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 The problem of agreement can crop up in two areas in a sentence. You must have a verb that agrees with its subject. You also must have pronouns that agree with the words they are replacing (their antecedents).

The secret to agreement is finding which word you're trying to match in the sentence. In subject-verb agreement, you have to find the subject. In pronoun-antecedent agreement, you have to find the antecedent.

NOTE: I use the terms "verb" and "predicate" interchangeably, even though they are really different things. A predicate is always a verb, but a verb is not always a predicate. Don't worry about the distinction if you don't know it: Just know that when I say "verb" when talking about agreement, I mean the verb that is associated with the subject of the sentence.

Subject-Verb Agreement

If you have trouble finding subjects in sentences, use the review Finding Sentence Subjects.

Troublemaker Subjects

• If the subject isn't at the beginning of the sentence, you have to find it.

There were hundreds of mourners at the service Tuesday.

The subject is hundreds, not there. (Hundreds of mourners were there ... )

• If the subject looks plural but is really singular, use a singular verb.(Collective or uncountable nouns)

The series of accidents was enough to make her feel like a target.

Series is the subject; it's singular, even though it looks plural.

• If the subject is the word number, variety or majority, the article before it determines the verb number. Articles are the words a, an and the.

A number of events are planned for New Year's Eve.

The number of events is to be limited.

• If compound subjects are preceded by each or every, use a singular verb.

Each book and each dust jacket was inspected to be sure they matched.

BUT: The books and dust jackets each have to be inspected.

• If two or more subjects are joined by the correlative conjunctions either/or or neither/nor, the verb agrees with the subject closest to the predicate.

Neither Mary nor her children were happy.

Neither her children nor Mary was happy.

Usually the best way to handle this is to rewrite the sentence so that the plural subject is closest to the verb.

• Collective nouns can sometimes be thought of as a unit that requires a singular verb, or sometimes as the individual members of the unit, in which case, they need a plural verb. In most instances, however, the collective noun is considered singular. The team is, the committee is, the group is, the jury is ...

The family is planning a reunion.

The family are coming in throughout the weekend. (Again, a more pleasing sentence in the second example might be: "The family members are coming in ....")

Consult your texts and style book to be sure you can handle these nouns.

EXAM NOTE: On your exams, I will not ask you to make these judgments. The rule will be that collective nouns will ALWAYS be considered singular on the exam.

• If the subject is a relative pronoun (who, which, that), the verb must agree in number with the pronoun's antecedent.

The professor, who is new this year, was late to class.

The professors, who are new this year, were late to class.

Note: Read in your handbook about the problems presented when the phrase "one of" is a part of the sentence.

• If the subject is a commonly used foreign word or phrase, its status as singular or plural may be unfamiliar to you.

Consult your handbook.

The data are confusing.

The media are in a feeding frenzy.

• If the subject is an indefinite pronoun, use the following table to decide whether to use a singular or plural verb.

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

Always considered singular:

another	anything	every	everything	nobody	somebody
anybody	each	everybody	much	no one	someone
anyone	either	everyone	neither	nothing	something

Always considered plural:

both

few

many

others

several

Singular or plural, depends on use (see Breaking the Rule):

all

any

more

none

other

some

such

Breaking the Rule

One of the rules that students have to be hit over the head with when it comes to determining the number of a verb is to ignore the prepositional phrase following the subject.

The plate of cookies and sandwiches was quickly depleted.

Plate is the subject. You have to ignore the objects of the preposition of -- cookies and sandwiches.

However, because the language we're working with is English, of course there are exceptions to the rule. Here are a couple:

• When the subject is one of the "depends" indefinite pronouns, you must look at the object of the preposition to determine the number of the verb.

Most of the pie is gone.

Most of the students are hungry.

• When fractions are the subject, look to the object of the preposition for the number of the predicate.

Half (of) the pie was gone.

Half (of) the students were hungry.

Two-thirds of the pie is gone.

Two-thirds of the students are hungry.

Interference

You have to learn to ignore interference when you're looking for the right number for your predicate. One example is above -- ignoring the prepositional phrase in most cases.

There are other ways that words separate the subject from the verb. Watch for phrases such as as well as, in addition to, and including. The surest sign of interference is when a chunk of words between the subject and the verb is set off with commas (commas before and after). If so, you ignore the chunk.

The professor, as well as the students, was confused by the disruption.

The students, as well as the professor, were confused by the disruption.

The team -- including the coach, players and assistants -- was ready for the game.

The attorney, who spoke with passion about the unfairness of what had happened to the coach, the players and the assistants, was exhausted.

The coach, not the players, was to address the sportswriters.

The players, not the coach, were to address the sportswriters.

Something else to mess you up:

Here's another one of those words: predicate noun. It means a noun that follows the predicate.

He is a good sport. She is the vice president.

The predicate noun always follows a linking verb -- one of those kinds of verbs that doesn't show action, but rather "a state of being" -- like is, was, has.

Sometimes, the construction of the sentence with a predicate noun can make the choice of verb number difficult. The rule is -- ignore the predicate noun.

Candied apples are the best reason to go to the carnival.

The best reason to go to the carnival is candied apples.

In the first sentence, apples is the subject, so the verb is plural. The predicate noun is reason . In the second, reason is the subject so the verb is singular. The predicate noun is apples .

 Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

When we speak, we're very comfortable with pronouns. We "she" this and "he" that. Sometimes we try to be "too correct" and say, "That's between he and I."

That's wrong.

It's understandable that you would make that mistake. You hear the wrong use of pronoun cases on TV all the time.

Oddly enough, when writers begin trying to write in journalistic style, they avoid pronouns. They are so worried about using the wrong pronoun that they repeat a person's name over and over.

"James Brown was a cool dude. Brown was a well-known singer and performer in the late 1960s. Brown's dancing was particularly entertaining."

Can you say "he"?

Loosen up. Write like you talk.

What specifically is a pronoun? A pronoun takes the place of a noun and functions as a noun would function. (Or I could have written: "It takes the place … ." I would have been using It in place of A pronoun.)

One of those words

Here's one of those words you need to learn just for learning about pronouns. You may not ever use it again in your life, but you need it now. The word is antecedent.

A pronoun always refers to an antecedent -- a noun or pronoun that has appeared earlier in the sentence or in a previous sentence.

Example: James Brown was a well-known singer and performer in the late 1960s, and his dancing was particularly entertaining." (James Brown is the antecedent of the pronoun his.)

Example: What specifically is a pronoun? It takes the place of a noun. (Pronoun is the antecedent to the pronoun It.)

A lot like subject-verb agreement

The antecedent will control what number (singular or plural) of pronoun you use. Some of the errors you'll need to avoid (or repair on the exam) are related to subject-verb agreement problems. For instance, collective nouns are singluar, so not only do you need to use a singular verb, you also need to use a singular pronoun.

Example:

WRONG: The National Organization for Women were clear in their policy statement on single-sex marriages.

RIGHT: The National Organization for Women was clear in its policy statement on single-sex marriages.

("Women" is not the subject; the subject is the entire organization name, which is a collective noun and thus, singular. So you need a singular verb and a singular pronoun.)

Other "singles" that you'll want to make plural: A team is an it. A series is an it. A committee is an it. They/their is used only when the antecedent is plural. The teams play their last game Friday. BUT: The team plays its last game Friday.

The tricky part

Sometimes the antecedent to a pronoun can be another pronoun. Especially when indefinite pronouns are used, it's important to know whether it's singular or plural. Refer to the chart of indefinite pronouns above.

Even though this is how just about everyone says it, don't write:

Incorrect: Everyone at the party brought their own drinks.

Correct: Everyone at the party brought his own drinks.

Using the masculine pronoun when gender is either unknown or includes both male and female is called using the "generic he." The practice has become controversial. You can deal with the controversy in many ways, except by using a plural pronoun. That's just wrong.

In your own writing, it's best to avoid the problem if possible. For instance, you could write: "All the partygoers brought their own drinks." You've made the antecedent plural, so you can use a plural pronoun.

On the exams, though, you have to know when to use a singular pronoun. Your editor for this class (the instructor) has chosen to deal with the controversy by allowing you to use either singular pronoun, but not both.

CORRECT: Everyone at the party brought her own drinks.

OR: Everyone at the party brought his own drinks.

NOT: Everyone at the party brought his or her own drinks.

The trickiest part solved with a trick

The final kind of pronoun, the relative pronoun, brings in that old bugaboo, the who/whom conundrum. When do you use who and when do you use whom?

It's really a lot easier than you think. You could figure it out by deciding whether you need to use the subjective case (who) or the objective case (whom), but there's a simpler way.

Look at the sentence:

"He will give the prize to [whoever/whomever] deserves it."

Look just at the words following the relative pronoun. Then find the gap in those words -- what word would you need to fill in to make the sentence make sense?

In this sentence:

"…. deserves it."

Now, if you had to fill in the gap with either he or him, which would you use? You would use he, of course. "He deserves it."

If you would use he to fill the gap, use who or whoever. If you would use him to fill the gap, use whom or whomever.

So, the correct choice is "He will give the prize to whoever deserves it."

Now, try this one:

"She will go to the concert with [whoever/whomever] she likes."

Looking at only "she likes," the gap appears after the words:

"she likes ______." She likes he? NO. She likes him.

The correct use is "She will go to the concert with whomever she likes."

Finally, try these:

[Who/Whom] will win the election? (" ______ will win" "He will win")

Who will win the election?

[Who/Whom] is he meeting after class? ("he is meeting ______ after class."

"he is meeting him after class")

Whom is he meeting after class?

More relative pronouns

Who or whom is only used when you are talking about a human being (or a pet with a name). When you are writing about things, you use "which" or "that."

"Which" introduces a dependent clause that is nonessential to the sentence. The clause is set off by commas.

"That" introduces a dependent clause that is essential to the sentence. The clause is NOT set off by commas.

Whether a clause is essential or not is something we'll study later in the semester.

Possessive relative pronouns

Now that you have the who/whom trick so you don't have to really learn which relative pronoun is subjective and which is objective, and we've told you we won't be talking too much about essential and nonessential clauses until later, what's left?

The possessive relative pronoun.

Believe it or not, because there's no such word as "whichs," the "humanized" relative pronoun is used for inanimate possession too.

The woman whose husband spoke out left the room in tears.

The table whose leg is broken was removed from the room.

Finally, don't confuse whose with who's. Who's means "who is."

Note: When we get to sentence structure, we'll see that there are times to use "which" and times to use "that." Don't worry about it until then.

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