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Week 7 - Structure Skill 20-21

The document discusses subject-verb agreement when prepositional phrases are used. It provides examples of when the subject and verb may not agree if the object of the preposition is singular but the subject is plural, or vice versa. Rules for subject-verb agreement with expressions of quantity like 'all' or 'most' are also explained.

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Sepniza Nasywa
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676 views6 pages

Week 7 - Structure Skill 20-21

The document discusses subject-verb agreement when prepositional phrases are used. It provides examples of when the subject and verb may not agree if the object of the preposition is singular but the subject is plural, or vice versa. Rules for subject-verb agreement with expressions of quantity like 'all' or 'most' are also explained.

Uploaded by

Sepniza Nasywa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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WEEK 7

Skill 20. Make Verbs Agree after Prepositional Phrases

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun,
pronoun, or noun phrase.

Prepositional phrases modify or describe nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs.

Prepositional phrases can tell us when [time] or where [location] something is or something
happened. They can also tell us the direction something is or is moving/going. They can tell us
something about the word or words they describe.

Example: The girl with the long hair, the book on the table, I run in the morning.

Preposition in English

aboard along behind from until off past up

about amid below by in on since without

above among beneath down inside onto through upon

across around beside during into out to with

after at between except near outside toward within

against before beyond for of over under

Sometimes prepositional phrases can come between the subject and the verb. If the object of
the preposition is singular and the subject is plural, or if the object of the preposition is plural
and the subject is singular, there can be confusion in making the subject and verb agree.
In the first example you might think that “doors” is the subject because it comes directly in
front of the verb “are”. However, “doors” is not the subject because it is the object of the
preposition “to”. The subject of the sentence is “key”, so the verb should be “is”. In the second
example you might think that “door” is the subject because it comes directly in front of the
verb “is”. You should recognize in this example that “door” is not the subject because it is the
object of the preposition “to”. 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:

EXERCISE 1: Each of the following sentences has one or more prepositional phrases between
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).
Skill 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, most, or
some) can be singular or plural, depending on what follows the preposition of.

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 all refers to
the uncountable noun information, so the correct verb is therefore the singular verb was.

The following chart outlines the key information that you should understand about
subject/verb agreement after expression of quantity:

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).
TOEFL EXERCISE (Skills 20-21) : Choose the letter of the word or group of words that
best completes the sentence.

1. Among bees ______ a highly elaborate form of communication.


A. Occur
B. Occurs
C. It occurs
D. They occur

2. _____ heated by solar energy have special collectors on the roofs to trap sunlight.
A. A homes is
B. Homes are
C. A home
D. Homes
Choose the letter of the underlined word or group of words that is not correct.

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