章振邦《新编英语语法》Lecture-2.pptVIP

The verb must match its subject in number. If the subject is plural, the verb should take the plural form; if, on the other hand, the subject is singular or is a mass noun, the verb should take the singular form. Both boys have their own merits. Few students are really lazy. Many people want to go. Two girls were standing on the corner. There are quite a few nouns that end in –s but which are not countable. Some of these nouns are treated as singular, some as plural, and some either as singular or as plural. ★ Disease and game names ending in –s ★ Subject names ending in –ics ★ Geographical names ending in –s Collective nouns are singular in form but plural in meaning. The choice between grammatical and notional concord is mostly dictated by usage. ① Collective nouns usually used a plural: people, police, cattle, militia, poultry, vermin, etc ② Collective nouns usually used a singular: foliage, machinery, equipment, furniture, merchandise, etc ③ Collective nouns used either as plural or as singular : The choice of the verb form following such nouns depends on the exact meaning of the noun in a specific context. When the noun is used in the sense of a collective as a whole, the verb takes the singular form. On the other hand, the noun is used in the sense of the individuals that make the collective, the verb takes the plural form. audience, committee, class, crew, family, government, public, etc ④ A committee of, etc. + plural noun When a plural noun is preceded by a committee of / a(the) board of / a panel of, the verb usually takes the singular form. A committee of five men and three women is to consider the matter. A panel of distinguished people has been chosen to judge this competition. It is meeting tomorrow. The board of directors is responsible for the management of the firm. * LOGO Lecture 2 Subject-verb Concord (I) 2.1 Guiding Principles Grammatical concord Notional concord Principl