When subjects and verbs cannot and do not agree, the resulting battle creates an incorrect sentence. More and more this problem appears not only in speech but also in writing. However, learning how to make subjects and verbs agree isn't very hard. First one needs to recognize the problem areas and then correct the error (Art of Writing News, 2006).
There are rules to follow in agreement to have order and organization. Start off with recognizing the grammatical units in a sentence. They are not very hard to recognize. Just as you want to get to know your object of affection, you should know a sentence. For a humble beginning, you must know what comprise a correct sentence.
Subject – Verb – Complement
Mr. Ricks knows no bounds in business innovation.
Subject Verb Complement
These are the important elements in a sentence. Now, Subject and Verb must get along well, so they must agree in tense and number.
General Rule: Singular nouns entail singular verbs (Ns = Vs)
Plural nouns entail plural verbs (Np = Vo)
Rule 1: Indefinite Pronouns
When you’re referring to no specific person/s you use indefinite pronouns so that - everyone, nobody, everybody, no one, somebody, someone, each, neither – become the person/s addressed to. Indefinite pronouns no matter how many persons are involved always get a singular verb.
No one has to believe what he says.
Each one of us is obliged to report on our turn of duty.
Rule 2: Pronouns must agree with their antecedent.
If we take it from the prefix Pro- a pro-noun means in favor of the noun. So a pronoun must look back to the noun or another pronoun preceding it, called the antecedent.
The outcasts are placed in one geographical area. They are a nuisance to the government.
Rule 3: Neither nor and Either or must refer to two subjects. The verb should agree with the subject closer to them.
Neither nor and either or occur together in a sentence or in a phrase. However, sometimes neither becomes a subject in a sentence (as well as neither).
Either the teacher or the students are planning for the field trip.
Neither the audience nor the members of the panel of judges are pleased with the performance.
Either I or she faces the distressed client.
Neither is expected to provide the "smoking gun" that proves the economy is in recession, economists said.
(This is in relation to the previous statement: Two of the most important monthly indicators of the economy's health to be released Friday are expected to show the economy is weak).
Rule 4. In case of collective nouns, the verb used is either singular or plural, depending on how the nouns are treated – whether they are treated as a whole or the individual members are considered.
The team as a whole is accountable for the outcome of its decisions and actions.
The team members are accountable for the outcome of their decisions and actions.
Rule 5. Phrases such as together with, as well as, and along with are not synonymous with and. These phrases only modify the previous noun and have no bearing with its number.
The team together with the coach is going for the golden cup.
The members of the committee along with health professionals lead the information dissemination on public health and safety.
Rule 6. Numerical units treated as datum or data such as one, two, three, one hundred, etc., always entail a singular verb.
Fifty is reflected on the number of students column.
However if they follow a noun, they must agree with the number of that particular noun.
Fifty students are expected to enroll.
One member is unbearable.
Further, percentage, fraction, and arithmetic or algebraic expressions require a singular verb. Except if they follow a prepositional phrase. Hence, the verb must agree with the noun in the prepositional phrase.
Ninety percent of votes are rendered in favor of overthrowing the old policy.
Two thirds of the earth is water.
Fifty percent is expected to pass the subject.
Two-fifths of the troops were lost in the battle.
Two-fifths of the vineyard was destroyed by fire
To satisfy the inequality, 7 - 2x needs to be less than 3.
Two and two is four.
Rule 7. Determiners such as the number of, a series of, etc., require singular verbs. It doesn't matter whether the noun in the prepositional phrase is singular or plural.
The number of population increases to 50%.
The number of believers goes down from 100 to 50.
A couple of
A series of lights products on DHgate gets worldwide delivery.
===to be updated later===
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Business Minded
Teenagers Doing Business: The Time Is Now!
There is no better time in life to start a business than as a teenager. Teenagers are full of hope for the future. They want to prove that they can hold their own in a real world. Their minds are supple and strong, and they don't have the obligations that weigh adults down.
Teenagers need the opportunity to try the real, to produce value for others, to fail, and to get up again and keep trying until they succeed. Most of what is called education puts a high grade on mediocre work and rolls right along, ignoring failure. In fact, failure is rarely treated as a starting point for learning.
So how is business-based learning different?
Business-based learning sees teenagers as producers of value and places them at the center of learning. Young people starting their own businesses find themselves needing real information that works for them right now. They quickly learn what works and what does not work. They learn from their failures; they learn most how to change what they do quickly until it works. They learn that a 97% job doesn't cut it. A customer wants 100%. They learn that what they do with their hands and with their minds is valued; they themselves have value.
They learn self respect. And how to read - and understand what they read. How to write and write well - for real world readers, not for teachers. How to work the numbers, in order to increase their profit. How to design, how to craft, how to relate with people.
But most of all, learning has meaning. It fits what is important now.
Teenagers, starting their own businesses as part of a high school education, are miles ahead, at age 20, than their counterparts who are still wandering the maze of simulation called "school." And the incredible advantage is that they don't have to support a family. They are just students after all, and learning. There is minimal risk for them in running a micro-business.
Get Started Now!
It takes very little investment for a young person to start a business. The key is to do it; to make something and get out there and sell it. Or to set up a service, obtain clients, and produce value for them.
What they need is guidance. They don't get that guidance from schools, just simulation. Parents could be their guide, but most are busy.
Parents, find a good program that leads your teenagers step-by-step to build their own businesses and watch them create value and freedom in this world.
There is no better time in life to start a business than as a teenager. Teenagers are full of hope for the future. They want to prove that they can hold their own in a real world. Their minds are supple and strong, and they don't have the obligations that weigh adults down.
Teenagers need the opportunity to try the real, to produce value for others, to fail, and to get up again and keep trying until they succeed. Most of what is called education puts a high grade on mediocre work and rolls right along, ignoring failure. In fact, failure is rarely treated as a starting point for learning.
So how is business-based learning different?
Business-based learning sees teenagers as producers of value and places them at the center of learning. Young people starting their own businesses find themselves needing real information that works for them right now. They quickly learn what works and what does not work. They learn from their failures; they learn most how to change what they do quickly until it works. They learn that a 97% job doesn't cut it. A customer wants 100%. They learn that what they do with their hands and with their minds is valued; they themselves have value.
They learn self respect. And how to read - and understand what they read. How to write and write well - for real world readers, not for teachers. How to work the numbers, in order to increase their profit. How to design, how to craft, how to relate with people.
But most of all, learning has meaning. It fits what is important now.
Teenagers, starting their own businesses as part of a high school education, are miles ahead, at age 20, than their counterparts who are still wandering the maze of simulation called "school." And the incredible advantage is that they don't have to support a family. They are just students after all, and learning. There is minimal risk for them in running a micro-business.
Get Started Now!
It takes very little investment for a young person to start a business. The key is to do it; to make something and get out there and sell it. Or to set up a service, obtain clients, and produce value for them.
What they need is guidance. They don't get that guidance from schools, just simulation. Parents could be their guide, but most are busy.
Parents, find a good program that leads your teenagers step-by-step to build their own businesses and watch them create value and freedom in this world.
Determination
In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.
Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.
Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.
The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.
"We told them so."
"Crazy men and their crazy dreams."
"It`s foolish to chase wild visions."
Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.
He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.
It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.
He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.
For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.
Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.
Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.
Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.
The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.
"We told them so."
"Crazy men and their crazy dreams."
"It`s foolish to chase wild visions."
Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.
He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.
It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.
He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.
For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.
Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.
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