10. Subject-Verb Agreement-Part II (Words Between Subjects and Verbs)

Hey, Everybody, and I hope you're all enjoying summer and our Southern heat. Let's all give a shout-out to air conditioners! In today's blog, we'll go back to the topic introduced in our next-to-last blog on Subject-Verb Agreement. In that earlier blog, we discussed the importance of having subjects and verbs in sentences agree in number with each other. In other words, if the subject is singular, then the verb must also be singular. If the subject is plural, then the verb must also be plural. Simple enough, huh? Don't I wish!

Now, here is another one of the problems we seem to have with agreement when other words come between the subject and verb -- especially prepositional phrases.

*A quick review: Prepositional phrases are groups of words WITHOUT a subject and verb. These phrases contain a preposition, its objects, and any modifiers of the object in the phrase. Remember the earlier blog about our need to stop placing "at" on the end of sentences? As we discussed that blog, I gave you the little example sentence about the airplane going " ________ the cloud", and said that any word that fit into the blank was a preposition (over, under, into, through, at, near, etc.).

Now, notice the two words that followed the blank: "... the cloud." When you place an object with modifiers (adjectives and adverbs) after the preposition, you have a prepositional phrase.

Other examples of prepositional phrases include "in the house," "of the beach," "until the rooster crows," "between the winner and the loser," "at home," "in the bed," and many, many more. Sometimes, you may even see two or three prepositional phrases side by side: A thick fog swirled around me and over the top of the building.

In this sentence, there are THREE prepositional phrases: "around me," "over the top," and "of the building." It's very important that you can identify prepositional phrases since, generally, they DO NOT AFFECT THE NUMBER OF THE SUBJECT OF A SENTENCE. (We will discuss some exceptions later, but for now, just concentrate on these most common errors.) Many times, people try to make the verb agree with the object of the preposition and not with the subject. Another important thing to remember: Watch out for prepositions that look a little different from the standard prepositions mentioned above: "according to," "along with", "as well as", "together with," and "with." These are also prepositions, so be careful not to think their objects are the subjects in sentences.

Here are some examples to try:

(1) The lawyers in the public defender's office (has, have) excellent credentials.

The right answer is "have" because the subject of the sentence is "lawyers" -- a plural subject. Therefore, the verb must be plural, too. "Has" is singular. If you thought "office" was the subject, a singular noun, then you might have chosen the singular verb, "has", which is wrong. The object of the preposition "in" is "office," but it is not the subject.

(2)Religious ritual, as well as secular celebrations, (mark, marks) the change of seasons in many cultures.

Here, the right answer is "marks" because the subject of the sentence is "ritual" -- a singular subject. Therefore the verbs must be singular, too. The verb "mark" is plural. (Remember the weird fact that in English, we place an "s" on many VERBS to make them singular, and drop the "s" to make many VERBS plural? This is the opposite of how we make some NOUNS singular and plural.) The object of the preposition "as well as" is "celebrations," but it is not the subject.

(3) My sister Rachel's knowledge of teaching strategies (amaze, amazes) nearly everyone.

In this sentence, the subject is "knowledge," which is singular. As a result, the correct verb should be "amazes" -- also singular. By choosing "strategies" (plural) as the subject, you might think that "amaze" is the correct verb, but not so. Since "strategies" is the object of the preposition "of," it is not the subject.

A good idea: Practice searching for the SUBJECTS of sentences, and then determine if the subject is SINGULAR or PLURAL. If it is singular, then the verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, then the verb must be plural. Actually, knowing the correct subjects and verbs of all sentences will pay off big time as you work toward being a Grammar Star! Many problems we deal with can be more easily managed if you know some of these very basic elements of grammar.

Thanks again for visiting and let me know if you have any questions. Have a wonderful (and cool) week! GG