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Concord, Exceptional Rules

  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

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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.

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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.

 

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