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These two parts of speech are the building blocks of any sentence. In order for the
sentence to work, its nouns and verbs must agree in number.
Singular nouns require singular verbs.
Example: Ralph bakes bread every morning.
Plural nouns require plural verbs.
Example: Ralph and Mary bake bread together every
morning.
That sounds simple enough and usually it is, but some circumstances require you to pay
close attention to ensure noun-verb agreement. Basically, the noun or subject is in charge
here. Verbs must agree with nouns.
Sometimes a sentence may contain more than one pair of nouns and verbs or the sentence
may have several verbs that refer to one subject (noun). In that case, you need to make
sure that all the verbs agree in number with the subject.
Example: Every day Ralph and Mary watch the morning news show together, bake bread, and
wash the dishes before they go off to work.
Plural Subject: Ralph and Mary
Plural Verbs: watch, bake, and wash
Notice how this sentence is different because there is a single subject--only Mary:
Example: Every day Mary watches the morning news show, bakes bread, and washes the
dishes before she goes to work.
Singular Subject: Mary
Singular Verbs: watches, bakes, and washes
Sometimes the noun and the verb are separated by words that come in between them in the
sentence. In these cases, it is important to identify the subject of the sentence
correctly. What usually comes between a noun and a verb is a prepositional phrase. Often
this phrase will begin with "of" or "to" and isn't actually part of
the subject. The real subject of the sentence will come before the prepositional phrase
and the real subject is what the verb must agree with. In the following examples, the
prepositional phrase is in red. Try reading the sentence without the prepositional phrase.
Example: A group
of children was left behind to catch the second
bus.
The members of the band were told to eat before they came to the
concert.
The prepositional phrase does provide more information, so you wouldn't want to leave
it out of the sentence. Just don't let it fool you into thinking it contains the subject
of the sentence.
Nouns and Pronouns
A pronoun sometimes takes the place of a noun. In our team metaphor, the pronoun serves
as a pinch-hitter for a noun. When a pronoun stands in for a noun, it must agree with the
noun it represents in both number and gender. The gender part is pretty simple. Every
native speaker of English knows not to say "hers" when talking about something
that belongs to a male or "his" when referring to something that belongs to a
woman. For students learning English as a second language, it is important to know that
some pronouns are gender specific. You will learn those pronouns with practice.
A pronoun must agree in number with its antecedent; that is, both must be
singular or both must be plural. An antecedent is the noun which a pronoun refers
to in the sentence.
Example: Lydia took her raincoat because the sky was cloudy. [Her
is the pronoun and
Lydia is the antecedent. Whose raincoat? Lydia's raincoat.]
Example: The men brought their lunches to work since they
didn't have time to go to a restaurant. [This sentence has two pronouns which
both refer to the same antecedent, men. Since men is plural, their
and they are also plural.]
Certain pronouns, called INDEFINITE PRONOUNS, refer to nonspecific persons or things. The
following indefinite pronouns are always singular:
anybody, anyone,
each, either, every, everybody, everyone, neither,
no one, nobody,
none, somebody, someone, something.
These indefinite pronouns are always plural: both, many,
several
Let me give you some examples of how these indefinite pronouns work in sentences:
Everyone wanted to sit by the pro football player at the banquet. [I
wanted to, you wanted to, Sam wanted to. . . every ONE wanted to sit by
the pro football player.]
Someone needs to get the lights on the way out. [Some ONE--not
all of us--needs to get the lights.]
Both partners agreed to dissolve their relationship. [Partners
is plural; therefore, the pronouns both and their must
also be plural.]
Nouns and Adjectives
In the game of writing, adjectives are the color commentators for nouns. Adjectives
provide the details that help us to visualize the nouns. Usually, adjectives will be found
very close to nouns in a sentence. Sometimes several adjectives describe one noun. In that
case, they are often strung together in a series, either before or directly after the
noun.
Example: The huge, yellow ball that was the sun lazily sank below the
horizon.
Example: Five ferocious, black dogs guarded the perimeter of the
fence.
Here's a hint about punctuating a series of adjectives modifying the same noun. In the
first sentence, notice that huge and yellow are separated by a comma. In the second
example, five and ferocious are not separated by a comma but ferocious and black are. Both
are correct. If you need to decide whether to use a comma between adjectives, try this:
Imagine the word "and" between the adjectives. If the sentence would make
sense with "and," use a comma between the adjectives. If not, leave the
comma out. Try it! You'll see what I mean.
Example: The huge [and] yellow ball . . . [That sounds right. Put
a comma between huge and yellow.]
Example: Five [and] ferocious . . . [No, that wouldn't make
sense. Leave the comma out.]
Example: . . . ferocious [and] black . . . [Yes, that works.
Place a comma between ferocious and
black.]
Pronouns and
other Pronouns
In addition to agreeing with nouns and verbs, pronouns must agree with the other
pronouns in the sentence. The pronouns in a sentence must maintain a consistent point of
view. For instance, the point of view in a sentence cannot suddenly switch from
"you" to "one" to "we." I'll show you what I mean:
Incorrect example:
If you want to save money, one should cut up their
credit cards. [This is incorrect because none of the three pronouns refer to the same
person. It switches from you to one to their. If your sentence addresses "you"
as the subject, the other pronouns in the sentence must also refer to the same subject
"you."]
Correct example:
If you want to save money, you should cut up your
credit cards. [Notice how all the pronouns agree. They all refer to the same subject
"you."]
Verbs and other
Verbs
Verbs within a sentence all need to be in the same tense. In writing language, tense
means the same as time. You can't jump back and forth between the past, the present, and
the future. If your sentence begins in the present tense, it should remain there. The
verbs you choose determine that. Here are some examples that explain what I mean:
Incorrect example:
Mary drives to the beach and gathered seashells. [The
verb "drives" is in present tense; "gathered" is in past tense. It has
already happened.]
Correct example:
Mary drove to the beach and gathered seashells. [Both
verbs, "drove" and "gathered" are in the past tense.]
OR
Mary drives to the beach and gathers
seashells. [This is also correct because the verbs are both in present tense. Which
choice you make depends on the context of your writing. Just remember that the verbs
within a sentence must agree.]
Verbs and Adverbs
Verbs provide the action of a sentence and adverbs tell the degree or intensity of the
action by saying how, where, when, why, or how much. Many adverbs (but not all) end in
-ly. Those are the easiest to recognize. Like adjectives, adverbs can occur in a series,
but do not confuse adverbs with adjectives. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other
adverbs--not nouns.
Examples: Tomas was extremely happy about winning
the scholarship. [Extremely tells how happy Tomas was. It answers the
question "how much."]
His parents responded excitedly to his news. [How did they
respond? Excitedly. This adverb answers the question "how."]
He told them he would be leaving for college very soon. ["Very"
and "soon" are both adverbs. Soon answers the
question "when" and very answers the question "how
much."]
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