Part 6: Identifying Grammar Errors

Grammar: Subject - Verb Agreement

Compared to many languages, which have much more complicated grammars when it comes to Subject - Verb Agreement, English seems quite simple. The only verbs which show number are the conjugations of to be and most third-person singular verbs.

The following are some of the possibilities which may be on the TOEIC

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Indefinite pronouns:

Singular	Plural	Could be either
each, either, everybody, everyone, neither	all, both, many, several	any, none, some

• Some examples:

  • Everyone is invited to the party.
  • Both are in trouble with the principal.
  • None of the students does homework (not one student).

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Intervening phrases.

While the subject and verb usually should be placed close together, with the verb right after or near the subject, sometimes there is a long phrase placed between the two:

• WRONG: Teachers who give students an unreasonably difficult test is considered unfair.
• RIGHT: Teachers who give students an unreasonably difficult test are considered unfair.

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Prepositional phrases at the beginning of the sentence.

In these cases you must consider what is really the subject. In the following sentence the subject is ship:

• WRONG: On the Seven Seas sail the mighty ship.
• ..................................... v
• RIGHT: The mighty ship sails on the Seven Seas.

Return to Word Order Handout

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Singular nouns which end in s.

Be careful with these. Review the handout on nouns for more examples of these nouns:

• WRONG: Classroom dynamics are an important consideration in lesson planning.
• ...................................... v
• RIGHT: Classroom dynamics is an important consideration in lesson planning.

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Units of measurement and other collectives:

When the following collective measures refer to one entity or group, it takes the singular. If it refers to two or more entities or groups, it takes the plural. Consider the following collective nouns:

Animals

cackle	drove	flock
herd	pack	school

People

coven	crowd	horde
mob	team	throng

Foods

bunch	clove	cut
dash	handful	head
piece	pinch	spoonful

Number counters and others

dozen = 12	foursome = 4	gross = 144
pair = 2	quintet = 5	score = 20
sextet = 6	triad = 3	ream = 500 sheets of paper

• WRONG:A dozen make a nice present. (Speaking of roses or donuts)
• RIGHT: A dozen makes a nice present. (Speaking of roses or donuts).

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A/B

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TOEIC part 6..... Return to Word Order

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