Nam&
Date’
in Sentences
Teaching
In some sentences, t.he ptacemer~t of {he subject and verb makes it hard to choose
the right¯verb form¯
: ¯"
,’
¯ " ’~ts¯subject,
’"
" pre,dicate
nominative.
A. predicate
A verb alwaY~ agrees with
never w~th
a
nominative !s a ndun or pron.oun that follows a linking ve.rb an~ names or explains
the subject¯ In .thede examples, the su.bject is un.derlined once;.the predicate
nominative is underlined twice¯
The ~ in this area is ~areless.~.
’
Careless ~ are the dan~er..
A subject can follow a verb oreome between, parts of a verb phrase in tl~e
following types of sentences ’ - - " .... ,.’
As questions: Bees.thi~ watcht’ewer el/erleek the e~ti~e fore~t?
This ~ does overlook the e6tire fo~:es~. ’
..
Beginning With Here or There: }-lore a~e.the’volunteer~hters..
The volunteer~ are here. ¯
¯ ’ Beginning With a phrase: Over th~ tre~s rises a smoky p~
A smoky ~ rises over th~ trees.
The easy way to find t~e,true: subject of these sentences id to~ (1) turn the :
sentence aro.und so that the subject comes befgre the¯verb (2) de~ermine whether
the subject is singula~ or u~ural; and (3) make sure the subject and verb agree.
Solving AgreementProbiems
In each sentence~ find and underline the subject¯ Th~n underlinethe correct verb.
1. (Is, ~re) you able t6 imagine a trip through rimet0 Cleveland in 1944?.
¯ 2. The sound. (is, are} twd explosions of tanks of ~aturalgas within
20 minutes of each Other. ’
..
3. There iwas, were) a leak in oneof the huge tanks..
’ ""
4. ~he results of the leak andthe explosions (is, are). a disaster¯
S~ Su.rroundit~g¯the.tanks (i~, are! fac!ori.es and, many small hpmes...
6. Because of the intense flash.of heat, there (is, are) rnany p~ople killed instantly.
7. In addition to the first destruction (come, comes) many scattered exptosio0s.in
~hestree:~s.
..
""
’
"’ ’"
Rbw
(does,
do)firefigh~ei~
cope
with
vaporizing
gas running into sewersand,
8.
~rom time to time; blowi0g out manhole covers?
9. ~lirough 20 blocks of the city (spread., spreads} the vicious flames.
.10. Running from piece to place (is, are) people searching for family members.
’ 11. Miraculous escapes (is, are) the mos{ exciting topicofdiscussion.
12. Soon~ around the burning district is, are) s.helters set up in schools and ~hurches.
13. The host in human lives (is, ard) 130 people hilled,
"
14. Also, there (is, are) 79 homes, 2 factoriesl 217 ca~, 7 trailers, a.nd l.tr&ctor. "
destroyed..
G~dvn~, USAO~, AND Mgctr,~,acs WoP, m3ooK
1"27
’Date
Name
Agreemeni Problems inSentences
More Practice.
A. Solving Agre’ement Pr~)blems
In each sentence, find and underline the subject. Then write the present tense
form of the verb that agrees with th.e subject.
1. Among the earliest ~ecor~led disasters (be) the Gredt Fire of L’oBdon
¯ . in 1666 thatdes;~royed !3,000 houses and displace,d 80 000 people.
2. Incredibly, fl?e number of people.killed in the Great fire (be) only.six!
3. One benefit o,f. the ~:ire (be)many h~ndsome I~uilding~ erected¯
after the fire that are still ~tanding.
4. Simultaneous with the Great Chicago Fire of 18)1 (occui) the forest
fiEe~ Sf Michigan find Wisconsin. "
5. Outof the b~ne-dry forests iblaze) a raging wall of flame that engulfs
the iumber town of Peshtigo,Wi~consin.
"
6. How (be) violknt windstorms leashed in?
7. The fierywind~ (be) the death of 1.,200 townspeople, 900 r~ore than
the numbe@il!ed ip the fire of Chicago tha:[ sarhe night.
.& Against the doors of a burning N&w Yoik nightclub (push) hundreds ’
. of doomed patrons. "
.
9..In tl~e nightbluls, filled-with 1,000 people, there (be) on!y one
. revolving door and one other door, opening inward.
1_10. Why (dd) the public a~d their city administrations wait for disasters
to push them into regulating safety conditions?
..
B. Correcting Agreement Errers
..
¯ Find the four sentences in this paragraph in which the verb does not agree with the.
subject. On .th,e lines below, write th~ number ofeaqh of tho~e sentences and tl~e
¯ co[rect verb forms: "
(I} HgW is fire prevention carried out for the pu.b.lic? (2} .High pn the list of
prevention measures come inspection of public buildings and private homes.
(3} Also in use are safety edqcationof the public and arsor~ investigations.
. (4) In every city there, s~commuhication systeoqs like the telephone, fi~e
¯ alarm boxes, and automatic’signaling devices to alert firefighters.to fires or
explosions. (5} Do every fire department haye the main kinds of trucks-pumpers, ladder trucks and rescue vehicles? (~} Some necessary equ pment
arefire resistant coa{s, boots, gloves, helmets and magks,
128 GRAMMAr, USAe~, AND M~CHA~CS W0m’CB0O~
d
Name
Agreement Problems in Sentences
Application
Revising for Sentence Variety and Agreement
The following paragraph contains sentences with unusual subject-verb placement
that makes them overly dramatic. In addition, several of the sentences have errors
in subject-verb agreement. Revise the paragraph to sound more natural by using
normal subiect-verb order in a few of the sentences. Remember to make all verbs
agree with their subjects and keep verbs in the present tense.
Perhaps one of America’s most devastating national disasters are the San
Francisco earthquake. With a violent trembling on the morning of April 18,
1906, shakes the earth. Severely damaged are the city electric wires, gas
mains, and water mains. Into flame shoots many hundreds of homes and
other buildings. At a total standstill is all communication and water availability.
As a result, there rages fires unchecked for three days. Gone are the lives
of 3,000 people. Gone is 300,000 homes. Wiped out is 28,000 commercial
buildings lying in total ruin. Here in the aftermath of one of the world’s worst
city conflagrations are lost $500 million. But here also from out of the tragedy
rises a new city and a new hope. And, unbelievably, here, less than ten years
later, proudly opens the Panama Pacific International Exposition honoring the
newly launched Panama Canal.