SVA Part 2

SVA Part 2

Collective Nouns (group, jury, crowd, team, etc.) may be singular or plural, depending on meaning.

Multiple Choice

What is the subject? A flock of birds (have/has) landed on my porch.

• flock

• birds

• porch

Multiple Choice

Is the collective noun (flock) singular or plural? A flock of birds (have/has) landed on my porch.

• Singular

• Plural

Multiple Choice

A flock of birds (have/has) landed on my porch.

• have

• has

Multiple Choice

What is the subject? The bunch of grapes (is/are) on the floor and the counter.

• Bunch

• Grapes

• Floor

• Counter

Multiple Choice

Is the Collective noun (bunch) singular or plural? The bunch of grapes (is/are) on the floor and the counter.

• Singular

• Plural

Multiple Choice

The bunch of grapes (is/are) on the floor and the counter.

• is

• are

Titles of single entities (books, organizations, countries, etc.) are always singular.

Multiple Choice

What is the subject: A Raisin in the Sun (was/were) the best book we've read all year

• A Raisin in the Sun

• Sun

• Book

Multiple Choice

A Raisin in the Sun (was/were) the best book we've read all year

• was

• were

Open Ended

Why is the verb singular for this sentence? A Raisin in the Sun was the best book we've read all year

Plural form subjects

Three different rules

Rule 1

Plural form subjects with a singular meaning take a singular verb. (e.g. news, measles, mumps, physics, etc.)

Multiple Choice

What is the subject of the sentence? Physics (is/are) my favorite subject.

• Physics

• Subject

Multiple Choice

Physics (is/are) my favorite subject.

• is

• are

Open Ended

But "Physics" ends in "s". That means it's plural, right? Explain why this is incorrect.

Plural rule #2

Plural form subjects with singular or plural meaning take a singular or plural verb, depending on meaning.  (e.g. politics, economics, etc.)

Multiple Choice

Economics (is/are) different from state to state.

• is

• are

Multiple Choice

The Economics that (is/are) distributed can vary from state to state.

• is

• are

Open Ended

Economics is the subject of both sentences. Explain why one sentence uses a plural verb and the other a singular.

Plural Rule #3

Plural form subjects with a plural meaning take a plural verb. (e.g.  scissors, trousers)

*Note:  In this example, the subject of the sentence is pair; therefore, the verb must agree with it. (Because scissors is the object of the preposition, scissors does not affect the number of the verb.)

Multiple Choice

My pants (was/were) laying on the bed

• was

• were

Multiple Choice

What is the subject? My pants were laying on the bed.

• Pants

• bed

• my

Multiple Choice

The pair of pants that my mom bought (is/are) ripped.

• is

• are

Multiple Choice

What is the subject? The pair of pants that my mom bought are ripped

• Pair

• pants

• mom