1、Lecture 3,Subject-verb Concord II,Lecture 3 Subject-verb Concord II,3.1 Problems of Concord with a Coordinate Subject3.2 Problems of Concord with Expressions of Quantity as Subject3.3 Other Problems of Subject-verb Concord,3.1 Problems of Concord with a Coordinate Subject,I. Coordination with “and”
2、or “both and” The fishing and hunting in Arizona were good that year. Both Pauline and her son Bob have gone fishing on Miramar Lake.,The poet and singer has come.,poet and singer,A and B = 2 parts The A and the B = 2 parts The A and B=1unit,Wits and humor abounds in the book.,War and peace is a con
3、stant theme in the history.,Truth and honesty is the best policy.,The hustle and bustle of the city life fatigues many people.,Salt and water is also a kind of medicine.,Egg and rice is her usual breakfast.,Wits and humour,War and peace,Truth and honesty,hustle and bustle,Salt and water,Egg and rice
4、,Observe the Following Sentences:,when modified by each/every/many a,Many a man and woman in this community finds himself or herself in need.,No teacher and no students is admitted.,When the coordinated noun phrases by and are preceded by each, every, no, many a, the verb usually takes singular form
5、.,II. Coordination with or/ either or/ nor/neither nor/not only . but also,Not only the switches but also the old wiring has / (have) been changed.,My sisters or my brother is likely to be at home.,Neither the players nor the coach was / (were) overconfident.,My sisters or my brother,is,Neither the
6、players nor the coach,was / (were),Not only the switches but also the old wiring,has / (have),Either my father or my brothers are coming.,Either my father or my brothers,are,1. Here the problem of concord is generally dealt with according to the principle of proximity. 2. But in informal style, item
7、s coordinated by “neither nor”, “not only . but also” can sometimes be regarded as plural.,III. Subject + as much as; Subject + as well as,Examples: 1. Some of the workers as much as the manager were responsible for the loss. 2. His brother rather than his parents is to blame. 3. My wife, more than
8、anyone else in the family, is anxious to go there again. 4. Man, no less than the lower forms of life, is the product of the evolutionary process.,Exercise:,Neither Russia nor the United States_ (has, have) been able to discover a mutual satisfactory plan for gradual disarmament. Even minor amendmen
9、ts or innovations_ (was, were) given heavy publicity. His friend and fellow author _ (was, were) cool to the idea of collaborating on a cookbook. All this effort and sacrifice _ (has, have) helped to alleviate poverty. _ (Is, Are) January and February the coldest months of the year,has,were,was,has,
10、Are,In many years of service, neither Philips nor I _ (has, have) seen anything like it. It became necessary to involve every man, woman and child who _ (was, were) willing to help. Law and order_ (means, mean) different things to people with different political opinions. If your wife or husband_ (i
11、s, are) proficient in English, there are many study courses from which they can choose. Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day, _(produces, produce) some change in the hues and shapes of these mountains.,have,was,means,is,produces,3.2 Problems of Concord with
12、Expressions of Quantity as Subject,Quantitative expressions fall into categories: Definite and Indefinite.,I. Concord with Expressions of Definite Quantity as Subject,There were 6 silver dollars in each of the stockings. (the coins),He thought that 65 dollars was not too much to ask.,1. When a defin
13、ite quantity is regarded as a single unit, the verb takes the singular form 2. when used in the sense of the individuals that constitute the quantity, the verb takes the plural form.,3. Fraction / Percentage + of-phrase,Over 60% of the city was destroyed in the war.,Two-thirds of the swampland has b
14、een reclaimed for farming.,Nearly 50% of the doctors are women.,the form of the verb is determined by the noun in the of-phrase. A plural noun in the of-phrase requires a plural verb; A singular or a mass noun in the of-phrase is to be followed by a singular verb,Seven plus / and five (7+5) makes /
15、make twelve.,Forty minus fifteen (40-15) leaves twenty-five.,Five times eight (5x8) is / are forty.,Forty divided by eight (408) is five.,4 If the subject is an expression of “A plus / and B” or “A multiplied by B”, the verb can either take the singular or the plural form. 5 If the subject is one of
16、 “A minus B” or “A divided by B” the verb can only be singular.,One in ten students has / have failed the exam.,One out of twenty was / were badly damaged.,6 one in / out of +plural nounthe verb takes singular form in formal style. but in informal style it can be plural,II. Concord with expression o
17、f indefinite quantity as subject,All of the furniture was destroyed in the earthquake. All of the crew were saved. Lots of food is going to waste. Lots of people are waiting outside.,1 When the subject is a noun phrase composed of “all of , some of , none of , half of , most of , etc”, the number of
18、 the verb is determined by the noun in the of-phrase. 2 This is also true of “lots of, heaps of, loads of, scads of, plenty of, + noun”,A substantial portion of the reports is missing.,A series of accidents has been reported.,This kind of man annoys me.,That type of car is old-fashioned.,3 When the
19、subject is a noun preceded by “a portion of, a series of, a pile of, a panel of”, the verb invariably takes the singular form, whatever the forms of the noun. 4 when the subject is a noun, singular or plural, preceded by “a kind / sort / type of” or by “this kind / sort / type of”, the verb takes si
20、ngular form.,These sorts of machines are up to date.,6 If the subject is noun phrase composed of “many a+ noun” or “more than one + noun”, this kind of noun phrase, though notionally plural, is treated as singular.,Many a man has done his duty.,More than one game was lost.,5 If “kind / sort / type o
21、f” is preceded by “these / those” and followed by a plural noun, the verb should be plural.,An average of 25 applications a month is not unusual.,An average of 25 persons apply each month.,7 If the subject is a plural noun preceded by “an average of/a majority of”, the verb form is determined by the
22、 notion of the noun phrase: if the noun head is the word “average/majority” the verb should be singular; if the head is the plural noun, the verb should be plural.,The central portions of the book _(is, are) devoted to this theory. Almost two thirds of the land in the northwest areas of the country
23、_(is, are) not suitable for farming. Half of the money I spend on advertising _(is, are) wasted, and the trouble is I dont know which half. Most of the coffee we produce _(is, are) for export-a high percentage _(goes, go) to the US.,Exercise:,are,is,is,is,goes,About half of the women in this area _(
24、is, are) working-wives. None of them _(has, have) much time to do housework. Some of the furniture _(has, have) been moved to another room in the house. Ill keep a third of the money and the rest _ (is, are) yours. Most of the residents _(has, have) already left the island; the rest _(is, are) prepa
25、ring for the typhoon.,are,has,has,is,have,are,Its a big studio, so there _(is, are) lots of room for all my things. Loads of sand _(was, were) dumped by the roadside so that there was hardly any space for two cars to pass.,is,was,3.3 Other Problems of Subject-verb Concord,I. Problems of concord with
26、 a nominal clause as subject II. Subject-verb concord with a non-finite clause as subject III. Subject-verb concord in relative clauses IV. Subject-verb concord in cleft-sentences V. Subject-verb concord in existential sentences,I. Nominal Clause as Subject,What caused the accident is a complete mys
27、tery.,What caused the accident and who was responsible for it remain a mystery to us.,1 When the subject is a nominal clause introduced by what, who, which, how, why, whether, etc, the verb usually takes the singular form. 2 but when two or more clauses are coordinated by and or bothand, a plural ve
28、rb is required.,What was real to him were the details of his life.,What are often regarded as poisonous fungi are sometimes safely edible.,3 In SVC constructions with a what-clause as subject, the verb usually takes singular form. 4 But when the subject complement is plural, or when the what-clause
29、is plural in meaning, the verb of the main clause can be plural.,II. Non-finite Clause as Subject,To climb mountains requires courage.,Playing tennis is a very good exercise.,Reading Ibsen and solving a quadratic equation are entirely different assignments.,1 When the subject is a non-finite clause,
30、 the verb of the main clause usually takes the singular form. 2 But when two or more such clauses are coordinated by and, the verb of the main clause takes the singular form when the subject refers to one thing, and the plural form when the subject refers to separate things.,III. Relative Clauses,Ex
31、amples: 1. Joan is one of those people who go out of their way to be helpful. 2. I am one of those people who by the general opinion of the world are counted both infamous and unhappy. 3. Jasper White is one of those rare people who believes in ancient myths.,In the construction of “one of +plural n
32、oun + relative clause”, the principle of grammatical concord is generally observed. The verb should take plural form.2. Sometimes, especially in British English, in order to lay emphasis on “one”, the verb can also take the singular form.,He is the only one of those boys who is willing to take on an
33、other assignment. Johnson is the one of those who has read this novel for three times.,3. When “one” is preceded by “the” or “the only”, the verb can only be singular.,IV. Cleft-sentences,It is I who am to blame. It is the government that has to take the responsibility for the improvement of peoples
34、 lives. It is you who are supposed to solve this problem.,1. In cleft-sentences, subject-verb concord in that-/ who-clause is generally determined by the number of the focal element functioning as subject in the clause. 2. when the focal element is “I”, the verb to be in the following who-/ that-cla
35、use usually agree with “I” in both person and number;,It is me that is to blame.,3. If the focal element is “me” instead of “I”, the verb to be in the following who-/ that-clause should take the third person singular number.,V. Existential Sentences,Look at the following examples. There is a note le
36、ft on the desk. There are three routes you can take. Theres a book, a ruler and two pens on the desk. Theres one or two words misused in the sentence. =(One or two words are misused in the sentence.),Eating，unlike fighting, _ (is, are) a pursuit in which both sexes freely indulge. What make the rive
37、r more beautiful _ (is, are) the lotus plants growing in the river. What we have just described _ (is, are) the general pattern of the internal heat engines work output as we can see it today.,Exercise:,is,are,is,Children interfering in their parents right to remarry _ (has, have) become a social pr
38、oblem. To go there on Monday _ (is, are) pointless-theres a public holiday. Why he entered the house and how he managed to get out of it without being seen by people _ (remains, remain) a mystery to us all.,has,is,remain,What appear to be disciplinary problems _ (is, are) easily solved by very eleme
39、ntary applied psychology. Hes one of those men who never _ (cares, care) how they look. There are few things in this world that _ (give, gives) me more pleasure than a long bath.,are,care,give,Watering the flowers and looking after the children _ (is, are) all she has to do every day. Sitting and ta
40、lking to old friends _ (is, are) a pleasant way to spend an evening. Can you say “no” to a friend or relative who _ (wants, want) to insist?,are,is,wants,Ever since their quarrel, there _ (has been, have been) an unpleasant atmosphere in the office. There_ (is, are) a few cakes left over from the party-would you like one? There_ (is, are) plenty of evidence to suggest that children are better at learning languages than adults.,has,been,are,is,
