Lesson 2

Review of Basic Grammar Rules

Objectives:
1. Review basic grammar rules through a variety of activities;
2. Show your appreciation of the importance of knowing the basic grammar
rules;
3. Use the rules as a resource to communicate more effectively.
PRE-TASK
Below are excerpts from the lyrics of some songs. Sing them if you know the
songs. What are the italicized words? What do you notice about these words?
LOVE MOVES IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS
Love moves in mysterious ways
It’s always so surprising
When love appears over the horizon.
I’ll love you for the rest of my days.
But still, it’s a mystery
How you ever came to me
Which only proves
Love moves in mysterious ways.

WONDERFUL TONIGHT
It’s late in the evening, she’s wondering what clothes to wear
She puts on her make-up and brushes her long blonde hair.
And then she asks me, “Do I look all right?”
And I say, “Yes, you look wonderful tonight.”
We go to a party and everyone turns to see
This beautiful lady that’s walking around with me.
And then she asks me, “Do you feel all right?”
And I say, “Yes, I feel wonderful tonight.”

Essential Questions:
1. Do you see a pattern in terms of subject and verb combinations? Identify it.
2. What generalizations can you make about the subject-verb combinations?

DISCUSSION
One of the many important grammar rules is the subject-v and verb agreement.
The basic principle for subject and verb agreement is: singular subjects take
singular verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs. A detailed review of some of
the rules of subject-verb agreement is as follows.
The Rules of Subject- Verb Agreement in Standard English
1. Subjects and verbs must agree in number.
My husband generally fixes things that break around the house.
In the United States, parents control their children only until a certain age
after which children become independent.

2. Nouns that have two parts take plural verbs (trousers, glasses scissors,
binoculars, etc).
The trousers you gave don’t fit me.
Where are Grandma’s glasses?

3. Intervening words between the subject and the verb do not affect the
agreement.
President Duterte, along with his support staff and cohorts visit the
provinces that are unlikely to give them their votes come May 2022
elections.
 The class president, together with his adviser, is attending the seminar on
responsible voting.

4. Prepositional phrases between the subject and the verb usually usually do
not affect the agreement.
The way of life (in small villages far from the big cities) is mostly quiet
because there are few people living there.
Living (in big cities) almost always causes stress because of traffic jams and
too many people.

5. The verb in a subordinate clause agrees with the antecedent of the relative
pronoun (who that, which).
Adrian (who writes the report) is a future police officer.
The tools (that were taken from the factory) were donated to the
community.

6. When sentences start with the expletive there or here, the subject will
always be after the verb; care needs to be taken to identify it correctly.
There are more than three million farms of all sizes in the Philippines.
There is resistance towards the Republic Health Law from different sectors.
Here is the report you were asking me to submit.
Here are my computations of the grades of my NSTP students.
7. Subjects don’t always appear before verbs in interrogative sentences.
Make sure you accurately identify the subject before deciding the correct
form of the verb to use.
Are children in the grade school capable of understanding sex education?
Does he understand that there are requirements to be complied with
before he graduates?

8. A compound subject or a series of subjects joined by and typically requires a

plural verb form.
Inflation and unemployment are serious economic problems.
 My sister and my nephew enjoy playing video games together.

9. When infinitives and gerunds are used as subject of a sentence, they take
the singular form of the verb, but when they are separated by and, they
take the plural form of the verb.
To write essays requires great skill.
To play the guitar and to sing are the things she loves to do during her
leisure hours.
Drinking alcoholic drinks as a form of bonding with friends, is a bad idea.
Skiing and sky diving are his hobbies.

10. If the elements of the compound subjects refer to one and the same
person or thing, or to things that are closely associated with each other, a
singular verb is used.
My friend and cousin regularly comes to visit me every month.
BUT: My friend and my cousin (= two individuals) are sweethearts.
Rice and fish remains to be the staple food of many Filipinos.

11. If one of the words each, every or no comes before the subject, the verb is
singular.
No smoking, eating or drinking is allowed in the hall.
Every boy or girl is entitled to a free ticket in the not.
Each student is required to preregister before the end of the month.

12. Elements of compound subjects joined by correlatives or, nor, either or,
neither nor, not only/but also require singular verbs if both subjects are
singular, and plural verbs if both subjects are plural. But if the elements
differ in number (singular and plural; plural and singular), the verb agrees
with the nearer subject.
Neither the mayor nor the vice-mayor is liable to the authorities.
Either the jail wardens or the jail administrators are liable to the crime of
the murder of the government official.
The mother or the father is leaving for the States to witness the wedding of
the daughter.
The procedure or the ingredients are wrong.
 Neither the technicians nor the building custodian is willing to accept the
responsibility for the failure of the project.
Neither she nor I am going to the festival.

13. Expressions like each, every, either, neither require singular verbs. If they
are used as modifier, the words modified also require singular verbs.
Each person has a certain goodness in his heart.
Either restaurant is expensive.
Neither student was qualified for the scholarship.
Every parent is responsible for his children.

14. A number calls for a plural verb; the number calls for a singular verb.
A number of interested applicants have queued early at the job fair
sponsored by the TV network.
The number of contestants at the talent show is amazing.

15. Units of measurements, amount of money, period of time, distance, etc.

take a singular verb
Forty years of government service of mother makes her family proud.
Two thousand four hundred milligrams of Fish oil is her daily intake.
Fifty thousand pesos is her monthly take-home pay.
Ten kilometers is the distance enough to consume one liter of gasoline.

16. The expressions one of, many a, not one require singular verbs.
Many a child gets amazed at the wonders of technology.
One of the issues posed against RH law is abortion.
Not one student who works hard in every subject will fail.

17. Indefinite pronouns anybody, everybody, everyone, somebody, one,

anyone, anything typically take singular verbs.
Anybody (anyone, everybody, everyone, somebody, one) who is registered
should exercise his right to vote in the coming national elections.
Somebody has reported the incident to the police.
Anything (everything) happens for a reason.
18. Indefinite pronouns few, a few, many, several, majority, both, all, some
typically take plural verbs.
Few ( a few, many, several, majority, some) were able to survive the flood.
Several have expressed their desire to volunteer their participation in the
PPCRV.
Many are considered as nuisance candidates.

NOTE: We also use all ( not everything) to mean “the only thing(s)” and
therefore takes a singular verb.
All that I gave her was my moral support.
To have some delicadeza is all that is asked of you.

19. The pronoun it in subject position requires a singular verb.

It takes a lot of courage to embark on a business.
To be part of the working group, it is necessary that you attend the series of
meetings.

20. Some collective nouns usually require singular verbs, but when the
collective nouns refer to the individuals that comprise it, the plural verb is
used. Examples of the collective nouns are audience, company, family,
team, staff, committee, etc.
The police (=they) are investigating who are liable for the accident that
killed the innocent child. (not The police/ A police
is….hasn’t….was) Note , however that we say a
police officer/ a policeman/ a policewoman.
The government (=they) of the present administration want to increase
taxes.
The crowd (=it or a unit) unanimously applauds the performers.
The family (=it or as a unit) that prays together stays together.

21. Some words ending in -ics (electronics, economics, gymnastics, physics,

mathematics, politics, athletics) are usually singular.
Physics like Mathematics was my daughter’s hated subject in high school.
Gymnastics is one of the sports taken by college students in Physical
Education.
22.Some words ending in -s can be singular or plural.
means a means of communication several means of communications
series a drama series three drama series
species a species of frog ten species of frog

Sending e-mails is one means of fast communication nowadays.

Sending e-mails, sending text messages, and video conferencing are
several means of easy and fast communication nowadays.

23. Titles of books, movies, novels, etc. are treated as singular and take
singular verbs.
Leading Minds by Howard Gardner is a study of the lives of great leaders.
Learning English in Context is a title of a grammar book for college
freshmen.

24. The + adjective (without a noun) to talk about groups of people, take
plural verbs.
the young (= the young people) the homeless the poor
the rich (= the rich people) the disabled the unemployed
the blind (= the blind people) the powerful the powerless

The rich are in a position to help the poor and the homeless.
The powerful sometimes use their position at the expense of the helpless.

25. Final rule – Remember, only the subject affects the verb!
NOTE:
Here’s the trick: know whether the subject is singular. The next trick is
recognize a singular or plural verb.

Remember: Verbs do not form their plural form by adding an _s as nouns

do. Verbs ending is _s are singular and verbs not ending in _s are plural.
 Quiz on Basic English Grammar 01

TASK 1. Read each of the sentences below, and identify the appropriate word
to complete each sentence. (10 pts)

1. The issue between the Philippines and China over the territory
Scarborough Shoal _____ (continue, continues) to be controversial.
2. The class president, together with the other class officers _____ (are, is)
required to attend the convention.
3. Evelyn and Edith who _____ (run, runs) a copy center in town (have, has)
decided to expand their business.
4. There _____ (are, is) several reasons why you should reconsider your
decision.
5. The President’s style of dealing with issues and problems _____ (have, has)
always been criticized.

TASK 2. Give the correct form of the verb in parentheses. (10pts)

1. My sister or my brother _____ (e-mail) me every day.

2. Majority of the population _____ (verb to be) aware of the effects of
inflation.
3. Some of the performers _____ (verb to be, simple past tense) were at the
party after the concert.
4. Both Sem. Justin and Sem. Jasper _____ (visit, present continuous) their
loved ones in the province.
5. Either the father or the children _____ (visit to be) liable to the accident.

TASK 3. Spot the error. Most of the sentences below are grammatically
incorrect. Underline the word or group of words which makes the sentence
wrong. Correct the error when necessary, bearing in mind the subject-verb
agreement rules. Number 1 is done for you as guide.

1. There was a police directing the traffic in the busy street.

 Correct sentence: There was a police officer directing the traffic in the busy
street.

2. The losing candidate believed that a number of votes in his favor has been
uncounted and miscounted.

Correct sentence:

3. The blind is able to read by a special gadget.

Correct sentence:

4. Many does not have the means to support their family.

Correct sentence:

5. The shoes by the door needs to be placed somewhere else.

Correct sentence:

6. Either I get a lot of work done during the day or does nothing at all.

Correct sentence:

7. Unemployment, not to mention high taxes, influence votes.

Correct sentence:

8. Both the twins is visiting the grandparents in the province.

 Correct sentence:

9. Twenty million gallons of oil are a lot of oil.

Correct sentence:

10. Athletics keep her busy most of the time.

Correct sentence:

TASK 4. Put there is or there was, there is or there wasn’t; it is/isn’t or it

was/wasn’t. Some sentences are in question form is/ isn’t there?
Was/wasn’t there? And some are negative isn’t it/ wasn’t it?

1. The trip took several hours. (There was) a lot of traffic.

2. ( ) trouble in our barangay last night. My sister had to

call the police.

3. What was interesting about the royal wedding? ( ) the

kissing at the balcony.

4. Do you like foreign food? ( ) hard for me to get used to it.

5. ( ) anything interesting on television last night. I turned

it off and went to bed.

6. ( ) a perfect day yesterday to go to the beach. It was

sunny.

7. ( ) an accident? What is the reason for the traffic jam?

 8. Look at the sky. ( ) an impending storm that has been
reported in the news.

9. ( ) a long queue to the cinema on the opening day of

the movie of John Lloyd Cruz and Sarah Geronimo.

( ) five years or more since I had last watched a movie at the

theater.