Sentence
agreements are the compositions of English sentences where the parts in the
sentence match one to another.
The
subject matches the verb and the verb matches the complement, for examples.
This
is important since the agreement in the sentence determines the ‘normality’ of
the sentence. If the parts do not agree one to another, the sentence will
appear awkward, grammatically incorrect, ambiguous, or meaningless.
The
main guidelines for this are as follows:
1.
Singular Subjects and Verbs
2.
Plural Subjects and Verbs
3.
Verbs and Time Signal Complement
4.
Verbs and Subjects with Auxiliaries
1.
Singular Subjects and Verbs
The use of subject is definitely determining the verbs should be used
along with it. The rules for this are:
a.
A singular subject takes a singular
verb.
Since the
subject is singular, the verb must be in singular too. In short, the verb must
suit the subject so that the meaning is in uniform.
Examples:
a. He who hesitates is probably right.
b. Isaac Asimov was the only author to have a book in every Dewey Decimal
System category.
c. One of the resolutions of the United Nation is the banning of flying on the jurisdiction air area of Iraq for civil
flights.
d. Each scholar is responsible to his further education in the higher level.
e. Donald Trumps had taken a very big leap when he built the Taj Mahal casino in Las Vegas.
b.
Plural subjects that function as a
single unit take a singular verb.
There are,
sometimes, two or more nouns compounded into one because they are bound in one
terminology, such as meals.
Examples:
a. Spaghetti
and meatballs
is my favorite dish.
b. Ham
and eggs was the breakfast of champions in the 1950s.
c. White
bread and wheat bread is our
dinner tonight.
c.
Titles are always singular.
A title of a
novel, movie, drama or other artworks will take only singular verbs. This is
true since the title is regarded as on single thing or unit. It doesn't matter
how long the title is, what it names, or whether or not it sounds plural. As a
result, a title always takes a singular verb. Please note that he title uses capital
letter for the beginning of main words.
Examples:
a. The
Last Supper was
sold for more than one million dollars.
b. Moby
Dick
was a
whale of a tale.
c. The
Great Pretenders has been sold
for more than three thousand copies in its first week.
d. The
Valachi Papers is
a good read.
e. Many critics said that The Matrix was spectacular for its
visual effects.
d.
Singular subjects connected by either/or,
neither/nor, and not only/but also are dependent on the last subject
used.
In this case,
the last subject used in the sentence determines the kind of verb (singular or
plural) should be used. If the last subject is in singular, the verbs should
agree in singular too. The plural verb will agree with the use of plural noun.
Examples:
a. Either the witness or the defendant was lying.
b.
Either the headmaster or the students are very
exhausted.
c.
Either the students or the headmaster is very
exhausted.
d.
Not only tiger but also elephant has to
be protected.
e.
Not only women but also children have been
victimized by men.
f.
Neither Doddy Al-Fayed nor Princess Diana
was proved drunk in the car when the
accident happened.
g.
Neither his volleys nor his services were
satisfaction to the audience.
2.
Plural Subjects and Verbs.
a.
A plural subject takes a plural verb.
Of course,
plural subjects require plural verbs too. It is important to notice that some
plural nouns have irregular forms instead of adding –es
at the end of the noun.
Examples:
a. Mosquitoes are more interested in
blue than other colors.
b. It was believed that women
were more powerful than men in the ancient times.
c. Oxen are valuable for trading in Texas
and are also as the symbol of
wealth.
b.
Collective noun takes plural verbs.
Collective nouns
are the nouns which brings the meaning that the noun itself should be consisted
of plural component. The noun team is
collective nouns since it is impossible to make a team consist of a single
person. It must have more than one to build a team. Also the noun family, a family is not possible
without, at least, a wife and a husband to form the family in the bound of
marriage. It will be perfect if the children are also present. The verbs used
are plural verbs.
Examples:
a. The public are soft.
b. The police are nice.
c. The cattle are noisy
c.
Disciplines are regarded as singular and take singular verbs.
Some disciplines are having ending sound as if they were plural
but they are actually not. These disciplines take singular verbs.
Examples:
a.
Mathematics is one of the basics disciplines in real
social life.
b.
In Indonesia, civics
is no longer regarded as the backbone of the education.
c.
Physics was and is very difficult for students in
most developed country.
d.
Diseases are regarded as singular though they appear as if they
are plural.
Some diseases are written and pronounced in plural form and sound. They
are actually singular and take singular verbs.
Examples:
a.
Mumps is not contiguous.
b.
Measles has been very easy to spread.
e.
Ignore words or phrases that come
between the subject and the verb.
A phrase or
clause that comes between a subject and its verb does not affect subject-verb
agreement. You should be focused on the main subject of the sentence. The best
way to overcome this problem is by trying to eliminate the phrase and find the
real subject to determine the verb should be used.
Examples:
a.
The main purpose of administering an exam in school is
to measure the achievement of the students after a period of time.
b.
One of the most important issues discussed in
the meeting was the plan of overseas expanding the company.
c.
A part of the sun cells attached on the body of
Meer space station is totally significant to
the whole system.
3.
Verbs and Time Signal Complement
As it is well understood, the time signals used in the sentence will
affect the kind of verb used as the predicate.
Simple present tense agrees the present form verb and Simple past tense
time signals agree the he past form of verb.
Examples:
a.
In the sixteenth century, more people believed to the
power of technology and knowledge after the finding of steam machine.
b.
By the next Christmas, the expansion project of the Panama Canal will have been completed.
c.
The Romans were
regarded as the strongest and most civilized race before the complete
revelation of Egypt
culture.
d.
Until the late eighteenth century, nobody realized the potential
benefit in the cell phone business.
4.
Verbs and Subjects with Auxiliaries
The verbs used in the sentence must consider the auxiliary (ies) used in
the sentence. Auxiliary can define the form of the sentence (affirmative
positive, affirmative negative, negative or interrogative) or the tense of the
sentence (present, past, continuous, perfect, future). The agreement between
them is very significant to form the whole sentence; otherwise, the sentence
will appear weird and awkward. These are the rules related to this topic:
a.
The Present Simple and Past Simple use
DO, DOES, DID.
|
PRESENT
SIMPLE
|
PAST
SIMPLE
|
|
I don’t
write a letter now.
You don’t
write a letter. (sl.)
You don’t
write a letter. (pl.)
He doesn’t
write a letter now.
She doesn’t
write a letter now.
It doesn’t
go away now.
We don’t
write a letter now.
They don’t
write a letter now.
|
I didn’t
write a letter last night.
You didn’t
write a letter last night.
You didn’t
write a letter last night.
He didn’t
write a letter last night.
She didn’t
write a letter last night.
It didn’t
go away last night.
We didn’t
write a letter last night.
They didn’t
write a letter.
|
b.
The Present Simple uses RESENT VERBS and
Past Simple uses PAST VERBS.
|
PRESENT
SIMPLE
|
PAST
SIMPLE
|
|
I write
a letter now.
You write
a letter now. (sl.)
You write
a letter now. (pl.)
He writes
a letter now.
She writes
a letter now.
It goes away
now.
We write
a letter now.
They write
a letter now.
|
I wrote
a letter last night.
You wrote
a letter last night.
You wrote
a letter last night.
He wrote
a letter last night.
She wrote
a letter last night.
It went away
last night.
We wrote
a letter last night.
They wrote
a letter last night.
|
c.
The Perfect Tenses use HAVE, HAS, HAD and PAST PERFECT VERBS.
|
PRESENT
PERFECT
|
PAST
PERFECT
|
|
I have
written a letter.
You have
written a letter.(sl.)
You have
written a letter. (pl)
He has
written a letter.
She has
written a letter.
It has
gone away.
We have
written a letter.
They have
written a letter.
|
I had
written a letter.
You had
written a letter.(sl.)
You had
written a letter. (pl)
He had
written a letter.
She had
written a letter.
It had
gone away.
We had
written a letter.
They had
written a letter.
|
d.
The Continuous Tenses use AM, IS, ARE.
|
PRESENT
CONTINUOUS
|
PAST
CONTINUOUS
|
|
I am
writing a letter now.
You are
writing a letter. (sl.)
You are
writing a letter now. (pl)
He is
writing a letter now.
She is
writing a letter now.
It is
going away now.
We are
writing a letter now.
They are
writing a letter now.
|
I was
writing a letter yesterday.
You were
writing a letter. (sl.)
You were
writing a letter. (pl)
He was
writing a letter yesterday.
She was
writing a letter yesterday.
It was
going away yesterday.
We were
writing a letter.
They are
writing a letter.
|
*) In some occasions, experts label these tenses as PROGRESSIVE tenses
without changing the rules and functions.
e.
The Passive Voices use AM, IS, ARE, WAS, WERE, BEEN, BEING, BE and PAST PARTICIPLE
VERBS
|
PRESENT
TENSES*)
|
PAST
TENSES*)
|
|
I am
punished now.
She is
punished now
He is
being punished now.
They are
punished now.
They will
be punished.
They can
be punished.
I have
been punished.
|
I was
punished yesterday.
She was
punished yesterday.
He was
being punished.
They were
punished yesterday.
They would
be punished.
They could
be punished.
I had
been punished.
|
f.
The Future Tenses use WILL, SHALL,
WOULD, BE GOING TO and BASE VERBS.
|
SIMPLE
FUTURE
|
PAST
FUTURE
|
|
I shall
go abroad tonight.*)
We shall
go abroad tonight.*)
You will
go abroad tonight. (sl)
You will
go abroad tonight. (pl.)
He will
go abroad tonight.
She will
go abroad tonight.
It will
go abroad tonight.
They will
go abroad tonight.
|
I should
go abroad yesterday.*)
We should
go abroad yesterday.*)
You would
go abroad yesterday.
You would
go abroad yesterday.
He would
go abroad yesterday.
She would
go abroad yesterday.
It would
go abroad yesterday.
They would
go abroad yesterday.
|
*) In formal and written situations, subject ‘I’ and ‘We’ use modal SHALL and SHOULD instead of WILL or
WOULD. Modals ‘WILL’ and ‘WOULD’ could
be used for all subjects in informal situations.
g.
The Modals use BASE VERBS*).
|
PRESENT
MODALS
|
PAST
MODALS
|
|
I can do
it.
We shall
use it.
You will
understand.(sl)
You may
use it (pl.)
He must
pay the bills.
She is
supposed to sleep.
She has
to pay them.
It has
to be done.
They have
to stay.
They ought
to come on time.
He used
to have much money.
|
I could
do it.
We should
use it.
You would
understand.(sl)
You might
use it (pl.)
He had
to pay the bills.
She was
supposed to sleep.
|
*) BASE VERBS are the very basic form of the verbs. They are not affected
by either subject or tense of the sentence. From the above examples, we can
identify that no matter the subjects and the tenses were, the verbs stayed the
same.
h.
The MODAL PERFECTS use PAST
PARTICIPLE
|
PERFECT MODALS
|
|
I could have done it.
We should have used it.
You might have used it.
He must have paid the
bills.
They ought to have sent the
bills.
|
5.
Some special words to consider.
There are some words that should use certain verbs not because of the
subject but because of their nature.
The words are:
|
Each
Every
Most (of)
Some
All
Both
|
+ Singular Subject and Verb
+ Singular Subject and Verb
+ Plural Subject and Verb
+ Plural Subject and Verb
+ Plural Subject and Verb
+ Plural Subject and Verb
|
Examples:
a.
Each day an HIV patient wakes up in the
morning, he will face another day in nightmare and uncomfortably.
b.
Every child in American family has
a right to have a special bedroom in the house.
c.
Most sharks will not attack any human until they
feel threatened.
d.
Some people usually consider HIV patients as
sinners.
e.
All fish are best living in their original habitat.
f.
Both a president and a prime
minister are the highest executive leaders in a country.
