Agreement: The Core Sentence
Agreement: The Core Sentence
Agreement: The Core Sentence
is limited mostly to
and
AGREEMENT OF
DETERMINER AND NOUN
the determiner must agree in number with the noun
Examples:
• this examination other tales
• another story
• either/neither her competitor
• those books
is processed at least twice.
We had to deliver
personally.
TAKES ONLY A
SINGULAR NOUN
question on the witness’
statement will weaken our case.
The cardinal numbers, even one, are
modified by an of phrase with plural
noun.
One of the solutions to the problem of
tardiness is to lock the gates and
doors to prevent latecomers from
entering.
Eleven of the candidates made it to
the presidential list.
Negatives and near negatives
attached to noun phrases generally
require such noun phrases to be
singular, unless these are modified
by quantifiers indicating plural.
EXAMPLES:
Hardly any dancer can take that role.
Very few dancers can take that role.
No other company wants to invest in
derivatives.
Other companies do not want to invest in
derivatives.
Some combinations of negatives and noun
phrase, though are idiomatically plural:
No dogs are allowed.
The Philippines and Taiwan have no diplomatic
ties/relations.
(In this context, ties and relations do not have
singular forms.)
Predeterminers vary in the
grammatical number of the noun or
noun phrase they require.
Many a + N-sg
A little + NP-sg
Many of + NP-pl
None of and some of take plural noun;
these may also take noncount noun.
Some of the proto-humans are now
delivered to have moved out of Africa
at an earlier date.
None of the oil was lost in storage.
Without the word of, some
predeterminers functions as quantifiers
and appear just before the noun stem,
replacing the article, yet still entailing
the same grammatical number for the
noun:
many candidates a few buffons
a little bribe (not a few bribe) some funds
AGREEMENT OF ADJECTIVE
AND NOUN
Some prenominal adjectives, i.e., adjectives placed in front of
nouns, require their modified nouns to have a particular
grammatical number:
another + N-sg: I have . (< one other)
other + N-pl: He has .
Some grammar books state that the must take only a
singular noun. However, this rule is more often breached than
observed.
The Miss Universe contest brings together the
is my .
is my .
are .
Some of these adjectives, with sample nouns, are:
Plural Singular
arrayed items respective cars
combined data congruent figures only child
correlative conjunctions
singular achievement
joint exercises
multiple meanings topmost level
opposite ideas unique experiment
paired responses
parallel lines
perpendicular lines
The takes a singular noun
if preceded by an article or an
indefinite plural noun:
oEntire nations capitulated to the hordes of Genghis
Khan.
oIn the ad, the demure-looking lady swallowed
muffin.
world mourned the untimely demise of
Princess Diana.
The verb of a sentence must agree in number with
the subject. The difference between the singular
and plural forms of the verb appears only in the
present tense( except for be); even then, problems
with agreement of subject and verb arise because
many types of academic writing use the present
tense more than any other tense.
AUXILIARY VERBS
When the auxiliary verb do is used, as in the negative or
interrogative sentence, it is the one which agrees with the
simple subject, and not the main verb.
Example:
Policy sometimes don’t reflect public opinion.
sometimes reflect public opinion.
PERSONAL PRONOUNS AS
SUBJECT
The linking verb be must also agree in person
with the subject. A special form for the 1st
person appears in the present tense form of
be.
0
0 The United Nations was forced to vote on the issue.
The UP Madrigal Singers is featured in the concert.
“The Rites of Spring” is by Stravinsky.
names of countries regions may be used as plural
to refer to their representatives or delegates.
The Philippines are now in the Asian Games semifinals. [NB:
Although there is no singular form *Philipppine, the term
Philippines is really the short form for Philippine Islands and
echoes the plural Spanish adjective in the phrase las islas
filipinas]
Overall, the United States are the winners at the Olympiad.
Reportage on the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Cricket
Champions Trophy had the following:
China eclipse the error-prone US team to grab the gold in women’s
gymnastics, while the host nation completes its monopoly in
synchronized diving.
South Africa have withdrawn from next month’s Champions Trophy
in Pakistan due to security fears.
Players from England and New Zealand have also expressed
reservations about visiting Pakistan, although South Africa are the first
of the eight participating nations to officially withdraw.
The other nations contesting the trophy are India, who
are backing Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
China, where millions play table tennis across the
country, have never lost the women’s singles crown
since the sport was introduced at the 1988 Olympics.
Afghanistan win first ever Olympics medal.
For academic and professional papers, this Manual advises
the traditional treatment of names of countries as singular,
since such is still more prevalent in international media. Even
so, recognize the plural, in its special sense of referring to
“delegation” as acceptable.
Names of mountain ranges and groups of islands which are
in the plural form are plural in number.
Singular Nouns ending in -s
Some nouns ending in “-s” are actually singular. Note that
removing the “-s” will not produce a singular noun.
Subjects with of phrase
Somewhat confusing are subjects with an of phrase, since the word
of may be the last word of a predeterminer (e.g., a number of the
survivors) or the first word of a prepositional phrase (e.g., the number of
the survivors). If the former, the verb agrees with the noun after of, if the
latter, the verb agrees with the noun before of:
A number of the survivors suffer from amnesia.
The number of the survivors is more than expected.
A noun phrase with one of presents a problem when
embedded and followed by a relative pronoun: