STUCTURE SKILL 11

 

Materi: Agreement after Prepositional Phrases

Skill 11. Agreement After Prepositional Phrase

Subject/verb agreement is simple: if the subject of a sentence is singular, then the verb must be singular; if the subject of the sentence is plural, then the verb must be plural. An -s on a verb usually indicates that a verb is singular, while an -s on a noun usually indicates that the noun is plural. (Do not forget irregular plurals of nouns, such as women, children, and people.)

          The dog barks at night.
          The dogs bark at night.

In the first example, the singular subject dog requires a singular verb, barks. In the second example, the plural subject dogs requires a plural verb, bark.
  Sometimes prepositional phrases can come between the subject and the verb on the TOEFL test, and this can cause confusion. If the object of the preposition is singular and the subject is plural, or if the object of the preposition is plural and the subject is singular, there can be a problem in making the subject and verb agree.

         The door (to the rooms) are* locked.
         The doors (to the room) is* locked.
         (* indicates an error)

In the first example, you might think that rooms is the subject because it comes directly in front of the verb are. However, rooms is not the subject because it is the object of the preposition to. The subject of the sentence is door, so the verb should be is. In the second example, you might think that room is the subject because it comes directly in front of the verb is. You should recognize in this example that room is not the subject because it is the object of the preposition to. Because the subject of the sentence is doors, the verb should be are.

Note:
When a prepositional phrase comes between the subject and the verb, be sure that the verb agrees with the subject.

Each of the following sentences has one or more prepositional phrases between the subject and verb. Be aware of the prepositional phrases. Identify the subjects and the verbs. Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (I).

    C    1. The subject (of the lectures) was quite interesting.

    I     2. The supplies (for the camping trip) needs to be packed.

 3. The chairs under the table in the dining room is quite comfortable.

 4. The players on the winning team in the competition were very talented.

 5. The food for the guests at the party are on the long tables.

 6. The cost of the clothes was higher than I had expected.

 7. The rugs in the front rooms of the house are going to be washed today.

 8. The servers in this restaurant always does their job efficiently.

 9. The lights in the corner of the room need to be kept on all night.

 10. The meeting of the members of the council begins at 3:00 in the afternoon.

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