How to Avoid Grammatical Errors - Agreement
Common Mistakes Made by Writers: Non-Agreement of Verbs and Pronouns
Nov 14, 2008
Agreement
Verbs and pronouns should agree with their subjects - a simple rule. If the subject is singular, the verb and pronouns should be singular...
The daughter loves her father.
If the subject is plural, the verb and pronouns should be plural...
Daughters love their fathers.
However, sometimes the question of whether the subject is singular or plural is in doubt.
Collective Nouns
It is a commonly believed that all collective nouns are always singular.
Correct: The team plays badly and loses.
Correct: The jury refuses to change its decision.
In certain cases, however, if the collective noun refers to a group whose members are behaving as individuals, then the verb should take the plural. Look at the following descriptions of “the family”.
If the family has just one bag, one car, and are all going the same way, it would be technically correct to say...
The family packs its bag, gets into its car, and leaves
Technically correct, though it sounds a little strange.
But what if the members of the family have several bags, each has a car, and they are travelling separately...
The family pack their bags, get into their cars, and leave.
This is an example of a collective noun where the members of the group are behaving as individuals; therefore, to use a plural verb and pronouns in agreement is acceptable.
Note that once a decision has been taken about singular or plural, then verbs and pronouns must remain consistent. It would not be correct to say:
The family packs its bags, gets into their cars and leave.
Tip: The neatest way to get around all of this is to make the subject clearly plural by beginning the sentence with
The members of the family...
Plural in Appearance - Singular in Reality
Sometimes a subject which seems like a plural is regarded as singular. Look at these examples:
- 25 years is a long time to spend in jail.
- 30 yards is a short distance to walk.
- A hue and cry was raised
In each case, the subject, although plural, is regarded as a single entity - a single distance, a single length of time, a single action.
Sometimes confusion can arise when the subject appears to be more than one item, e.g.
Neither the bad food nor the bad weather has spoiled our holiday.
Effectively the subject is singular because it is a choice between one thing or another.
The following pronouns...
- each
- every
- everyone
- everybody
- anyone
- anybody
- none
are singular and should be used with singular verbs.
Wrong: Each of the boys are wearing a hat.
Correct: Each of the boys is wearing a hat.
The following example has a very strong plural sense...
A few children had finished the first part of the test, but none were allowed to leave
but in fact...
A few children had finished the first part of the test, but none was allowed to leave
...is correct.
It is helpful, to remember that words like everybody, everyone, and none are contractions of every body, every one, not one.
Tip: If in doubt about using the singular or plural verb, try replacing it with its original longer form and see what sounds correct...
A few children had finished the first part of the test, but not one was allowed to leave.
Always One Exception to the Rule
In one situation the plural pronoun “they” can be used in the singular sense to agree with a singular non-gender specific noun such as “child”.
If a child wants to play the drums loudly, they should be allowed to do so
is acceptable.
This convention avoids the cumbersome use of “he or she”:
If a child wants to play the drums loudly, he or she should be allowed to do so.
Or the awkward use of the neuter pronoun “it”:
If a child wants to play the drums loudly, it should be allowed to do so.
The use of “they” in agreement with a singular noun is acceptable usage in British (The Queen’s) English, but there is disagreement within the US about it.
Tip: It would perhaps be better not to raise the issue at all, and to keep everything in the plural:
If children want to play the drums loudly, they should be allowed to do so
The key to good writing is that it should have an effect without attracting attention to itself. The message, not the medium, is the important thing. Simple but effective prose is better that elaborate and extravagant writing which stands out for the wrong reasons.
Making the effort to pick up a few simple tips on spelling and grammar can make all the difference.
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