Question

EX6

Circle
the correct form of
Identifying the Correct Verb Form
underline
the verb in parentheses.
1. The crowd (gather, gathers) outside the room.
2. The crowd (look, looks) at their programs.
3. Ten minutes (seem, seems) a long time.
4. The audience (find, finds) their seats.
5. The class (attend, attends) the poetry reading.
6. Our class (is, are) in the first row.
7. The class (discuss, discusses the Pulitzer Prize
among themselves.
8. A committee (award, awards) the prize each year.
9. The committee (accept, accepts) nominations of
American poets.
10. A thousand dollars (is, are) the amount of the prize.
11. The audience (include, includes) the poet laureate of
the United States.
12. His book Promises (win, wins) a prize for Robert
Penn Warren.
13. Two dollars (is) are) the price of admission.
14. The poetry club (read, reads) their favorite poems.
15. Winter Trees (is)are) a book by Sylvia Plath.
16. Winter Trées (contain, contains) some of Plath's
best poems.
17. News of other events (is, are) posted at the reading.
18. "Women" (is, are) a poem by Alice Walker.

Answer 1

Subject-verb agreement requires matching singular subjects with singular verbs and plural subjects with plural verbs, with special considerations for collective nouns, compound subjects, and intervening words or phrases.

Step-by-step explanation:

Understanding Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-verb agreement is vital for constructing clear and grammatically correct sentences. The basic rule is that singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs. However, special rules apply to collective nouns, compound subjects, and when other words come between the subject and verb.

For collective nouns like 'class' or 'audience', the verb form depends on whether the group is acting as a single unit or individually. For example, 'The class attends the lecture together' versus 'The class members have various opinions.'

When you have compound subjects connected by 'and', they typically take a plural verb, like in 'Yoga and meditation are beneficial for health.' If the subject is compound but represents a single idea, a singular verb is used, such as in 'Macaroni and cheese is tasty.'

Subject-verb agreement can become tricky when other words or phrases come in between them or when the verb comes before the subject in a question, but the verb must still agree with the main subject. In sentences like 'A suitcase full of clothes sits on the floor', the subject is 'a suitcase', not 'clothes', hence the singular verb 'sits'. Lastly, with compound subjects joined by 'or' or 'nor', the verb agrees with the part of the subject closest to the verb: 'Either the cats or the dog gets adopted today.'