Module 5: Simple Sentences      

 

5.1        Subject-verb Agreement

Day 5    A Summary

　

　

All English verbs have number. Except for the verb to be, which encodes number lexically even in the past tense, English verbs encode number only in the present tense. The verb used most frequently in English, to be, has more distinct forms with respect to person, number and tense than any other verb.

所有的英文動詞都包括了數目。除了動詞 to be，它即使在過去式，詞彙上都已包含了數目，而一般動詞則只在現在式包含數目。但在英語中最常用的動詞 to be，比其他動詞有更多獨特的形式，根據人物，數目和時態。

 

A verb commonly has two present-tense forms and one past-tense form.

一個動詞通常有兩個一不的現在時態形式和一個過去時態形式。

e.g.:

             Present :

Walks

- third person singular

 

Walk

- all other persons and numbers

                    Past :

Walked

- all persons and numbers

 

The verb to be, on the other hand, has three distinct present-tense and two past-tense forms:

至於動詞 to be，它則有三個不同的現在時態形式和兩個過去時態形式。

 

Present Tense

am

1st person singular (I)

is

3rd person singular

(he, she, it)

are

everything else

 

Past Tense

was

1st and 3rd person singular (I, he, she, it)

were

everything else

 

By far the most common error in subject-verb agreement is that students tend to leave off the third person singular inflection:

e.g.   û Sharon live in Wales.

   û Harry say he will come.

　

最常見的主謂一致錯誤是常常忘記了第三身單數的變形。

 

In the past four days, we have learnt the rules of agreement, subjects that always take a singular or a plural verb and subjects that can take either a singular or a plural verb, depending on the speaker’s meaning.

在過去四天，我們學了不同有關文法一致的法則，只用單數動詞或只用複數動詞的主語和可以按情況而選用單數或複數動詞的主語。

 

Let’s look at a summary of what we have seen before. This may help you consolidate your understanding of subject-verb agreement!

以下是就過去數天所學的文法而作的一個溫習總表。它可以幫助你鞏固對主謂一致的認識!

　

 

Subject

Indicators

Singular

Verb

Plural

Verb

Depends on Meaning

1.  

nouns that are derived from adjectives (e.g. the poor)

 

ü

 

2.          

all(of), a lot of, lots of

(quantifiers)

 

 

ü

3.          

and

ü (sometimes)

ü

 

 

4.          

arithmetical operations

ü

 

 

5.          

both

 

ü

 

6.          

clausal and phrasal subjects

(e.g. What we want is a table.)

ü

 

 

7.          

collective noun subjects

(e.g. family, population)

 

 

ü

8.          

distance, time and money

(plural subject nouns)

ü

 

 

9.          

each, every and every one

ü

 

 

10.       

either or neither

ü

 

 

11.        

either…or

 

 

ü

12.       

fractions

 

 

ü

13.       

gerund (verb + ing) and infinitive (to + verb) subjects

ü

 

 

 

14.       

neither…nor

 

 

ü

15.       

none

ü

 

 

16.       

a number of

 

ü

 

17.       

the number of

ü

 

 

18.       

percentages

 

 

ü

19.       

proper noun subjects that end in –s

ü

 

 

20.     

there

 

 

ü

21.       

two parts

 

 

ü

22.     

uncountable noun subjects

ü

 

 

23.     

with, together with, along with, as well as and not others

 

 

ü

 

It’s time to apply what you have just learnt!