Agreement of the predicate with the subject

§ 60. The most important type of agreement (concord) in English is that of the subject and the predicate in number and person. Thus a singular noun-subject requires a singular verb-predicate, a plural noun-subject requires a plural verb-predicate.

This rule of purely grammatical agreement concerns all present tenses (except modal verbs) and also the past indefinite of the verb to be.

World literature knows many great humorists.

Great humorists know how to make people laugh.

This rule remains true for:

a) All link verbs irrespective of the number of the predicative noun, as in:

Our only guide was the Polar star.

Our only guide was the stars.

b) The predicate of emphatic constructions with the formal subject it.

It was my friends who suddenly arrived.

It’ s they who are responsible for the delay.

§ 61. The verb-predicate is in the singular if the subject is expressed by:

1. An infinitive phrase or phrases.

To know everything is to know nothing.

To be loved and to be wanted is always good.

2. A prepositional phrase.

After the meeting is the time to speak.

3. A clause introduced by a conjunction or conjunctive adverb.

Where you found him does not concern me.

How you got there is beyond my understanding.

Whether you find him or not does not concern me.

Note:

Subject clauses introduced by conjunctive pronouns what, who may be followed by either a singular or plural verb.

What I want to do is to save us.

What were once precious manuscripts were scattered all over the floor.

What I say and what I think are my own affair.

4. A numerical expression, such as arithmetical addition, subtraction, division.

Four and four is eight.

Four minus two is two.

Ten divided by five is two.

Note:

However multiplication admits of two variants.

Twice two is/are four.

5. The group many a + noun.

Many a man has done it.

Ни один человек проделал такое. (Многие...)

6. With there - constructions followed by subjects of different number, the predicate agrees with the subject that stands first. The same holds true for sentences with here.

There was a textbook and many notebooks on the table.

There were many notebooks and textbook on the table.

Here was Tom and Peter.

Here was a man, was experience and culture.

In informal style, however, the singular verb is often usedbefore the subject in the plural if the form of the verb is contracted.

Is there any place in town that might have them? – There’s two.

Both closed.

There’s too many of them living up there.

There’s two kinds of men here, you’ll find.

7. Plural nouns or phrases when they are used as names, titles, quotations.

“Fathers and Sons” is the most popular of Turgenev’s novels.

Note:

However, the titles of some works which are collections of stories, etc., may have either a singular or a plural verb.

The “Canterbury Tales” consist of about seventeen thousand lines of verse.

Turgenev’s "Hunter’s Tales" was/were published in 1852.

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