144 STRUCTURE AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION PROBLEMS WITH SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT. Subject/verb agreement is simple: if the subject of a sentence is singular, then the verb must be singular; if the subject of the sentence is plural, then the verb must be plural. An ‘son averb usually indicates that a verb is singular, while an son a noun usually indicates that the noun is plural. (Do not forget irregular plurals of nouns, such as women, children, and people.) ‘The boy walks to school. ‘The boys walk to school. In the first example the singular subject boy requires a singular verb, walks. In the second example the plural subject doys requires a plural verb, walh. ‘Although this might seem quite simple, there are a few situations on the TOEFL test when subject/verb agreement can be alittle tricky. You should be careful of subject/verb agreement in the following situations: (1) after prepositional phrases, (2) after expres- sions of quantity, (8) after inverted verbs, and (4) after certain words, such as anybody, everything, no one, something, each, and every. Skit 20: MAKE VERBS AGREE AFTER PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES Sometimes prepositional phrases can come between the subject and the verb. If the ob- ject of the preposition is singular and the subject is plural, or if the object of the preposi- tion is plural and the subject is singular, there can be confusion in making the subject and verb agree. ‘The key (to the doors) are* in the drawer, SINGULAR, PeuRAL The keys (to the door) is* in the drawer. PLURAL SINGULAR (indicates an error) In the first example you might think that doors is the subject because it comes directly in front of the verb are. However, doorsis not the subject because itis the object of the prepo- sition fo. The subject of the sentence is key, so the verb should be és. In the second exam- ple you might chink that dooris the subject because it comes directly in front of the verb is. You should recognize in this example that dooris not the subject because it is the object of the preposition fo, Because the subject of the sentence is keys, the verb should be are. ‘The following chart outlines the key information that you should understand about subject/verb agreement with prepositional phrases: SUBJECTIVERB AGREEMENT WITH PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES § (prepositional phrase) v ‘When a prepositional phrase comes between the subject and the verb, be sure that the verb agrees with the subject. ‘ 7 | }WRITTEN EXPRESSION 145 EXERCISE 20: Each of the following sentences has one or more prepositional phrases be- tween the subject and verb. Circle the prepositional phrases. Underline the subjects once and the verbs twice. Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (I). —£_ 1. Theclimbers need to be rescued. 2. The interrogation, conducted (by three police officers) have lasted for several hours. —— 3. The tenants in the apartment next to mine is giving a party this evening. —— 4. The president, surrounded by Secret Service agents, is trying to make his way to the podium, —— _ 5. The buildings destroyed during the fire are being rebuilt at the taxpayers’ expense. —— 6. Because of the seriousness of the company's financial problems, the board of directors have called an emergency meeting. —— 7. Manufacture of the items that you requested have been discontinued because of lack ‘of profit on those items. —— 8. Further development of any new ideas for future produets has to be approved in advance, —— 9 The scheduled departure time of the trams, posted on panels throughout che terminal buildings, are going to be updated. ——— 10. Any houses builtin chat development before 1970 have to be upgraded to meet current standards, Sku 21: MAKE VERBS AGREE AFTER EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY A particular agreement problem occurs when the subject is an expression of quantity, such as all, most, or some, followed by the preposition of. In this situation, the subject (all, ‘must, or somé) can be singular or plural, depending on what follows the preposition of All (of the bool) was interesting, SINGULAR, Al (of the books) were interesting, All (of the information) was interesting, In the first example the subject all refers to the singular noun book, so the correct verb is, therefore the singular verb was. In the second example the subject all refers to the plural noun books, so the correct verb is the plural verb were. In the third example the subject ald refers to the uncountable noun information, so the correct verb is therefore the singular verb was.146 STRUCTUREAND WRITTEN EXPRESSION ‘The following chart outlines the key information that you should understand about subject/verb agreement after expressions of quantity: ‘SUBJECT/ VERB AGREEMENT AFTER EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY. aus\ cet (eee VE ings ‘OFTHE (OBJECT), v ‘some half ‘When an expression of quantity Is the subject, the verb agrees with the object. - EXERCISE 21: Each of the following sentences has a quantity expression as the subject. Underline the subjects once and the verbs twice. Circle the objects that the verbs agree with, Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (I) —_ 2 Some ofthe from the zoo was released into the animal preserve, Some ps P 3. All of the students in the class taught by Professor Roberts is required to turn in, their term papers next Monday. 4, Half of the food that we are serving to the guests are still in the refrigerator. _—— _ 5. We believe that some of the time of the employees is going to be devoted to quality control. —— 6. Allof the witnesses in the jury trial, which lasted more than two weeks, have indicated that they believed that the defendant was guilty. 7. She did not know where most of the people in the room was from. ——8._Imspite of what was decided at the meeting, half ofthe procedures was not changed. 9, Iwas sure thataall of the questions on the test were correct. 10, Most of the tronble that the employees discussed at the series of meetings was resolved within a few weeks. Ski. 22: MAKE INVERTED VERBS AGREE ‘We have seen that sometimes in English the subject comes after the verb. This can occur after question words (Skill 15), after place expressions (Skill 16), after negative expres- sions (Skill 17), after omitted conditionals (Skill 18), and after some comparisons (Skill 19). When the subject and verb are inverted, it can be difficult to locate them, and it can. therefore be a problem to make them agree. (Behind the house) was" the bicycles { wanted. (Behind the houses) were* the bieycle I wanted. aWRITTEN EXPRESSION 147 In the first example its easy to think that houseis the subject, because it comes directly in front of the verb was. House is not the subject, however, because it is the object of the preposition behind. The subject of the sentence is bicycles, and the subject bicycles comes af- ter the verb because of the place expression behind the house. Because the subject bicycles is plural, the verb should be changed to the plural were. In the second example the subject bicycle comes after the verb were because of the place expression behind the houses. Because the subject bicyeleis singular, the verb should be changed to the singular was. The following chart outlines the key information that you should understand about subject/verb agreement after inverted verbs: SUBJECTIVERB AGREEMENT AFTER INVERTED VERBS, question negative. place condition (no. comparison ‘After question words, negative expressions, place expressions, conditions without if, and ‘comparisons, the verb agrees with the subject, which may be after the verb. EXERCISE 22: Each of the following sentences contains an inverted subject and verb. Gircle the word or group of words that causes the subject and verb to invert. Find the sub- ject and verb that follow these words. Underline the subject once and the verb twice. ‘Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (I). 1 this morning were the letters delivered by the campus mail service. — 2. Ground the comer and to the righi)is the rooms that have been assigned to that program. —— & Whatin the world is the children trying to do? —— 4 John would be studying the chapters were he able to get hold of the book. —— 5. This chapter has many more exercises than do the next one. —— 6. The computer programmer was unaware that there was so many mistakes in the program he had written. Seldom in the history of television has two new comedies been so successful in one season —— 8 How many huge mistakes have the teacher actually found in the research paper? —— 9% The new phone system is able to hold far more messages than was the phone system that had previously been used. —— 10. Inthe parking lot south of the stadium was the cars that were about t0 be towed.48 STRUCTUREAND WRITTEN EXPRESSION Ski. 23: MAKE VERBS AGREE AFTER CERTAIN WORDS Certain words in English are always grammatically singular, even though they might have plural meanings. Everybody are going* to the theater. Even though we understand from this example that a lot of people are going to the the- ater, everybody is singular and requires a singular verb. The plural verb are going should be changed to the singular verb és going. ‘The following chart lists the grammatically singular words that have plural meanings: Soe e "SUBJECT/ VERB AGREEMENT AFTER CERTAIN WORDS These words or expressions are grammatically singular, so they take singular verbs: anybody nobody somebody each (* noun) “anyone ‘no one someone every (# noun) anything nothing something EXERCISE 23: Each of the following sentences contains one of the words that are gram- matically singular but have plural meanings. Underline these words once and underline the verbs twice. Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (1). | 1. Itisimpossible to believe that somebody actually admire that man. —£. 2 Each of the doctors in the buil ing needs to have a separate reception area. — 3. The president felt that no one were better suited for the position of chief staff advisor. ——— 4. Everybody participating in the fund-raiser are to turn in the tickets by 8:00, —— 5. Because of the low number of orders, nothing has to be done now. 6. Bvery time someone take unnecessary breaks, precious moments of production time are lost. 7. Anybody who goes to the top of the Empire State Building is impressed with the view. ——— 8 Every man, woman, and child in this line are required to sign the forms in order to complete the registration process. 4. _Itis nice to believe chat anything is possible if a person tries hard enough —— 10. The company reiterated to reporters that nobody have been dismissed because of the incident.WRITTEN EXPRESSION 149 EXERCISE (Skills 20-23): Underline the subjects once and the verbs twice in each of the following sentences. Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (1). —— 1}. The contracts signed by the company has been voided because some stipulations were not met, —— 2 Ten miles beyond the river was the farmlands that they had purchased with their life savings —— 5. Each package that is not properly wrapped have to be returned to the sender. —— _# She would not have to enter the house through the bedroom window were the keys where they were supposed to be, —— 5. The proposal brought so much new work to the partnership that there was not enough hours co complete all of it. —— 6 The box of cartridges for the printer have been misplaced. —— 7 Itis disconcerting to believe that every possible candidate has been rejected for one Feason or another. 8. Only once have there been more excitement in this city about a sporting event. —— 9 Bobby has a bigger bicyele than does the other children in the neighborhood. —— 10. Ifnobody have bought that car from the dealer, then you should return and make another offer. TOEFL EXERCISE (Skills 20-23): Choose the letter of the word or group of words that best completes the sentence. 4, Among bees 2 highly elaborate form 2 heated by solar energy have special of communication, collectors on the roofs to trap sunlight. (A) occur (A) Ahomeis (B) occurs (B) Homes are (©) itoccurs (Q) Ahome (D) they occur (D) Homes Choose the letter of the underlined word or group of words that is not correct, —— 3. Bach number in a binary system are formed from only two symbols, a Bre —— 4. Scientists at the medical center is uying to determine if there is a relationship Ze nying to determine é between saccharine and cancer, snecharine and cancer On the rim of the Kilauea volcano in the Hawaiian Islands are a hotel called the Sheri Ee wation Golaseie ae Voleano Hotel.150 STRUCTURE AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION. ___.6. The great digital advances of the electronic age, such as integrated clreuitry and @ E Se microcomputer, has been planted in tiny chips. c D 7, There are many frequently mentioned reasons why one out of four arrests involve a z B c D juvenile. ___ 8. Kepler's Laws, principles outlining planetary movement, was formulated based on BC ‘observations made without a telescope. made 9. Only with a tworthirds vote by both houses are the U.S. Congress able to override « —s B ano ‘presidential veto. D 10, Ofall the evidence that has piled up since Webster's paper was published, there is no ae B new ideas to contradict his original theory. cr TOEFL REVIEW EXERCISE (Skills 1-23): Choose the letter of the word or group of words that best completes the sentence. 1 several unsuccessful attempts, of economic cycles been helpful in Robert Peary reached the North Pole on predicting turning points in cycles, they April 6, 1809, ‘would have been used more consistently. (a) After (A) Psychological theories (B) He made (B) Psychological theories have (©) When (©) Had psychological theories (D) His (D) Psychologists have theories 2, The musical instrument is six feet 5, Hospital committees spent weeks long. agonizing over which artificial kidney candidate would receive the treatments (A) is called the bass now find that the decision is out of their (B) itis called the bass (©) called the bass hands, (D) calls the bass (A) once (B) that once 3. One problem with all languages —— they (©) have are fll of irregularities. (B) once had (a) when ) 50 (©) isthat (D) incase coWRITTEN EXPRESSION 151 Choose the letter of the underlined word or group of words that is not correct. ——— 6 More than half of the children in the 1,356-member district qualifies for “Ba ach reduced-price or free lunches. Five miles beyond the hills were a fire with its flames reaching up to the sky. a reac —— §. Kettledrums, what were first played on horseback, were incorporated into the “x ap ae a 7 orchestra in the eighteenth century. 9. Whenis flag hung upside down, itis an internationally recognized symbol of distress. xB See Da 10. The Museum of the Confederation in Richmond hosts an exhibition which a documenting the origins and history of the banner that most Americans think of as, Pye re the Confederate flag, PROBLEMS WITH PARALLEL STRUCTURE In good English an attempt should be made to make the language as even and balanced as possible. This balance is called “parallel structure.” You can achieve parallel structure by making the forms of words as similar as possible, The following is an example of a sen- tence that is not parallel: ike to sing and dancing." The problem in this sentence is not the expression to sing, and the problem is not the word dancing. The expression to singis correct by itself, and the word dancingis correct by itself. Both of the following sentences are correct: like to sing, Tlike dan The problem in the incorrect example is that fo sing and dancing are joined together in one sentence with and. They are different forms where it is possible to have similar forms; therefore the example is not parallel. It can be corrected in two different ways: we can make the first expression like the second, or we can make the second expression like the first. like to sing and to dance. I like Singing and dancing.