<li>Errors in Subject-Verb and Agreement
Verbs in the present tense for third-person, singular subjects (he, she, it and anything those words can stand for) have s-endings. Other verbs do not add s-endings.
He loves and she loves and they love_ and . . . .
A] Sometimes prepositional phrases, verb phrases or clauses will get between a subject and its verb, but these modifiers must not confuse the agreement between the subject and its verb.
The mayor, who has been convicted along with his four brothers on four counts of various crimes but who also seems, like a cat, to have several political lives, is finally going to jail.</li>
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<p>A]Phrases such as together with, as well as, and along with are not the same as and. The phrase introduced by as well as or along with will modify the earlier word (mayor in this case), but it does not compound the subjects (as the word and would do).
The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison.
The mayor and his brothers are going to jail. </p>
<p>B]The pronouns neither and either are singular and require singular verbs even though they seem to be referring, in a sense, to two things.
Neither of the two traffic lights is working.
Which shirt do you want for Christmas?
Either is fine with me.
In informal writing, neither and either sometimes take a plural verb when these pronouns are followed by a prepositional phrase beginning with of. This is particularly true of interrogative constructions: “Have either of you two clowns read the assignment?” “Are either of you taking this seriously?”
The conjunction or does not conjoin (as and does): when nor or or is used the subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb. Whether the subject comes before or after the verb doesn’t matter; the proximity determines the number.
Either my father or my brothers are going to sell the house.
Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house.
Are either my brothers or my father responsible?
Is either my father or my brothers responsible?
Because a sentence like “Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house” sounds peculiar, it is probably a good idea to put the plural subject closer to the verb whenever that is possible.</p>
<p>C]Some words end in -s and appear to be plural but are really singular and require singular verbs.
The news from the front is bad.
Measles is a dangerous disease for pregnant women.
On the other hand, some words ending in -s refer to a single thing but are nonetheless plural and require a plural verb.
My assets were wiped out in the depression.
The average worker’s earnings have gone up dramatically.
Our thanks go to the workers who supported the union.
The names of sports teams that do not end in “s” will take a plural verb: the Miami Heat have been looking
, The Connecticut Sun are hoping that new talent
Indefinite pronoun subjects
The indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always singular and, therefore, require singular verbs.
Everyone has done his or her homework.
Somebody has left her purse.
Some indefinite pronouns such as all, some are singular or plural depending on what they’re referring to. (Is the thing referred to countable or not?) Be careful choosing a verb to accompany such pronouns.
Some of the beads are missing.
Some of the water is gone.
On the other hand, there is one indefinite pronoun, none, that can be either singular or plural; it often doesn’t matter whether you use a singular or a plural verb unless something else in the sentence determines its number.
None of you claims responsibility for this incident?
None of you claim responsibility for this incident?
None of the students have done their homework. (In this last example, the word their precludes the use of the singular verb.</p>
<p>Some indefinite pronouns are particularly troublesome Everyone and everybody (listed above, also) certainly feel like more than one person and, therefore, students are sometimes tempted to use a plural verb with them. They are always singular, though. Each is often followed by a prepositional phrase ending in a plural word (Each of the cars), thus confusing the verb choice. Each, too, is always singular and requires a singular verb.
Everyone has finished his or her homework.
You would always say, “Everybody is here.” This means that the word is singular and nothing will change that.
Each of the students is responsible for doing his or her work in the library.
Don’t let the word “students” confuse you; the subject is each and each is always singular Each is responsible.
D]Collective nouns
There are, further, so called collective nouns, which are singular when we think of them as groups and plural when we think of the individuals acting within the whole (which happens sometimes, but not often).
audience
band
class
committee
crowd
dozen family
flock
group
heap
herd
jury kind
lot
[the] number
public
staff
team
Thus, if we’re talking about eggs, we could say “A dozen is probably not enough.” But if we’re talking partying with our friends, we could say, “A dozen are coming over this afternoon.” The jury delivers its verdict. [But] The jury came in and took their seats…
E]Subject placed after verb
The words there and here are never subjects.
There are two reasons [plural subject] for this.
There is no reason for this.
Here are two apples.
With these constructions (called expletive constructions), the subject follows the verb but still determines the number of the verb.
F]finally, there are nouns that maintain their Latin or Greek form in the plural. (See media and data and alumni, below.)
more than one nucleus = nuclei
more than one syllabus = syllabi
more than one focus = foci
more than one fungus = fungi
more than one cactus = cacti (cactuses is acceptable)
more than one thesis = theses
more than one crisis = crises*
more than one phenomenon = phenomena
more than one index = indices (indexes is acceptable)
more than one appendix = appendices (appendixes is acceptable)
more than one criterion = criteria
A handful of nouns appear to be plural in form but take a singular verb:
The news is bad.
Gymnastics is fun to watch.
Economics/mathematics/statistics is said to be difficult. (“Economics” can sometimes be a plural concept, as in “The economics of the situation demand that . . . .”)
Numerical expressions are usually singular, but can be plural if the individuals within a numerical group are acting individually:
Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money.
One-half of the faculty is retiring this summer.
One-half of the faculty have doctorates.
Fifty percent of the students have voted already.
And another handful of nouns might seem to be singular in nature but take a plural form and always use a plural verb:
My pants are torn. (Nowadays you will sometimes see this word as a singular “pant” [meaning one pair of pants] especially in clothing ads, but most writers would regard that as an affectation.)
Her scissors were stolen.
The glasses have slipped down his nose again.</p>
<p>3.ERROR IN PARALLELISM AND CONSTRUCTION
A sentence which contains a series of related ideas must be expressed in the same grammatical form.
Correlative expressions (both, and; not, but; not only, but also; either, or; first, second, third; and the like) should be followed by the same grammatical construction. Many violations of this rule can be corrected by rearranging the sentence.
Faulty Parallelism Corrected Version
It was both a long ceremony and very tedious. The ceremony was both long and tedious.
A time not for words, but action A time not for words, but for action
Either you must grant his request or incur his ill will. You must either grant his request or incur his ill will.
My objections are, first, the injustice of the measure; second, that it is unconstitutional. My objections are, first, that the measure is unjust; second, that it is unconstitutional.
By this principle, an article or a preposition applying to all the members of a series must either be used only before the first term or else be repeated before each term.
Faulty Parallelism Corrected Version
The French, the Italians, Spanish, and Portuguese The French, the Italians, the Spanish, and the Portuguese
In spring, summer, or in winter In spring, summer, or winter (In spring, in summer, or in winter)</p>
<p>Shifts in verb tense and voice
Donot change the tense
Eg. Incorrect:his hobbies are painting, making sculptures and surfing.
correct: He his hobbies are painting, sculpting and surfing.
Donot shift from the active to the passive voice as far as possible
Eg: he completed his work shift and toward home he headed.
Correct: he completed his work shift and headed toward home.
Change in person
Dont change the pronouns.
One should not visit the suburbs of the city as you can fall in trouble there.
Correct:one should not visit the suburbs of the city as one can fall in trouble there.
Correct: you should not visit the suburbs of the city as you can fall in trouble there.</p>