Concord, the exceptional rules.
The rules for the agreement between subject and verb have some exceptions and the rules are listed below as Concord, the exceptional rules
1 If the subject is ‘ I ‘ in present tense , only the plural auxiliaries ‘ do’ and ‘ have ‘, are used with the verbs.
eg: I have got a loving wife.
I do not waste water.
2 If the subject is ‘ you ‘ in any tense, only plural verbs are used , even if it is thought as a singular subject.
eg: You are a loving son
You were handsome at that time
.
3 If the subject of a sentence ‘ mentions a group ‘ but begins with ‘ one ‘ or ‘ each ‘ or ‘every one ‘ or ‘any ‘ or ‘ none‘ etc , then the verb is singular.
eg: ‘One of the students’ ‘ has ‘ not attended the class.
Neither of us goes to school today.
Each of the girls was told to learn martial arts.
4 If two singular nouns express ‘one ‘ idea and are connected by the conjunction ‘and’, then the verbs should be singular.
eg: Slow and steady wins the race.
Bread and butter is often their breakfast
Money and power makes man arrogant.
Knowledge and experience leads man to wisdom.
.
5 If two singular nouns denote a ‘same person‘ and connected by the conjunction ‘and’ , then the verbs should be singular
eg: ‘My father and friend’ always plays baseball with me.
But, if the two nouns denote different persons, it should be written as ‘ My father ‘ and ‘ my friend‘. Then the subject is taken as plural and so the verb is also plural
eg:’ My father’ and ‘my friend’ always play baseball with me.
Another example,
His mother and teacher’ always advises him to make friendship with good children.
His mother’ and ‘his teacher’ always advise him to make friendship with good children
6 If two singular nouns are prefixed by ‘ each ‘ or ‘ every ‘ and connected by the conjunction ‘and’, the verbs should be singular.
eg: ‘Each boy’ and ‘each girl’ has the right to speak
‘ Every man’ and ‘every woman’ is unique in their ability.
7 If two singular nouns connected by ‘ or ‘, ‘ either….or ‘, ‘ neither….nor ‘, the verbs should be singular.
eg: ‘Neither’ Tom ‘nor’ Thomas ‘has ‘ invited George to the party.
8 If two nouns connected by ‘or ‘, ‘ either…or ‘, ‘ neither…nor ‘, are of different numbers and belong to ‘the same group’, the plural noun should come ‘second’ and thus the verbs should be plural.
eg: ‘ Neither’ Peter ‘nor’ his brothers ‘have’ reached here .
9 If two nouns connected by ‘ or ‘, ‘either…or’, ‘neither…nor‘, are of ‘different persons’, the verb agrees with the ‘second ‘ noun.
eg:’ Either’ they ‘or’ Mathew ‘has’ called me.
10 If the subject is a ‘ collective noun ‘ and thought of ‘a single unit ‘, the subject is considered a ‘singular subject’ and so the verb is also singular.
eg: ‘The committee’ ‘was’ dispersed.
‘The policemen’ ‘has’ arrested the thief
But if ‘the members of the collective noun ‘ are thought of, then the subject will be ‘plural’ and so, the verb also will be plural.
eg : ‘The committee’ ‘were’ alleged for corruption.
The policemen’ ‘have’ constributed half of their salary to the relief fund
11 Some subjects are plural in form but singular in meaning. so the verb should be singular.
eg: The news is so convincing. Politics is well flourished in the hands of those who are diplomatic.
12 If the subject is a sum of money and considered as a whole, the subject is singular and thus singular verb should be used.
eg: ‘ Ten thousand dollars ‘ is always amazing.
But, if the subject is a sum of money being considered separately as coins or currencies, then the subject is plural and the verb is also to be plural.
eg: ‘Ten thousand dollars’ ‘have’ been distributed for the refugees so far.
Let’s go to the Practical Study in the topic concord, the exceptional rules
