Irregular  Agreement

Unusual Singular or Plural Forms

 

 

 

Regular vs. Irregular Agreement
REGULAR IRREGULAR

Plural noun — plural verb

Singular noun — plural verb  (The singlular and plural noun form is the same.)


goats
A goat is walking on the road.

Two goats are walking on the road.


shep
A sheep is walking on the road.

Two sheep are walking on the road.  (also: fish, deer)

 

 

Unexpected S-V Agreement
PLURAL NOUNS SINGULAR NOUNS

Plural noun — singular verb

Singular (mass) noun — plural verb

newspaper
The news is good today!
 

the police
The police are coming.
 

Boy Scouts
The Boy Scouts is a large organization.
Organizations: The United Nations, The Democrats, The Lyons Club, etc.
 

Funny People
People are funny.
 

teacher
Mathematics is a basic course.
Classes: Mathematics, Statistics, Linguistics

The English
The English are a proud people.
THE PEOPLE: The Japanese, The Chinese, The Portuguese, The Spaniards, etc.
 

US Map
The United States is a large country.
The Philippines, the Maldives, the Netherlands, etc.

Cattle
The cattle are in the field.

Macy Department Store
Macy's is a nation-wide store.
Quantities of time: 24 hrs, 7 days a week,
Four plus four is eight. One and one is two.

fish
Three fish are swimming with scuba tanks.

Clock twenty minutes
Twenty minutes is a short time.
Quantities of time: 24 hrs, 7 days a week,
Four plus four is eight. One and one is two.

deer
Two deer are in the field.


For other examples see: Singular-plurals

 

 

 

Languages and Gerund (Activities)
LANGUAGES ACTIVITIES

Languages are always singular.

Gerunds (verb+ing) are always singular.

English spoken here
English is spoken here.
LANGUAGE: Spanish Japanese, Chinese,
Portuguese, Chinese, Swahili, etc.

Dancing
Dancing is a lot of fun.
Gerunds (activities) : running, swimming, cooking, sleeping, etc.

 

 

soccer

 

 

 

Group Noun Exception
SINGULAR AGREEMENT PLURAL AGREEMENT

Refers to all as a group.  It takes all to win.

Refers to the members of the group – each one.

A soccer team becomes the pride of the country when it wins the state championship.

A soccer team becomes the pride of the country when they win the state championship.

 

 

 

 

 

bat and ballPractice

Exceptions

 

 

 

 

Decide whether the sentence needs a singular or plural verb.

  1. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence.
  2.   * indicates an incorrect answer. 

 

# YOUR RESPONSE OPTIONS
1. is     
2.  
3.
4.
5.
6.  
7.
8.
9.
10.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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