Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns, like collective nouns, can be singular or plural, depending on how they are used in a sentence. Singular indefinite pronouns take a singular verb; plural indefinite pronouns take a plural verb. Here are some guidelines to follow:

1. Indefinite pronouns that end in -one are always singular. These words include anyone, everyone, someone, and one.

2. Indefinite pronouns that end in -body are always singular. These words include anybody, somebody, nobody.

3. The indefinite pronouns both, few, many, others, and several are always plural.

4. The indefinite pronouns all, any, more, most, none, and some can be singular or plural, depending on how they are used.

Indefinite Pronouns list

Singular ----------- Plural -------------Singular or Plural

another ---------------------both -------------------------all
anyone ----------------------few ------------------------ any
each ------------------------many ---------------------- more
everyone --------------------others ----------------------most
everybody ----------------- several ----------------------none
everything ---------------------------------------------- some
much
nobody
nothing
other
someone
anybody
anything
either
little
neither
no one
one
somebody
something


Check out these examples:

"One of the Elvis impersonators is missing".

The singular subject one requires the singular verb is.

"Both of the Elvis impersonators are missing, thank goodness".

The plural subject both requires the plural verb are.

"All the sautéed rattlesnake was devoured".

The singular subject all requires the singular verb was.

"All the seats were occupied".

The plural subject all requires the plural verb were.



Checking Subjects and Verb Agreement

Now you know the main rules of agreement, so the rest of this business must be a piece of cake. Not so fast. Follow these three steps to check whether subjects and verbs in your sentences really agree:

1. Find the sentence's subject.
2. Figure out if the subject is singular or plural.
3. Select the appropriate verb form to match the form of the subject.

Here's where the problems occur:

1. Figuring out what is the subject.

2. Figuring out if the subject is singular or plural.

3. Selecting the appropriate verb form to match the form of the subject.

Let's look at each step in the process.

Hide and Seek

Some subjects can be harder to find than Judge Crater, Bigfoot, or Jimmy Hoffa. Foremost among these hard-to-find subjects is the subject that has the nerve to come after the verb. Inverted word order can make it difficult to find the true subject. But wherever the subject is, it still must agree in number with its verb, as these examples show.

"On the top of the hill are two Elvis impersonators".
The plural subject impersonators agrees with the plural verb are.

"There are still several agitators in the audience".
The plural subject agitators requires the plural verb are.

Another tricky agreement situation occurs with linking verbs. As with all other verbs, a linking verb always agrees with its subject. Problems crop up when the subject and the linking verb (the predicate nominative) are not the same number. For example, the subject can be plural but the linking verb can be singular. Here's an example:

"Speeding trucks are one reason for the abundance of fresh produce in our grocery stores".
The plural subject trucks agrees with the plural verb are. Don't be tricked by the singular predicate nominative reason.

"One reason for the abundance of fresh produce in our grocery stores is speeding trucks".
Here, the singular subject reason agrees with the singular verb is. Here, the plural noun trucks is the predicate nominative.


Playing the Numbers

As you learned in the beginning of this section, in grammar, number refers to the two forms of a word: singular (one) or plural (more than one). With nouns, number is relatively easy to figure out. That's because most nouns form the plural by adding -s or -es. Here are some examples.

Singular Nouns ------------------- Plural Nouns
stock report ------------------------------ stock reports
interest rate ------------------------------ interest rates
debt ---------------------------------------- debts


Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match

Forget everything you learned about nouns when you start dealing with verbs. That's because we add -s or -es to the third-person singular form of most verbs. This is opposite to the way we form singular nouns. For example:


--------------------- Singular Verbs ----------------- Plural Verbs

1st and 2nd Person-------- 3rd Person -----------------1st, 2nd, 3rd Person
I start --------------------he starts ---------------------we start
I do -----------------------he does --------------------- we do


The helping verbs are even nastier because they aren't regular. The following chart shows the forms of to be

Singular Be Verbs ----------------------- Plural Be Verbs

(I) am -------------------------------------------- (we) are
(he, she, it) is ------------------------------------ (they) are
(I, he, she, it) was -------------------------------- (we, they) were
(he, she, it) has been ----------------------------- (they) have been

As a result, subject-verb agreement is most tricky in the present tense







Regards,

Suresh lasi

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