Answers to Questions About Subject-Verb Agreement #2

Answers to Questions About Subject-Verb Agreement #2 Answers to Questions About Subject-Verb Agreement #2 Answers to Questions About Subject-Verb Agreement #2 By Mark Nichol Here are some questions from DailyWritingTips.com readers about subject-verb agreement and my responses. 1. In your post concerning subject-verb agreement, why would you use a singular verb for ten liters of water? â€Å"Of water† is a prepositional phrase, and the subject is liters. We have always been taught to ignore the prepositional phrase that modifies the subject when determining agreement. The sentence I used in this post exemplifies an exception to the rule: When the first noun in a â€Å"[noun] of [noun]† phrase is a percentage, distance, fraction, or amount, the verb agrees with the second noun. 2. I have a question about noun-verb agreement in conjunction with and. For example, should a sentence read, â€Å"There was no moon and no clouds† or â€Å"There were no clouds and no moon†? Either construction is acceptable; the verb form should agree with the form of the nearest noun. However, â€Å"There were no clouds and no moon† is better because the plural form of the verb agrees with both clouds and the combination of â€Å"clouds and . . . moon,† so it feels more natural. 3. When I write sums, I normally use plus and equals, but if I use and instead of plus, should I use is, or are, before the sum? In mathematical equations, when we put two or more numbers through an operation, they are considered a single set. As you note, we use a singular verb we say or write, for example, â€Å"One plus two equals three,† not â€Å"One plus two equal three† so â€Å"One plus two is three† is correct. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How Many Tenses in English?26 Feel-Good WordsEbook, eBook, ebook or e-book?