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Ask for help > subject verb agreement
subject verb agreement
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Ruwayda37
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subject verb agreement
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Hello, fellow teachers,
I have one more question and I hope that you will help me as always. I �d like to know about the rule of subject verb agreement that leads to the use of �is � and not �are � in the sentence, �This is my mum and dad. � Thanks a lot. |
24 Oct 2014
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douglas
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this is singular, in my opinion you could also use "these are" (I know this is not really the answer you are looking for, but it came to mind). |
25 Oct 2014
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frere
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this is my mum and [this is] my dad �this is � understood
that is my understanding and i am a native speaker
also there is the mistaken use of naming a group and using singular - eg Liverpool is..... referring to the football team. when i speak of Liverpool in that context, the picture in my mind is of eleven players, so i say Liverpool + 3rd person plural. i don �t worry to much about grammar rules [you may notice a lack of capital letters] but, of course, that is easy for native speakers. good luck!
bac frere hanoi |
25 Oct 2014
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Ruwayda37
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Can I generalize the rule by saying that compound subjects joined by and and preceded by the verb take a singular verb, like "There �s a book and a pen on the table"? |
25 Oct 2014
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Zora
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I always tell my students to look at the first person/object after "there". Is it one - then use the singular "is". If it�s two or more/plural use "are".
For more help on this/these:
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25 Oct 2014
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