Part 3 Of Understanding Verbs
In the first part we discussed verbs, what they are and the different kinds of verbs you might come across. In part 2 we covered the different tenses and forms of verbs., In this part we are going to cover the use of verbs within the sentence. Subject-verb agreement is essential for clear writing. If the verb and subject are not in agreement, the sentence can sound awkward and the meaning could be confused. We’ll also touch on split infinitives and implied subjects.
Subject-Verb Agreement
What does this actually mean? Essentially, the form of the verb used must match the subject of the sentence. Remember, the subject is what is doing the action of the verb. So a singular subject requires a singular verb, and a plural subject requires a plural verb.
“The dog is in the kennel.”
So above, the subject ‘the dog’ is singular, so we use the singular form of the verb ‘is’. If we said: “The dogs are in the kennels.” There is more than one dog so we need to use the plural form ‘are’. “The dogs is in the kennels.” would be incorrect, and it sounds awkward when you read it aloud.
That brings me to a good way to tell whether your subject and verb are in agreement. Reading aloud is a great way to check your writing makes sense and is correct. It’s easier to tell if you have the correct words and word order, by hearing it out loud. You can read it out loud, record yourself reading it out loud or even use software to read it aloud for you.
Exceptions and Rules
As with all good English rules, there are exceptions. Using the first person pronoun ‘I’ means you need to use the plural form of the verb. If the verb is following up a main verb, in some cases you use the basic form of the verb. “He helped the old lady cross the road.” ‘Helped’ is the main verb so the secondary verb ‘cross’ is used in its main form.
There are a few additional rules for certain circumstances. Detailed explanations and examples can be found here. The Blue Book of Grammar is a great resource for English grammar, with good explanations and there are quizzes too, so you can test your knowledge. A lot of people might say that this is intuitive, and it is to a native English speaker, however, mistakes are common and if you know the rules, then you’ll be able to apply them properly in all situations. Especially if you plan to be a proofreader or editor.
Rules for Subject-Verb Agreement
In a sentence with the word ‘of’ the subject will typically be before the phrase ‘of…’ and thus it is this part that must agree with the verb. Take the following pair of sentences for example:
“A bunch of colourful flowers bring cheer to any room in the house.”
“A bunch of colourful flowers brings cheer to any rom in the house.”
Can you work out which one is correct? Try reading them out loud, and try to identify what part of the sentence is the subject, and what the relevant verb is.
Did you think the second sentence is correct? You’d be right! The subject is the ‘bunch’. the flowers are a secondary noun, and the verb is ‘brings’.
If you have two singular subjects connected by ‘either/or’ or ‘neither/nor’ requires a singular verb. If you have a singular and a plural subject in a sentence like this, the verb agrees with the noun or pronoun nearest to it. Caution is advised, as some sentences can end up awkward, even if they are grammatically correct. In this case, rewording the sentence might be the way to go.
If you have two or more singular subjects connected by the word ‘and’, you will usually use a plural verb. Be careful, some nouns connected by ‘and’ become compound nouns and should be treated singularly, such as ‘breaking and entering’. It is often considered to be incorrect to place a personal pronoun first in a list of pronouns/nouns but grammatically, it is not. It is more a convention of politeness.
Phrases separating the subject and verb such as ‘besides, along with, as well as, not’ are not part of the subject and should be ignored, so the verb matches the subject. The same applies to anything in parentheses (brackets).
Prepositions and Amounts
Sentences that begin with ‘there’ or ‘here’, the true subject is after the verb so the verb should match the subject. “There are the keys,” or “There is the key.” Singular verbs should also be used for distances, time periods or sums of money, when considered a single unit. “Ten years is too long.” But if you are talking about money like hundreds of dollar bills, then it becomes plural.
Finally for portions of something, phrases like ‘some of, a lot of, the majority of’, the opposite of the first rule applies. The verb should agree with the noun after the word ‘of’. “Most of the cake is gone.” vs “Most of the cakes are gone.” With collective nouns, it can be subject to the writer’s intent but the phrasing of the noun might need to be changed to make it easier or clearer.
Finally, if the phrases is expressing a wish or something that is contrary to fact, ‘was’ is replaced with ‘were’. “If your father were here, he would stop you.” Normally, ‘were’ is a plural verb but in this case it’s expressing a wish that is not factually true. This is called the subjunctive mood, a hypothetical or wishful thought, or a request. “I wish you were here.” In this case you pair a singular subject with a plural verb. Make sense? Hopefully I’ve made it a bit clearer. English rules are full of odd exceptions.
Split Infinitives
Infinitive verbs are verbs that are used with the word ‘to’ before them and are not the main verb of the sentence. “He is going to pay.” ‘Going’ is the main verb and ‘to pay’ is the infinitive. A split infinitive is where a word is inserted between ‘to’ and the verb, often an adverb. “He is going to grudgingly pay.”
It is a held belief that you should never use a split infinitive, however, technically speaking it is not wrong. However, they can be awkward and clumsy, so they are usually not necessary and most experienced writers won’t use them unless it is necessary. You might find that there are other ways to word the sentence that read less awkwardly.
Implied Subjects
There are certain situations where the subject is not included in the sentence and is considered implied. This is usually when the sentence is a request or a command of some kind. “Stop right there!” or “Please bring me fresh towels.” Both of these have the implied subject of ‘you’ so it is not considered necessary to state the pronoun. It is assumed that the subject is ‘you’ and the context is enough.
This is not as common in English, but is much more common in other languages, such as Japanese. In Japanese, for example, pronouns are dropped and implied all the time. While pronouns for ‘you’ and ‘i/me’ do exist in the language, it is generally assumed from the context that the listener knows who the subject is so it is not stated unless needed for clarity. Indeed, it is often considered quite rude to say ‘you’ in Japanese. It also means that it is not uncommon for a single verb to be a complete sentence. If you said “Eating.” in English, it would sound quite weird, without saying “I’m eating.”
Conclusion
That concludes our foray into understanding verbs and tenses. I hope this has been helpful and interesting. If you missed part 1 and 2 you can find them here and here.
I’d love to hear any thoughts or questions. In the mean time, happy writing! Don’t forget to subscribe for updates on new blog posts three times a weekend come find me son social media for more updates. Next week we’re going to look at some myths about writing and some ‘rules’ that you should break.
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