Paola Catenaccio
Lingua Inglese 1 LIN 2013-2014
Lesson 5
Formal writing and prescriptive grammar rules
http://www.spellchecker.net/grammar/
Subject – verb agreement/disagreement
Prescriptive grammar rules
• Based on Anglosaxon educational
tradition
• Often grammar checkers
(online/software) refer to them
• Many native speakers refer to them in
formal writing
Subject-verb agreement
My brother lives in
Peru
My family live in South
America
Ten dollars was spent
altogether.
My siblings live in
Spanish-speaking
countries
Complete the following sentences using is/are,
was/were, has/have or doesn’t/don’t and other
suitable words. Be careful to make nouns, pronouns
and verbs agree.
Most of the staff_________________________________
1.Most of the staff
___________________________________
2.Two hours of typing on this report
____________________________________
3.None of the winners
___________________________________.
4.The biggest timewaster in our company
meetings____________________________.
Three ‘prescriptive’ principles
The meaning principle
The proximity principle
The principle of non-intervention
The meaning principle
Subject conceived of as single entity  singular verb
agreement
 Collectives
 Words expressing time, distance, money
 None /Neither/Either
Collectives?
staff, committee,
police, family,
cattle, money,
team
Collectives
Grammatical, not semantic category
• Collectives: staff, family, committee, team…
• Plural nouns: police, cattle (+ ARE)
• Singular nouns: money
Collectives: singular vs. plural agreement
The Rossi family IS suing Fiat for
the accident.  A single entity:
singular agreement
My family LIVE in the USA 
Distinct individuals: plural
agreement
Words expressing time, distance, money
 Two hours of typing on this report
____________________________________________
 I can’t be bothered to take the car. 200 miles
___________ too far to drive in one day.
 350 euros _______ like a good price to me for a new Ipad
 500000 euros in small denomination notes were lying
under the sofa.
The meaning principle?
None of the winners …
The biggest timewaster in our company meetings …..
Proofreading
Focus on the subject-verb agreement in
these sentences.
Are the sentences correct?
1. Either the computer terminals or the printer are not
working.
2. Neither the factory workers nor the trade union
representative have agreed to the pay cut.
3. There are a vending machine and two telephones in
the common room.
4. The CEO along with their management team is
expected to fly in from London.
5. She works for one of the first companies that was
awarded the prestigious ‘Sustainable Business’ prize.
 The proximity principle
Agreement must be made with
subject noun nearest to verb
The proximity principle
1. Either the computer terminals or the printer are not
working.
2. Neither the factory workers nor the trade union
representative have agreed to the pay cut.
3. There are a vending machine and two telephones in
the common room.
The proximity principle
There is/*are a photocopier and two computers in the
staffroom.
There are/*is two computers and a photocopier in the
staffroom.
There’s no room - either a chair or two tables have/*is
got to be moved.
There’s no room - either two tables or a chair has/*have
got to be moved
The principle of non-intervention
Ignore all plural forms in intervening
prepositional phrases
4. The
CEO along with their management
team is expected to fly in from London.
5. She works for one of the first
companies that was awarded the
prestigious ‘Sustainable Business’ prize.
The principle of non-intervention
The Prime Minister, as well as several
Cabinet Ministers, believes/*believe in a
tough financial policy.
The Managing Director, together with
heads of department, is/*are preparing a
new budget.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sv_agr.htm