The Actor and the Action: Noun-verb agreement in English
Despite its spontaneity and naturalness, language is rule-governed. By implication, anyone who desires to attain communicative competence-cumfinesse in any language must strive towards mastery of the essential rules of sentence formation. The grammatical relationship that determines how naming words are combined with action words, which is technically called CONCORD, can be labelled as absolutely fundamental to sentence formation in English. Accordingly, let us get it demystified!
First up, it is of paramount importance to know that when a noun admits the plural marker, ‘s’, the verb will not and vice versa. This is technically explained as a singular subject attracting a singular verb and a plural subject admitting a plural verb. This is because a verb is designated singular when it attracts an ‘s’, while a noun is often considered as singular when it is bereft of the ‘s’ marker. This is expressly exemplified in the accompanying sentence structures:
1. GAB (singular subject) likes (singular verb) English grammar.
GAB and Femi (plural subject) like (plural verb) English grammar.
The exemplification above is the hallmark of grammatical competence in English. Fascinatingly, though, this week’s treatise will focus on some exceptions to this principal rule of usage. For starters, a number of nouns which function in a complementary relationship will attract a singular verb, notwithstanding the fact that they are more than one. The rationale of the foregoing is that they are regarded in unison, as illustrated below:
2. Rice, beans, plantain and egg are my favourite meal (incorrect).
Rice, beans, plantain and egg is my favourite meal (correct).
Instructively, it is crucial to note that the first-person pronoun, ‘I’, is an exception to this rule, in order to avoid overgeneralisation. Just as the pronoun enjoys the honour of being rendered in upper case, regardless of its position in a sentence, it also attracts plural verbs for the most part.
3. I teaches English every day (incorrect). I teach (plural verb) English every day (correct).
4. I have (plural verb) been to Disneyland several times (correct).
In spite of these illustrations, it is imperative to note that we say:
I am in love with these English lessons (correct).
I are (plural verb) in love with these English lessons (incorrect).
Amazingly, too, when two or more nouns are used to refer to a single person or entity, the choice of a singular verb is mandatory for correctness’ sake. The onus is, however, on the general reader to ensure that in such a grammatical context, only the first noun is pre-modified by an article and/or adjectives.
5. The author of Grammar in Discourse Form and Businessday columnist like me (incorrect).
The author of Grammar in Discourse Form and Businessday columnist (one individual) likes me (correct).
The author of Grammar in Discourse Form and the Businessday columnist (two individuals) like me (correct).
6. The steel magnate and philanthropist travel to the UAE every summer (incorrect).
The steel magnate and philanthropist travels to the UAE every summer (correct).
The steel magnate and the philanthropist travel to the UAE every summer (correct).
Notably, I would rather you kept in mind that the inclusion of the article, ‘the’, before the second entities in the last sentences of contexts five and six, make them stand as different persons from the first entities; hence, the correctness of the plural verb ‘like’ and ‘travel’.
What is more, conjunctions or prepositions such as ‘but’, ‘with’, ‘together with’, ‘including’, ‘like’, ‘as well as’, ‘in company/association/collaboration/conjunction with, ‘in the company of’, ‘alongside’ and ‘in addition to’ are deserving of grammatical clarification. When these words or phrases combine nouns, the first noun that is mentioned determines the verb, as instanced below:
7. LASU, in association with other southwest universities, organise the debate yearly (incorrect).
LASU, in association with other south-west universities, organises the debate yearly (correct).
8. Kunle, with his friends, is here (correct). 9. Idris, in company with his family, have arrived in Japan (incorrect).
Idris, in company with his family, has arrived in Japan (correct).
10. Two men, alongside their friends, was conspicuously absent at the party (incorrect).
Two men, alongside their friends, were conspicuously absent at the party (correct).
11. Binge drinking, like philandering, is James’ Achilles’ heel (correct).
12. The donkeys, including the cow, have yet to be examined by the veterinarian (correct).
Moreover, when correlative conjunctions like ‘either...or’ and ‘neither...nor’ are infused into statements, the rule of proximity is activated. As a consequence, the verb that will be deployed is dependent upon the subject that is close to it.
13. Either the students or their teacher are responsible (incorrect).
Either the students or their teacher is responsible (correct).
14. Neither you nor I are ready for the task at hand (incorrect).
Neither you nor I am ready for the task at hand (correct).
15. Either the girl or boys clean the whiteboard every morning (correct).
Last but not least, when the indefinite pronouns ‘every’ and ‘each’ are used with two singular nouns that are connected by ‘and’, a singular verb succeeds them.
16. Every boy and girl pays the tuition fees before the end of a term (correct).
17. Each chair and table is thoroughly cleaned after the service (correct).
Against this backdrop, I admonish the readership to keep striving to become a better communicator. Dr Bamgbose (Dr GAB) has a PHD in English and lectures at the Pan-atlantic University, Lagos. He is a social commentator who writes on different issues of national concern and the author of daily online English lessons titled “English for Today” with hundreds of lessons available on his website www.englishdietng.com.