE an s from the singular form.
1. A phrase or clause between subject and verb does not change the number of the
subject.
Examples:
2. Indefinite pronouns as subjects
 Singular indefinite pronoun subjects take singular verbs.

 Plural indefinite pronoun subjects take plural verbs.

PLURAL: several, few, both, many
 Some indefinite pronouns may be either singular or plural: with uncountable,
use singular; with countable, use plural.
EITHER SINGULAR OR PLURAL: some, any, none, all, most

Sugar is uncountable; therefore, the sentence has a singular verb.

Marbles are countable; therefore, the sentence has a plural verb.

3. Compound subjects joined by and are always plural.

But if the compound subject is taken as one item/ one subject/ compound noun then the verb should
be singular
e.g. Rice and peas is a favourite of many Caribbean people
4. With compound subjects joined by or/nor, the verb agrees with the subject
nearer to it.

In the above example, the plural verb are agrees with the nearer subject actors.

In this example, the singular verb is agrees with the nearer subject director.
5. Inverted Subjects must agree with the verb.
6. Collective Nouns (group, jury, crowd, team, etc.) may be singular or plural, depending
on meaning.

In this example, the jury is acting as one unit; therefore, the verb is singular.

In this example, the jury members are acting as twelve individuals; therefore, the verb is
plural.
7. Titles of single entities (books, organizations, countries, etc.) are always singular.

8. Plural form subjects

 Plural form subjects with a singular meaning take a singular verb. (e.g. news,
measles, mumps, physics, etc.)

Plural form subjects with singular or plural meaning take a singular or plural
verb, depending on meaning. (e.g. politics, economics, etc.)

In this example, politics is a single topic; therefore, the sentence has a singular verb.
 In this example, politics refers to the many aspects of the situation; therefore, the
sentence has a plural verb.
Plural form subjects with a plural meaning take a plural verb. (e.g. scissors,
trousers)

Note: In this example, the subject of the sentence is pair; therefore, the verb must
agree with it. (Because scissors is the object of the preposition, scissors
does not affect the number of the verb.)
9. With subject and subjective complement of different number, the verb always agrees
with the subject.
10-A. With one of those ________ who, use a plural verb

The above example implies that others besides Hannah like to read comic books.
Therefore, the plural verb is the correct form to use.

10-B. With the only one of those ________who, use a singular verb.

The above example implies that no one else except for Hannah likes to read comic books.
Therefore, the singular verb is the correct for to use.
11-A. With the number of _______, use a singular verb.

11-B. With a number of _______, use a plural verb.

12. With every ______ and many a ________, use a singular verb.
Rule 13. Use a singular verb with distances, periods of time, sums of money, etc., when
considered as a unit.

Examples:
Three miles is too far to walk.
Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense.
Ten dollars is a high price to pay.
BUT
Ten dollars (i.e., dollar bills) were scattered on the floor.
Rule 14. With words that indicate portions—e.g., a lot, a majority, some, all—Rule 1 given
earlier in this section is reversed, and we are guided by the noun after of. If the noun
after of is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb.

Examples:
A lot of the pie has disappeared.
A lot of the pies have disappeared.
Fifty percent of the pie has disappeared.
Fifty percent of the pies have disappeared.
A third of the city is unemployed.
A third of the people are unemployed.
All of the pie is gone.
All of the pies are gone.
Some of the pie is missing.
Some of the pies are missing.
Rule 15. The word were replaces was in sentences that express a wish or are contrary to
fact:

Example: If Joe were here, you'd be sorry.

Shouldn't Joe be followed by was, not were, given that Joe is singular? But Joe isn't
actually here, so we say were, not was. The sentence demonstrates the
subjunctive mood, which is used to express a hypothetical, wishful, imaginary, or
factually contradictory thought. The subjunctive mood pairs singular subjects with what we
usually think of as plural verbs.

Examples:
I wish it were Friday.
She requested that he raise his hand.
The foreman demanded that Joe wear safety goggles.

In the first example, a wishful statement, not a fact, is being expressed; therefore, were,
which we usually think of as a plural verb, is used with the singular it. (Technically, it is the
singular subject of the object clause in the subjunctive mood: it were Friday.)

Normally, he raise would sound terrible to us. However, in the second example, where a
request is being expressed, the subjunctive mood is correct.

Note: The subjunctive mood is losing ground in spoken English but should still be used in
formal speech and writing
PAST TENSE VERBS
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian musician and composer.
He lived from 1756 to 1791. He started composing at the age of five years old
and wrote more than 600 pieces of music. He was only 35 years old when
he died.
The verbs "was, lived, started, wrote, died" are in the simple past tense.
Notice that:
•lived, started, died are regular past forms.
was, wrote are irregular past forms.
Regular verbs:
The verbs "lived, started, died" are regular past
forms. The rule is the following: Verb + ed
Examples:

The infinitive The simple past

live lived
start started
die died
Verb
visit + ed visited
play played
watch watched
phone phoned
marry married
Irregular verbs:
The verbs "was, wrote" are irregular past forms. "Was" is the simple past of the verb
"to be"; "wrote" is the simple past of "write".
There is no rule for these verbs. You should learn them by heart.
As you can see, we cannot predict the simple past forms of these verbs. They are
irregular. You should learn them by heart.

The infinitive The simple past

be was/were
write wrote
come came
do did
meet met
speak spoke
When to Use Present Perfect Tense

 1. The event is finished but the exact time of the action is

unknown or important and the event has some effect on
the present e.g. I have seen the movie Star Wars.
 2. When referring to a repeated action in the past e.g. I
have taken that test many times.
 3. When describing an action that did not happen e.g. I
have never smoked
*usually use with adverbs such as never, already, yet, so far
When is the PASSIVE VOICE used?
 When the person who did the action is not important or is not
known
 In academic writing when you want to avoid using personal
pronoun “I” so instead of saying “I conducted the experiment”
you can write “The experiment was conducted over a period of
six months.”
 N.B. Do not overuse the passive voice in your writing since if you
use too many it will make your writing less spontaneous and less
interesting.
 When diplomacy is needed so that you appear less
confrontational.
Pronouns
QUICK GRAMMAR PRACTICE
 1. The party was a success in fact it was still going on at 2a.m.
 2. When asked what she wanted to be later in life she replied rich and famous.
 3.He had always wanted to be a stand-up comic. Because he liked to make people
laugh.
 4. He wanted to make a point. To prove to everyone that he was capable.
 5. The bus ten minutes late.
 6. My mother’s name is Marta my father’s name is George.
 7.Salmon swim upstream, they even jump over huge dams to reach their
destination.
 8. Walking into the house, the telephone rang.
 9. Teachers are advised occasionally to hold conferences.
 10. His dog a Labrador Retriever is afraid of mice.
QUICK GRAMMAR PRACTICE
11. The nurse who tended my father for many years she gave him a great deal of advice.

12. They wash two baskets of laundry last night.

13. He drunk too much last night.

14. The government’s proposals about preserving the environment causes controversy.

15. His daughter and his son wants him to move to Antigua.

16. The news were bad last week.

17. Ten dollars are not enough to buy lunch.

18. When a student is educated, they can go far in the world.

19. The dean wanted he and I to lead the procession.

20. There is many reasons to rejoice.

QUICK GRAMMAR PRACTICE
 21. He and his sister invited my cousin and I to their party.
 22. He done his best.
 23. The paint has lost it’s shine.
 24. The intended audience are parents.
 25. Thirdly, allowing children to make repeated mistakes so that they can learn.
 26. The message in the final paragraph is that there are no right or wrong way in
child rearing.
 27. Secondly, families should reserved the time to honour rituals.
 28. Even if they go wrong don’t give up show that you still care.
 29. However, parents allows children to make their own decisions and guides the
child.
 30. Family life is not perfect it varies from time to time.
QUICK GRAMMAR PRACTICE
31. It was her that sent the bouquet.
32. The students suggestions were taken into consideration.
33.If we had a million dollars, we would made a donation to the
museum.
34. Every toy and game have to be put away.
35. The sun rised at 5: 55a.m today.
36. The committee has not yet completed their report.
37. Do the editor agree to the changes?
38. You could have went alone.
39. Fish and chips are a popular dish in Antigua.
40. Him and his brother waved to my mother and I.