英语专业语法书答案Lecture 3 Subject-verb__ Concord.docVIP

Lecture 3 Subject-verb Concord (II) This lecture deals with problems of concord with a coordinate construction, a quantitative expression, or a nominal clause as subject. 3.1 Problems of concord with a coordinate subject The following rules are to be observed in the case of a coordinate subject. 1) Coordination with and or both…and Coordination by and or both…and is usually treated as plural when it refers to two or more than two persons / things, but it is treated as singular when it refers to only one person or thing. Compare: Both Pauline and Bob have gone fishing on Miramar Lake. Rain, hail and wind have caused an estimated $ 22,000,000 damage to crops and livestock. The secretary and treasurer was absent from the meeting. Ham and eggs is a good breakfast. . 2) Coordination with or / either…or, nor / neither…nor, not only…but also Here the problem of concord is generally dealt with according to the principle of proximity. But in informal style, items coordinated by neither…nor or not only … but also can sometimes be regarded as plural, eg: My sisters or my brother is likely to be at home. Either my father or my brothers are coming. Neither the players nor the coach was overconfident. Not only the switches but also the old wiring has been changed. 3.2 Problems of concord with expressions of quantity as subject Quantitative expressions fall into two categories: definite and indefinite. 1) Concord with expression of definite quantity as subject When a definite quantity is regarded as a single unit, the verb takes the singular form and when used in the sense of the individuals that constitute the quantity, the verb takes the plural form. Compare: He thought that 65 dollars was not too much to ask. There were 6 silver dollars in each of the stockings. If the subject is a fraction / percentage + of-phrase, the form of the verb is determined by the noun in the of-phrase. A plural noun in the of-phrase requires a plural verb; a singular or a mass noun in the of-p