GRAMMATICAL CONCORD 4TH JUNE, 2021

Introduction: Every standard English language sentence

has some rules that govern the relationship among the
words used in the construction of such a sentence based
on how these words agree with one another mainly for
the purpose of making a sentence grammatically correct.
These rules guide the use of:
1. Number, as it relates to:
i. the subject and its verb such that a plural subject is
expected to take a plural verb and vice versa.
ii. Pronoun and its antecedent where the number and
person expressed by the pronoun determines what
the verb will be.
2. person, as it involves:
i. the pronoun and its antecedent in terms of person, number
and gender.
ii. shifts from one person to another in terms of number,
gender and person.
3. Gender, as it affects the pronoun and its antecedent,
4.Tense, as it relates to shifts from one tense to the other.
5. Voice, as it pertains to the shift from one tense to the other.
The rule that governs the above relationship in a sentence is
what is known as concord. Concord therefore is the
relationship between one word in a sentence or phrase and
some other words whereby, the form of one word is dictated
by another word. The word whose form is determined by the
other is said to agree with it.
Basically there are three rules of agreement in
English:
Agreement of the subject and its verb
Agreement of the pronoun and its antecedent
Agreement in grammatical constructions( as
regards person, number, tense and voice)
Subject-Verb Agreement:
According to the rule of concord in English, a
verb must agree with its subject in terms of
number. Thus, a plural subject would typically
go with a plural verb. For example: i. The boy is
hungry. ii. The students are ready.
the person expressed by the subject determines the person
expressed by the verb. For example, third person singular
pronouns will always go with third person verbs thus: i.
He eats a lot. ii. It rains every day. iii. She hates laziness
while the first and second person singular and first, second
and third person plural pronouns will go with plural verbs
(except in the case of certain auxiliary verbs). For
example: They eat late. I hate fools. iii. We jog always.
Notional Concord: Unlike the subject-verb agreement
discussed above where the verb must agree with its subject
in terms of number, the notional concord does not stipulate
so but rather, refers to the pairing of the idea of singularity
or plurality as contained in the subject and the verb such
that
if the idea of number a speaker has is in mind is that of
a single undivided body, then the verb used is singular
but if the idea or notion of the noun is that of a
collection of individuals or separate entities, a plural
verb is used even though there may be no plural marker
added to the noun. It must be stated here however that,
one must be consistent and stick to a particular idea of
number. For example:
• i. The government have failed Nigerians. (Different
tiers of government and their various appointees)
• ii. The government has failed Nigerians (a single unit
not looked at separately as comprising the different
levels of government with the various officials)
Pronoun Concord: According to the concord rule, the
pronoun must agree with the noun which is considered
its antecedent in terms of number, person and gender.
For example: i. Martha bought the car she has always
dreamt of. (Gender/number)ii. The man lost the money
he has been saving for years (Person)
Under the pronoun concord, the reflexive pronoun must
also agree with its antecedent in terms of number and
person and gender. This particular concord is also
known as the subject-object concord. For example:
i. She loves herself ii. He hurt himself. iii. You should
give yourself some rest.
Proximity Concord or Proximity Rule : In this particular
type of concord, the verb agrees with the subject closest to it
in terms of number irrespective of the number that
expressed by the main subject of the verb. For example:
i. No one except his friends believe him.
Remember that the main subject here is ‘’No one’’ which of
course should have gone with the singular verb ‘’believes.’’
However, because, ‘’friends’’ is closer to the verb, it has
influenced the verb to take up a plural form to agree with it.
Subject-Complement Concord:
This the agreement between the subject and the complement
to that same subject in terms of number and gender in some
cases. For example: i. She is a mother.(agreement in terms
of number and gender) ii. The men are doctors. (number)
Concord with Semi-coordinating Conjunctions:
This concord allows the verb to agree with the
headword i.e the first subject of the verb where two
subjects are joined together by a semi-coordinating
conjunction. If the first subject is singular, then the
verb must be singular, if plural, then the verb must be
plural. For example: The man as well as his children
is here.
In the case of those joined by correlative
conjunctions, if one of the subjects is plural and the
other singular, then the verb must agree with the
subject closest to it. For example: Either the student
or his classmates are lying.
Agreement in Constructions:
i. Agreement between voice and tense in
a sentence:
Unnecessary shifts in tense and voice should
be avoided. For example: i.’’ I taught the
students and their scripts were marked by
me’’ is wrong because there is a shift in the
grammatical voice where both the active and
passive voices have been used in the same
construction. The sentence should instead
read:
‘I taught the students and marked their scripts. Or The
students were taught by me and their scripts were (also)
marked by me.
ii. Agreement between the time expressed by the verb and
Adjuncts (the adverb or adverbials/prepositional
phrases). There must be agreement between the time
expressed by the verb and that expressed by the adverb,
adverbial phrase or adverbial clauses of time.
For example: It rained yesterday and not for instance: ‘It
rains yesterday’ where there is no agreement between the
time expressed by the verb and that of the adverb.
ii. I was on campus this morning and not ‘I am on campus
this morning. If you must express yourself thus, it should be:
I am on campus now or I am on campus at the moment.
iii. Avoid unnecessary shift in the subject with regards to
person and number e.g. i. I offered him money but they
declined is wrong rather, the sentence should read, I offered
him money but he declined.
• Principles/Rules of Concord
1. Singular nouns ending in –s should typically take singular
verbs. E.g. i. The news is very disturbing. ii. Mathematics is
my best subject.
2. When a subject consists of two or more nouns/noun phrases
being co-ordinated by ‘and’ the plural form of the verb should
be used. E.g. Martha and Mairo are colleagues. ii. The woman
and her son look alike. If the compound subject however
refers to the same person, then the singular verb should be
used for example: My sister and best friend means the world
to me. My student and class representative is so committed.
• Use a singular verb with subjects joined together by the
coordinating conjunction ‘and’ but are considered to be single
units e.g. Bread and tea is my favourite breakfast. ii. Bread
and butter is healthy for children. Rice and stew is a Nigerian
dish.
• Use singular verbs with gerunds even when they are joined by
a coordinating conjunction. E.g. Driving and sleeping is very
dangerous.
• Use a singular verb with subjects joined by correlative
conjunctions except were both subjects are in the plural form.
For example: Either the man or his wife is responsible. ii.
Neither the teacher nor the student wants an extension.
• Note: Apply the Proximity rule where one of the subjects
joined by a correlative is plural. Let the verb agree with the
one closest to it. E.g. Neither the children nor their father is
here.
• Use a singular verb with indefinite pronouns except
those that are plural in nature like some, many etc. E.g.
Everybody wants to travel. Nobody deserves to fail.
Someone is definitely not telling the truth.
• When semi coordinating conjunctions are used in
joining two subjects together, the verb must agree with
the first subject irrespective of the number expressed in
the subsequent subject .e.g. The man along with his
wives is here. ii. My students together with my friend
are travelling.
• Use a singular verb when the subject is a unit of time,
weight, measurement or money. For example:
i. Ten million naira is all I need. ii. Six and six is a dozen
iii. Thirty minutes is enough.