IX Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2017

Can you check the errors, if any, in the following sentences?

1. Two and two is four.

2. Two and two are four.

3. Three times three is nine.

4. Three times three are nine.

Answer: There are no errors in these sentences. All are correct. You can regard “two and two” as a single idea, and therefore you can use the singular verb is. But you can also regard “two and two” as separate units, and therefore you can use the plural verb are. The same holds true of collective nouns such as: family, team, committee, army, group, crowd, etc.

A few collective nouns commonly take either plural or singular verbs depending on the phrase that follows them. With words such as rest, half, part and number, the meaning varies.

The rest of the book was easy to read

(‘Rest’ refers to the singular book)

The rest of the newspapers were lost

(‘Rest’ refers to the plural newspapers)

See it you can check the correct form of the verb in each of the following sentences:

1. A scholar and poet (was, were) what the called their friend.

2. A scholar and a poet - two of my best friends (has, have) just arrived in town.

Subjects joined by and usually take plural verbs but a compound subject referring to one person or idea or thing takes a singular verb.

Subjects and verbs should agree even when other words come between them. When these words come between them and throw off the students’ sense of sound grammar, they make mistakes rather often.

The problem with all his poems is that they are sentimental. (Problem is the subject, not poems)

The goals of the work are not clear. (Goals is the subject, not work)

When parts of a subject are joined by or or not, the verb agrees with the nearest part.

Neither he nor his brother knows about it.

Indefinite pronouns refer to persons or things in general, they do not form plural and are generally considered singular.

No one knows the real danger.

Everyone has got the flu.

A few of the indefinites – all, any and some, may be either singular or plural depending on the noun or pronoun they refer to.

Some of the milk has spilled on the floor

(‘Some’ refers to the singular milk)

Some of the dogs have run away

(‘Some’ refers do the plural dogs)

When a relative pronoun – who, which or what – serves as a subject, the verb should agree with the noun or pronoun the relative pronoun refers to.

Mary is the only actress who knows the words.

Mary is one of the actors who want to strike.

Student should remember that nouns with plural form but singular meaning take singular verbs. Some nouns ending in – s, such as: news. Athletics, physics, optics are generally regarded as singular verbs. Titles and words named as words also take singular verb.

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