6 Questions
Which of the following verb tenses requires the use of 'will' or 'shall' to form the future tense?
Future tense
Which type of pronoun takes a singular verb form?
Indefinite pronoun
What is the correct verb form for a compound subject connected by 'and'?
Plural
Which collective noun is always singular?
News
How are collective nouns treated in terms of verb agreement when the group is considered as a unit?
As a singular
What happens when the individual members of a collective noun are emphasized?
The verb form is plural
Study Notes
Verb Tenses
- Subject-verb agreement is affected by verb tenses:
- Present tense: verb agrees with the subject in number (singular or plural)
- Past tense: verb agrees with the subject in number, but some irregular verbs have different forms
- Future tense: verb agrees with the subject in number, using "will" or "shall" to form the future tense
Singular and Plural Subjects
- Singular subjects:
- Take a singular verb form
- Examples: cat, student, city
- Plural subjects:
- Take a plural verb form
- Examples: cats, students, cities
- Special cases:
- Indefinite pronouns (everyone, someone, etc.): take a singular verb form
- Compound subjects (two or more nouns connected by "and"): take a plural verb form
Collective Nouns
- Collective nouns are groups of people, animals, or things:
- Examples: family, team, flock
- Collective nouns can be treated as singular or plural, depending on the context:
- Singular: when the group is considered as a unit (e.g. "The family is going on vacation.")
- Plural: when the individual members of the group are emphasized (e.g. "The family are all going to different colleges.")
- Some collective nouns are always singular (e.g. news, physics), while others are always plural (e.g. scissors, pants)
Verb Tenses
- Verb tense affects subject-verb agreement, with different rules for present, past, and future tenses.
- Present tense: verb agrees with subject in number (singular or plural).
- Past tense: verb agrees with subject in number, but some irregular verbs have different forms.
- Future tense: verb agrees with subject in number, formed using "will" or "shall".
Singular and Plural Subjects
- Singular subjects take a singular verb form.
- Examples of singular subjects: cat, student, city.
- Plural subjects take a plural verb form.
- Examples of plural subjects: cats, students, cities.
- Indefinite pronouns (e.g. everyone, someone) take a singular verb form.
- Compound subjects (two or more nouns connected by "and") take a plural verb form.
Collective Nouns
- Collective nouns are groups of people, animals, or things.
- Examples of collective nouns: family, team, flock.
- Collective nouns can be treated as singular or plural, depending on the context.
- Singular: when the group is considered as a unit.
- Plural: when individual members of the group are emphasized.
- Some collective nouns are always singular (e.g. news, physics).
- Some collective nouns are always plural (e.g. scissors, pants).
Test your understanding of verb tenses and their agreement with singular and plural subjects in English grammar. Learn how to form the present, past, and future tenses and identify the correct verb forms.
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