MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH INSTRUCTION: Unit 7, Lesson 21
Focus of the lesson: editing—subject-verb agreement and verb tense consistency; pronoun-antecedent agreement
1.SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
A verb must agree with its subject in number and in person. In many cases, the verb’s form depend on whether the subject is singular or plural: The old man is angry and stamps into the house, but The old men are angry and stamp into the house. Lack of subject-verb agreement is often just a matter of leaving the -s ending off the verb out of carelessness, or of using a form of English that does not have this ending. Sometimes, however, this error results from particular sentence constructions.
Click on the link below to view sentences and diagrams that demonstrate six rules governing subject-verb agreement.
Sentence Correction - subject-verb agreement
THE RULES:
1. A subject and verb may be separated by an accompanying phrase without changing the agreement.
2.Collective nouns, such as family, majority, audience, and committee are singular when they act in a collective fashion or represent one group.
3.Phrasesseparated by and are plural; phrases separated by or or nor are singular.
4.Neitherand either always take singular verbs when acting as the subject of a sentence.
5.Neither/nor and either/or are a special case. If two subjects are joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the subject that is closer to it.
6.Be careful to choose the right subject in sentences in which the verb precedes the subject.
ACTIVITY 7-2-1
Complete the exercise (Sentences 1-23) on subject-verb agreement found at the following link:
Making Subjects and Verbs Agree: Exercises
2.VERB TENSE CONSISTENCY
Verb tenses tell readers when actions take place: saying "Willie went to school" indicates a past action whereas saying "he will go" indicates a future action. When you shift from one tense to another with no clear reason, you can confuse readers.
Click on the link below for an explanation and examples of tense shifts.
verb tense explanation
ACTIVITY 7-2-2
Complete the exercise on avoiding tense shifts at the following link:
An Exercise in Verb Tense Consistency
3.PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT
The antecedent of a pronoun is the word the pronoun refers to. There are several style problems which writers and speakers sometimes have when they do not match the pronoun and the noun it replaces correctly.
Click on the link below to read an explanation of rules governing pronoun-antecedent agreement, as well as sample sentences:
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
ACTIVITY 7-2-3
Click on the following link and complete the exercise on pronoun-antecedent agreement.
Online Writing Lab - Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement, Exercise 1
If you achieve a percentage correct of less than 70%, please complete Exercise 2 as well.
ACTIVITY 7-2-4
Check your draft for problems with verbs and pronouns and correct all errors.