Agreement of the verb with the subject
(Number & Person)
I watch T.V.
You watch T.V.
He watches T.V.
They watch T.V.
1. When First and Second person (I, You) and Third person plural (They) have ‘watch’ as their verb, Third person singular (He, She, It, singular nouns) has ‘watches’. Thus, the verbs are used in such a way to agree with its subject in person & number.
|
Singular verb |
Plural verb |
|
The girl dances. The dog barks. |
The girls dance. The dogs bark. |
‘Be’ form verbs
|
First Person
Second Person
Third Person |
SINGULAR |
PLURAL |
||
|
Present |
Past |
Present |
Past |
|
|
I am
You are
He is She is It is |
I was
You were
He was She was It was |
We are
You are
They are |
We were
You were
They were |
|
2. Two or more singular subjects connected by ‘and’ take a verb in the plural
Oil and
water don’t mix.
He and his
friends have arrived.
John and Mary go to the same school.
3. When the singular nouns refer to the same person or thing, they take a singular verb.
My uncle and guardian wants me to study medicine.
The Orator
and States man is no more.
*My uncle
and my guardian want me to study medicine.
4. When two subjects together express one idea, it takes a singular verb.
Slow and steady wins
the race.
Age and experience brings
wisdom to man.
Bread and butter is what they want.
5. When singular nouns connected by ‘and’ are preceded by ‘each” or ‘every’ , they are followed by a singular verb
Each man and each woman has
a vote.
The ship was wrecked and every man, woman and child was drowned.
6. When singular nouns connected by ‘or’, ‘either’......or’, ‘neither....nor’, they are followed by a singular verb
Neither John nor Jim has
any right to the property.
Either Tom or Mary has
to be selected.
Neither food nor water was to be found there.
7. When the subjects joined by ‘or’, ‘nor’ are of different numbers, the verb must be plural and the plural subject must be placed before the verb
Neither John nor his friends
were there.
Mary or her sisters have done this.
8. When the subjects connected by ‘or’ or ‘nor’, they should be arranged in proper order – second person (spoken to) third person (spoken of) first person (the speaker) – You, He, I.
Neither he
nor I have enough money to pay the fee.
Either you or John has to pay the fee.
9. When collective nouns are used as subjects, singular verbs are used when the group is thought of as a single unit and plural verbs are used when the individual members of the group are thought of.
A
committee was appointed to study the case.
The committee were divided on the issue of the salary for the employees.
10. Though some nouns are plural in form, they are singular in meaning. So, they are followed by singular verbs.
Politics is
a dirty game.
‘Gulliver’s
Travels’ is an interesting book.
The news is
too good to be true.
The wages of sin is death.
11. When the subject is a sum of money considered as a single whole, the singular verb is used. When they are considered separately, plural verb is used.
A thousand dollars is not a
small amount.
A thousand dollars were distributed among the prize winners.
12. When words joined to a singular subject by ‘with’, ‘together with’, ‘as well as’, they don’t affect the number. Because they are actually parenthetical.
The Rebel, with all his men,
was killed.
John, as well as Jim, deserves a share.
13. When the subject of the verb is a relative pronoun the verb agrees with the antecedent of the relative.
You, who are my
friend, should help me.
He, who is my friend,
should not insult me.
She is one of the best
mothers that have ever lived.
NON-FINITE VERBS
He always finds fault with me.
(Finite verb)
He always tries to find fault with
me. (Non-finite verb)
They always try to find fault with me (Non-finite verbs)
The verbs that are limited by Persons and Numbers are called Finite verbs. But the verbs with certain feature of the noun (naming the action denoted by the verb) which are not limited by Persons and Numbers are called Non-finite verbs.
There are three kinds of Non-finite verbs.
1.
The infinitive
: to write, to speak, to have written
2.
The participle : writing, speaking (Present
participle), written, spoken (Past participle
3. The gerund : writing, speaking
1. INFINITIVES
He wants to write a
letter. (to infinitive)
I ought to
have written a letter. (to infinitive)
You can meet him.
(bare infinitive)
Let him enter the room. (bare infinitive)
The
infinitives that are used with ‘to’ are called to-infinitive and without
‘to’ are called bare infinitives.
a. bare - infinitives
The bare infinitives are used after the auxiliaries, shall, should, will, would, many, might, do, did, can, could, must, need, dare.
You can
manage it.
The boys
must obey the rules.
You need
not go.
He dare not refuse.
*When dare and need are used as main verbs they will be followed by to-infinitive.
We need
two months to complete the work.
Did he
dare to say that?
The
bare infinitives are used after the verbs like bid, watch, see, let, make,
help, hear etc.
Let her sit down.
They made me wait.
Help him lift the box.
I saw him do it.
They watched her jump.
Bare
infinitives are used after rather, better, had better
I would rather go away now.
You had better go home.
I would rather die than suffer so.
Bare-infinitive
are used after the prepositions like but, except, save and than.
They do nothing all day except
complain.
She can do everything but cook.
What could I do save scold the
fellow?
The men said they would starve rather than
surrender.
Bare-infinitives can be rewritten as to-infinitives
|
He can sing.
Let them enter.
They bade me go.
I will dismiss him.
I must help him. |
He is able to sing.
Allow them to enter.
They asked me to go.
I am determined to dismiss him.
I ought to help him. |
b. to-infinitives
to-infinitives are used as nouns to form the subject
of sentences.
To find fault with
others is easy.
To err is human.
to-infinitives are used as nouns to form the objects
of transitive verbs.
John likes to read detective
stories. (likes what?)
Mary decided to resign her
post. (decided what)
to-infinitives are also used as complements of the
subjects.
The best thing to do now is to
vanish.
Actually your duty is to
support her.
to-infinitives are used as adjectives qualifying the
nouns.
It is time to go.
That was a sight to see.
This is exactly the thing to
remember.
to-infinitives are also used as adverbs modifying the
verbs.
They are anxious to leave.
The visitor rose to speak.
I come to bury
Caesar.
Active and passive forms of to-infinitive
|
Present tense Present perfect tense Present continuous |
Active |
Passive |
|
To help To have helped To be helping |
To be helped To have been helped
|
2. THE PARTICIPLE
The present participles or verbal adjectives (ing-form) represent an action that’s going on and incomplete (an unfinished action) where as past participles (end with –ed, -t, -en) represent a completed action.
Hearing
a loud sound, we rushed out of the room.
I saw a
boy running across the field.
Seeing
a police man on the road, the boy stopped his bike.
We saw a goods train loaded with wheat.
The perfect participles represent actions that have been completed sometime in the past.
Having
given the message, the man left.
Not
having applied in time, he could not get the scholarship.
Having
been elected to Rajya Sabha, he went to New Delhi.
Participles are used to form the continuous and
perfect tenses.
I am/was/will be writing.
(Continuous tenses)
I have/had/will have written. (Perfect tenses)
Participles are used as adjectives.
A rolling stone gather no moss.
He is fighting a losing
battle.
Don’t cry over spilt milk.
Participles are used as predicates.
The
man looked worried.
The story was exciting.
Participles are used as nouns with articles before
them.
The
wounded and dying were taken to the hospital.
The dead leave their blessing upon the living.
Participles are used as adverbs modifying an
adjective.
It is dripping wet.
I am dead tired
It is freezing cold
*As participles are verb-adjectives,
they should be related to a proper subject otherwise the meaning will change.
Having
bitten the postman, the farmer decided to shoot the dog. (Who bit? Whether the
dog or the farmer...)
The dog
having bitten the postman, the farmer decided to shoot the dog.
Being a
small cot, he could not sleep on it. (Whether he is a cot...)
It being a
small cot, he could not sleep on it.
3. THE GERUND OR VERBAL NOUN
The verbs ending in-ing and used as
nouns are called Gerunds or Verbal nouns.
Singing
is his hobby.
I like shooting.
He doesn’t
like being seen in their company. (Passive)
John was
charged with having shot a deer. (Perfect)
He complained of having been tortured by the police. (Perfect, passive)
Gerunds are used as the subjects of
verbs.
Smoking is prohibited.
Climbing mountains is a good sport.
Gerunds are used as the objects of
verbs.
He loves driving sports car.
They enjoy swimming in the sea.
Gerunds
are used as subject complements.
Our urgent need is building the
bridge.
Our mistake was, trusting the manager and neglecting the advice of the accountant.
Gerunds
are used as objects of the prepositions.
He is fond of seeing movies.
We can finish the work only by burning
the midnight oil.
He was punished for telling a lie.
Gerunds
are used as nouns
His paintings have been recognised
worldwide.
Partings are always painful.
With
prepositions gerunds are used generally.
He is confident of winning the election.
(Not to win)
We were prevented from entering the room.
(Not to enter)
He is thinking of visiting Kashmir. (Not to visit)
Gerunds
are used in certain compound-words.
Writing-table; Walking-stick
Frying-pan; Sleeping-bag
*They insisted
on my resigning the post. (Not on me)
They objected to John’s playing for Indian
Railways. (Not John)
We were shocked at Prime Minister Indira Gandhi being assassinated. (Not Indira Gandhi’s)
Notes
PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE (MALAYALAM) PART – 14
– VERBS – 2
Verbs 2 – Agreement of the verb with subject (concord), Non-finite verbs
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