Subject-Verb Agreement- Interrupters and Inverted Sentences

Subject-Verb Agreement- Interrupters and Inverted Sentences

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Interrupters- Part I- Prepositional phrases

• INTERRUPTERS are not part of the subject. (Cross them out!) These include prepositional phrases and things set off by commas.

• Ex. The girl in the blues shoes is my sister.

• Pay attention to the subject and ignore the descriptive information. Who or what is the sentence about, or who or what is doing the action? Ex. Who is my sister? the girl, not the shoes

• Ex. The houses in my neighborhood are all purple.

• Ex. The first few minutes after the test were nerve-wracking.

Multiple Choice

The tadpoles swimming around any ordinary pond (is, are) our future frogs. What's the subject?

• tadpoles

• pond

Multiple Choice

The tadpoles swimming around any ordinary pond (is, are) our future frogs.

• is

• are

Multiple Choice

Frogs living on the bark of a tree (has, have) a similar coloring to the bark.

• has

• have

Interrupters- Part 2- Clauses with Commas

• Ignore clauses between commas. The subject is never between commas.

• Ex. The cookies, which are chocolate and peanut butter, are delicious.

• Ex. A frog, like human beings, breathes through lungs.

Multiple Choice

The frog, like other amphibious creatures, (lives, live) both in water and on land. What is the subject?

• frog

• creatures

Multiple Choice

The frog, like other amphibious creatures, (lives, live) both in water and on land.

• lives

• live

Multiple Choice

Frogs, inhabiting all areas of the world, (is, are) hardy creatures.

• is

• are

Inverted Sentences

• Inverted sentences mean that the subject does not come before the verb like with questions.

• Questions are inverted. They still have to have agreement.

• Ex. Why are birds so loud in the morning?

• Some sentences are written inverted, but they are unusual.

• Ex. Atop the mountain climbs the goat.

• Sentence that begin with "here" or "there" are inverted. You must find the subject.

• There was a black cat waiting at my door when I got home.

Inverted Sentences Tip

• You can revert the sentence to helpp find the subject and verb and to help check if it is correct.

• Ex. Ex. Why are birds so loud in the morning?

• The birds are so loud in the morning...

• Ex. Atop the mountain climbs the goat.

• The goat climbs atop the mountain.

• There was a black cat waiting at my door when I got home.

• A black was waiting at my door...

Multiple Choice

Back to their home (fly, flies) the pigeons the very next day!

• fly

• flies

Multiple Choice

Here on the magazine cover (screams, scream) the most embarrassing headline.

• screams

• scream

Multiple Choice

Why (do, does) those two dead plants still sit on your desk?

• do

• does

Multiple Choice

(Has, Have) you ever heard stories about dumb criminals and their crimes?

• Has

• Have

Singular Collective:
The hockey team is at the rink. Mr. Brown's class enjoys science.

Plural Collective:
A number of people are interested in running for governor.

• Noun that denotes a group of individuals

• Can be singular or plural

• If the group is working as a whole = singular

• If the group is divided = plural

Collective Nouns

Things Get Tricky With:

• Pronouns refer to persons or things that have not been specified

• Generally single; can be plural

• Pay attention to pronouns that feel plural but are actually singular

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Indefinite Pronouns

Multiple Choice

Every one of Luisa Madrigal's teachers (makes, make) his students do group projects each semester.

• makes

• make

Multiple Choice

Many of Dave's friends (is, are) going home to play video games

• is

• are