Topics

• Adjectives
• Adverbs
• Agreement
  • Always Singular
  • Always Plural
  • It Depends
  • Antecedents
• Case
• Clauses
• Conjunctions
• Nouns
• Phrases
• Prepositions
• Pronouns
• Punctuation
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• Verbs
• Verbals
• Word Choice
• goal — Accuracy
• goal — clarity
• goal — Conciseness

Wise Words

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

- Aristotle

The Tongue Untied

Singular or Plural Subjects: It Depends

When the parts of a compound subject are joined by or, but, either ... or, neither ... nor, not only ... but also the verb must agree with the subject nearest to the verb.

1. Neither the Oregon players nor the coach was overconfident.
   1. "Coach" is closest to the verb so the verb agrees with "coach."
      
2. Neither the Oregon coach nor the players were intimidated by Arizona.
   1. Just the reverse here. "Players" is closest.
      

Collective nouns and certain plural words may take singular or plural verbs-depending on the meaning in the sentence. TEST: If the word indicates people or things working together as an identifiable unit, a singular verb is used.

1. The jury was seated at 9 a.m.
   1. "It" was seated.
2. The jury were being interviewed by the media.
   1. The subjects are the individual members of the jury; the sentence could be rewritten as: "The jurors were ... ")
3. Politics is a hot topic.
   1. Politics as a single topic.
4. The mayor's politics are offensive.
   1. Politics in this case can be seen as several actions over time.

The pronouns ANY, NONE or SOME and the nouns ALL and MOST:

1. take singular verbs when they refer to a unit or quantity

1. Some of the money was missing.
   1. An amount of money.

2. take plural verbs when they refer to number or individuals

1. Some of the gold coins were missing.
   1. A number of coins.

The pronoun NONE

1. takes a singular verb when its meaning is "No Single One" or "Not One"

1. None of the gold coins was missing.
   1. Not one of the coins

2. takes a plural verb when its meaning is "No Two" or "No Amount"

1. None of the goods were missing.
   1. no amount of the goods
2. None of the forests were destroyed.
   1. no amount of the forests

When the subject is a fraction or a word such as HALF, PART, PLENTY or REST, its intended number is suggested by the object of the preposition that follows it.

1. Three-fourths of the enemy's army is wounded.
2. Three-fourths of the enemy's soldiers are wounded.