1. Case forms for nouns are alike.

a) The girl in the class gave the girl in the locker room her lipstick. (The girl’s lipstick)

Nominative pronoun - I, you, he, she, it.
Singular object - me, you, him, her, it.
Possessive - my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, its.

Nominative (subject of the verb, predicate nominative).

Subject of verb (She and I, me, have an appointment).

Predicate nouns that follow a linking verb (not action verb) remains the subject.

The pattern will be Noun – Linking Verb – Verb.

a) He is my friend.

Predicate Nominative – comes after a linking verb, ie; some form of the verb (to be) – that is (he, him) – he is (to be). That must have been (she, her). A predicate nominative means the same thing as the noun or pronoun to which it refers.

Plural forms and nouns are used:

a) By adding only “ans.”
b) By adding “es.”
c) By adding “ies” after removing they.
d) By adding “es” to a noun that ends in “o.”
e) By adding “ves” after removing the “f.”
f) By changing the internal spelling.
g) By adding “es” to singular form.

- Some nouns remain the same in plural form.
- Some nouns have secondary plural.
- Some nouns have no plural form or meaning.
- Most hyphenated compound nouns add “s” to the first word.

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1. Subjects joined by “and” take a plural verb.

a) Paul and Jim both like football.
b) Ken and Paul play football well.

2. Singular subjects joined by “or” or “nor” take a singular verb.

a) Neither John nor I work(s) well together.
b) John or Sue read(s) well.

3. When a singular subject and a plural subject are joined by “or” or “nor,” the verb agrees with the closer subject.

a) Neither John nor his friends care about football.
b) Neither his or John care.

4. Don’t and doesn’t agree with their subjects.

a) I (do, don’t), you (do, don’t), he (does, doesn’t), they (do, don’t).

5. Collective nouns can be singular or plural as determined by their meaning.

a) Jury, herd, team, audience, family.

b) When considered as a unit, the subject is singular. When considered as individuals, the subject is plural.

aa) The jury has reached a decision.
bb) The jury are arguing among themselves.
cc) The team plays well together.
dd) The team loves to argue with each other.

6. A verb agrees with the subject, not its predicate nominative.

a) Traffic jams are one problem of commuters.
b) One problem of commuters is traffic jams.

7. When the subject allows the verb “often,” “here,” “there,” or “after” questions, the verb agrees with its subject that allows the verb.

a) Here are the boys.
b) Here is the girl.
c) Where is Sheri.
d) Where are Sheri and John.
e) There are the plates.
f) There is the police.

8. Words stating amount are usually singular.

a) Ten dollars is a high price.
b) Two thirds of the cake was eaten.

9. The title of a word of art, literature, or music plural in form take a singular verb.

a) Great expectation is my favorite book.
b) Porky and Bess is my favorite operas.
c) Every or many before the subject takes a singular verb.
d) Many a worker (at general motors) is ill prepared in the current economy.
e) Every member of the squad is physically ready.

10. A few nouns, although plural in form take a singular verb.

a) Views, news.
b) Diseases, such as measles, chicken pox, mumps, rickets.
c) Words ending in “ics” ie; mathematics, physics, civics, economics,
politics, ethics, athletics.

11. Words indicating “time,” “money,”  “amount,” “measure,” “weight,” “volume,” or “fractions,” are usually considered singular and singular verb.

12. “It,” used as an introductory word is always followed by a singular. Remember, that the word “it” is not the subject in such a sentence.

13. When the word “there” introduces a sentence, the subject may be either singular or plural.

14. The words “several,” “few,” “both,” and “many,” are always plural and take a plural verb.

15. When the word “every” precedes the subject, it is used as an adjective, not as a pronoun. The subject takes a plural verb.

16. Remember that the antecedent of a pronoun names the person or thing to which the pronoun refers. A pronoun agrees with its antecedent in number and gender.

Singular Pronouns – I, you, he, she, it, my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, me, him.

Plural Pronouns - We, you, they, our, ours, your, yours, their, theirs, us, them.

Note – There are four genders: masculine, feminine, common, and neutral. The pronoun must be the same.

17. Tense denotes the time and action took place.

a) Present tense (I fly, I run)
b) Past tense (I flew, I ran)
c) Future tense (I will fly, I will run)

18. Present perfect denotes habitual action.

a) I have flown, He has flown.

19. Past perfect denotes an action that was completed before another past action.

a) I had flown.

20. Future perfect (I will have flown, I shall have studied for ten minutes when you arrive).

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If a word refers to one person or thing it is singular. Chicken(s)  Ticket(s)  Toy(s)

Agreement of subject and verb:

1. Singular subjects take a singular verb – “I walk”

2. Plural subjects take a plural verb – “They walk”

3. The number of the subject is not changed by a phrase following the subject.

a) The child of the streets is happy…
b) Walter together with John and Tim love movies…
c) He along with Tim and John works hard to achieve…

4.The following pronouns are singular:

a) “one” group – one, no one, anyone, someone, everyone.
b) “body” group – everybody, anybody, somebody, nobody.
c) “miscellaneous” group – each, either, neither.

5. Some, all, most, and none may be singular or plural. If the meaning is singular use a singular verb.

a) Some of the men are working.
b) Some of it was eaten.

6. Identify simple subjects, simple predicates, complete subjects and complete predicates.

7. Identify single word adjectives, single word adverbs and prepositional phrases.

8. Identify complements.

- All can’t win. You must not feel upset because you lost.

- We were standing in the sun. We suffered from the heat.

- John was a tall person. His height quite overwhelmed us.

- Seeing a cowboy lasso a bull that had broken away from the herd was the most thrilling sight of the ride for us girls.

- When he had finished his apple pie, John turned to Jim and me and said, “let’s go down to the old farm house and talk to Jack.”

- As we boys passed the pasture, the cattle began milling around nervously in the darkness.

- As he punched our tickets, the conductor assured John and me that we’d reach Cleveland in time for supper.

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