 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
2. Special care should be taken when the learners deal with nouns ending in -s, since, as is known, they
can be considered to be either singular or plural:
No news is good news.
The scissors are on the table.
3. "A number of N" takes the plural, but "the number of N" takes the singular.
4. Fractions and percentage take the singular verb when they modify an uncountable noun and the
plural when they modify a countable noun; either a singular or plural verb may be used when they modify
a collective noun:
Thirty per cent of water is wasted nowadays.
Thirty per cent of books were sold out.
Thirty per cent of population was/were present.
5. Plural unit words of distance, money, time, etc., take the singular:
distance: Two kilometres is a long distance.
money: Two hundred pounds is to be paid for it.
time: Three years is a long time to do it.
6. Arithmetic operations take the singular:
One plus one is two. Four minus one is three. Two times three is six. Twelve divided by two is six.
Problems may arise when the subject is expressed by a noun-phrase:
Either my friend or my relatives are going to see me soon.
Neither my relatives nor my friend is going to see me soon.
The proximity principle works here: the predicate agrees in number with the closest part of the subject.
The same rule is applied in "there is/are" structures.
There is a book and two notebooks on the table.
There are two notebooks and a book
The principle of non-intervention is observed when the subject is a prepositional phrase including
"together with," "along with," "as well as," etc.
Nick, together with his friends, is going for a trip.
The subject predicative agreement is problematic in certain types of relative clauses.
She is one of those people who never ceases to work hard.
Practice Activities
TPR Activities
A Monster
1. Make a monster.
2. Pick up the orange crayon.
3. Draw three eyes.
4. Put the orange crayon down.
5. Pick up the blue crayon.
6. Draw four mouths.
7. Put the blue crayon down.
8. Pick up the purple crayon.
9. Draw eight legs.
10. Put the purple crayon down.
11. Pick up the green crayon.
12. Draw three noses.
13. Look at the scary monster.
Lunch
(Use relevant pictures of: a plate, two hot dogs,
three cherries, three French fries)
1. I'm hungry.
2. I want some lunch.
3. Pick up a hot dog.