If the subject is plural, the verb should take the plural form. If the subject is singular or a mass noun, the verb should take the singular form.
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• Grammatical Concord 语法一致原则 • Notional Concord 意义一致原则 • Principle of Proximity 就近原则
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3.1 The principle of Grammatical Concord
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ቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱ
Please note that
the principle of grammatical concord is the basic principle, esp. in written English.
What is “subject-verb concord”?
the agreement between subject and predicate verb in terms of number
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3. three guiding principles
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❖It was eleven o'clock before the family were all in bed. ❖All was contrary to her expectation.
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4. Some Pitfalls
problems of concord with nouns ending in –s
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The form of the subject: grammatical concord
The meaning of the subject: notional concord
The distance between the head and the verb: proximity
The team ___h_a_v_e____ had their dinner. Fifty dollars ____i_s_____ a large sum of money
for such a poor man like me.
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“One of them who were so much after dancing with you yesterday,” she presently suggested.
--Thomas Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles
3.3 the principle of proximity
the verb agrees with a preceding noun phrase which is closest to it, instead of agreeing with the head of the noun phrase
It is futile to discuss the matter further, because neither you nor I am going to agree upon anything today.
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Thirty miles seems like a long walk to me.
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3.2 The principle of Notional Concord
The verb can agree with the subject according to the notion of number in spite
that functions as the subject
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❖Either he or I am going. ❖No one except the two girls were crying. ❖One out of five students have passed the exam.
of the actual form of the subject.
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If the reference of the subject is singular, the verb takes the singular form. If the reference of subject is plural, the verb takes the plural form.