Lesson: Subject-Verb Agreement - Part I

Comment on Subject-Verb Agreement - Part I

Nice video. I have a doubt though. Isn't orchestra singular?
gmat-admin's picture

In most cases yes. At 6:30 in the video, we discuss that, when the members in the group function as a unit, then the subject is considered singular. If the members in the group function individually, the subject is considered plural. When tuning their instruments, the members of an orchestra are not functioning as a unit. Each member is doing its own thing. So, in this case, orchestra is plural.

Yulia's picture

Hi Brent,

Lets say that for some reason I can not understand if a noun functions as a unit or individually then how do I recognize if a collective noun is a plural one? By looking at a pronoun?
gmat-admin's picture

Determining whether a collective noun functions as a unit depends on the specific ACTION (verb) in the sentence.

For example:
- The orchestra IS flying to Paris. Here, the orchestra members are functioning as a unit.
- The staff DISAGREE on the proposal. Here, the staff members are functioning individually.

Please note that it's extremely unlikely that an Sentence Correction question will hinge solely on determining whether the noun functions as a unit or individually. There will likely be other issues that will help guide you to the correct answer.

I should also mention that this question type is very rare.

Is "enjoys" plural or singular?
gmat-admin's picture

"enjoys" is singular. He enjoys.
Singular form: She enjoys. It enjoys.
Plural form: They enjoy. We enjoy.

Hi, and thanks a lot for the great videos!
I have a question regarding the singular-plural example.
In a sentence "The jury has/have decided..." would it be correct to use "has" as the jury is considered a unit in this case?
gmat-admin's picture

Yes, in that case, the jury is functioning as a unit, so "has" would be appropriate.

In same example is it be right to say, The jury members have decided..... ?
gmat-admin's picture

That would be fine.

In that case, the subject is "members," and the word "jury" functions as an adjective." So, if we ignore the "fluff" (the adjective), we get: "The members have decided...", which is grammatically correct.

More on ignoring the fluff here: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1158

Hello, isn't number plural? Number of hours have increased? Have or has?
Another example- Number of my friends are coming to the party.
Thanks!
gmat-admin's picture

"Number" is singular and "numbers" is plural.

In "The number of hours..." the singular noun "number" is the subject, and "of hours" is a prepositional phrase that modifies "number." As such, we can ignore that phrase when trying to determine the appropriate verb. More here https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1156 and here https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1158.

So, we have "The number has/have increased."

At this point, we can see that we need "has."

For the last part, the first example is a gerund phrase and the second an infinitive phrase. What is the third one considered and are there particular ways of identifying it?

Also, in the case of "It is no one's concern whether the twins drive or fly to Baltimore", would the phrase become the object and "it" become the subject?
gmat-admin's picture

You're referring to the sentence "Whether the twins drive or fly to Baltimore is no one's concern."

I'm not sure whether there is a specific name given to the clause "Whether the twins drive or fly to Baltimore," but it doesn't matter. All you need to know is that this clause is acting as the subject of this sentence, in which case the subject is singular and needs a singular verb.

Yes, in the sentence, "It is no one's concern whether the twins drive or fly to Baltimore", "it" is the subject and "whether the twins drive or fly to Baltimore" is an object.

Declining values for farm equipment and land, the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, is going to force many lenders to tighten or deny credit this spring.

(A) the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, is
(B) which farmers use as collateral to borrow against to get through the harvest season, is
(C) the collateral which is borrowed against by farmers to get through the harvest season, is
(D) which farmers use as collateral to borrow against to get through the harvest season, are
(E) the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, are


help
confused between d and e
gmat-admin's picture

There's a nice discussion about this question here: http://www.beatthegmat.com/collateral-t279700.html

If you need any additional clarification, let me know.

Yulia's picture

Hi Brent,

Declining values for farm equipment and land, the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, is going to force many lenders to tighten or deny credit this spring.

(D) which farmers use as collateral to borrow against to get through the harvest season, are
(E) the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, are

I choose D because I thought that "which" modifies the farm equipment and land and the "farm equipment and land" is used as a collateral to borrow. I cant really understand how "the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season" acts here as a modifier. What type of a modifier is it and how it modifies "the farm equipment and land"? Is it a noun modifier? How to address such questions because pronoun and noun modifier both modify nouns? So why D is incorrect?

Thank you in advance.
gmat-admin's picture

This is a very tricky question.

Let's focus on the placement of the preposition AGAINST.

In E, AGAINST correctly modifies COLLATERAL (Q: What kind of collateral? A: The collateral against which farmers borrow money. Makes sense)
In D, AGAINST incorrectly modifies BORROW (Q: How do farmers borrow? A: Ummmm.)

Does that help?

Cheers,
Brent

Yulia's picture

Hi Brent,

Thank you for the response. I didn't know that a preposition can serve as a modifier. It is clearly that "against" is not a part of a prepositional phrase which is a modifier.
When a preposition doesn't indicate information about location, direction, time or connection to nouns/pronouns/etc. to other words, we can keep in mind that a preposition can modify noun or a verb, right?
gmat-admin's picture

Sorry, I explained that poorly.
The preposition AGAINST often starts off a prepositional phrase that modifies the word before it.

Some examples:
The ladder is leaning AGAINST the fence. Here, "AGAINST the fence" modifies the verb LEANING.
The Vancouver Canucks played AGAINST the Pittsburgh Penguins. "AGAINST the Pittsburgh Penguins" modifies the verb PLAYED.

Important: Notice that we can rephrase the second sentence as follows: The Pittsburgh Penguins is the team the Vancouver Canucks played AGAINST.
Here, the implied prepositional phrase is "AGAINST the Pittsburgh Penguins," and this modifies the verb PLAYED.

Likewise, for answer choice D the implied structure is something like ..."farmers borrow AGAINST collateral to get through..."
In this case, "AGAINST collateral" modifies the verb BORROW (Q: How do the farmers borrow? A: Against collateral. This makes no sense)

Does that help?

Cheers,
Brent

Hi Brent,

In this question, is 'declining values' the subject of the sentence? And if that is the case, isn't the subject a gerund phrase which should be considered singular?

Thanks in advance.
gmat-admin's picture

Good question!

In the sentence, DECLINING is a participle that modifies VALUES (Q: What kind of values? A: Declining values)
So, the actual subject is just VALUES.

Cheers,
Brent

What is verb in - Eating vegetables is good for you - ?

Initially I thought "you" is the subject.
gmat-admin's picture

The verb is "is" and the subject is "eating."

The word "is" is known as a linking verb. More here: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1151

Which one is correct? (keep or keeps)

1) A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important one, that keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did earlier in the decade.

2) A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important one, that keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did earlier in the decade
gmat-admin's picture

The only difference is KEEP vs KEEPS.

So, I'll ask, "What noun is performing the action of keeping?"

The answer is "FACTORS" (the FACTORS KEEP the housing market from spiraling out of control)

Since FACTORS is plural, we need the plural form KEEP.

So, sentence 1 is the correct sentence.

Hello Brent,

In this statement,
'A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important one, that keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did earlier in the decade.'

Our focus is on the higher interest rate as it is one of the many factors. So basically, we are talking about the uniqueness (interest rates) rather than the generality (factors). So why factors become the subject of the sentence rather than the interest rates?

Also, I came across an interesting example which I would like to share.

Focus on the generality:

He is not one of those officers who follow orders blindly and unthinkingly. [The focus is on the set of officers.]

Focus on the uniqueness:

If you are one of the thousands who has already renewed your subscription… [The focus is on the addressee, the individual member of the larger set.]

gmat-admin's picture

I think the words "albeit an important one," cause most of the confusion.

Without those words, we get: A higher interest rate is only one of the factors that keep...'

There's a nice discussion of the question here: http://www.beatthegmat.com/a-higher-interest-rate-is-only-one-of-the-fac...

Hi Brent,

How does interest rate question different from this one?
"one of the most problematic" -> singular here?

Since 1989, after the Berlin Wall had been demolished, one of the most problematic ethnic groups in the reunified Germany, in cultural and economic assimilation terms, were the former East Germans, who have had to acclimate to an entirely different political system.
gmat-admin's picture

In the interest rate question, we basically have "A higher interest rate is only one of the factors that keep the housing market from spiraling out of control"

So, the relative clause "that keep the housing market from spiraling out of control" modifies the plural noun "factors." So, the plural verb KEEP agrees with the plural noun FACTORS.

Now consider this sentence:
Since 1989, after the Berlin Wall had been demolished, ONE of the most problematic ethnic groups in the reunified Germany, in cultural and economic assimilation terms, were the former East Germans, who have had to acclimate to an entirely different political system.

Here, we have several prepositional phrases:
- "of the most problematic ethnic groups"
- "in the reunified Germany"
- "in cultural and economic assimilation terms"
When we ignore these modifying phrases, we get:
Since 1989, after the Berlin Wall had been demolished, ONE WERE the former East Germans, who have had to acclimate to an entirely different political system.

When we ignore the "fluff", we can see that the singular noun ONE requires the singular verb WAS (or some other singular verb, which we can see in the correct answer at https://gmatclub.com/forum/since-1989-after-the-berlin-wall-had-been-dem...

Does that help?

Cheers,
Brent

Are these both sentences correct?
1. The jury are arguing among themselves
2. The jury is arguing with the audience
gmat-admin's picture

Yes, they're correct.

In sentence 1, the jury members are NOT acting as a single entity, whereas in sentence 2, the jury members ARE acting as a single entity.

Hi Brent,

In the question:
Recent studies indicate that the ability of a soldier to remain calm
under attack by enemies, internal or external, determine/determines whether
the soldier will be the victor or the vanquished
If i remove the dependent clause (fluff): "that the ability of a soldier to remain calm
under attack by enemies", i would observe studies as my subject and hence i would take determine as my verb.
However, i look at the removed fluff - ability would be the subject and determines would be the correct option.

In such a situation,how should i judge whether its ok to remove a part of a sentence?

Thanks in advance
gmat-admin's picture

Question link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/recent-studies-indicate-that-the-ability-of-a...

The key here is to determine which noun/subject is performing the verb (determine/determines).

Here, it is the soldier's ABILITY that determines whether he/she is victorious... (we can't really say that some academic STUDIES determine whether a soldier is victorious)

Since ABILITY is singular, we need the singular DETERMINES

Does that help?

Cheers,
Brent

at 8:30, why is it "make" instead of "makes" if gravy is singular?
gmat-admin's picture

Certain verbs (see, hear, watch, make, help) can be combined with the bare infinitive, the infinitive form of a verb with the to omitted.

The typical construction is SPECIAL VERB + DIRECT OBJECT + BARE INFINITIVE:

- John heard the dog bark. ("bark" = bare infinitive, "to bark" with the "to" omitted)

- Susan is watching her son play baseball. ("play" = bare infinitive, "to play" with the "to" omitted)

So, "can help provide" is not really in plural form. The structure will be the same either way.
For example, we can write "He (singular) can help provide," or "They (plural) can help provide."

This concept is not tested on the GMAT.

Are additive phrases the same as appositive phrases (i.e. interchangeable terminology)?
gmat-admin's picture

Hey Karl,

The two concepts seem similar, but they aren't interchangeable.

Additive phrases are covered in the above video (starting at 3:10)

Here's our video on appositive phrases: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1156 (starting at 7:07)

Cheers,
Brent

Wouldnt "the" water and soil be singular?
gmat-admin's picture

You're referring to the sentence that appears at 1:40 in the video.

Here, the word THE doesn't imply whether a noun is singular or plural.
For example, we can write "Joe enjoys THE RATS (plural) that scurry through his apartment."

And we can write "Joe enjoys THE RAT (singular) that scurries through his apartment."

It all comes down to whether "water and soil" is singular or plural. Since we have two items, "water and soil" is plural.

Does that help?

Cheers,
Brent

On the video you mention that "from the foothills of the Rocky Mountain" is a prepositional phrase. Could I say that it is a prepositional phrase with another prepositional phrase within it? (of the Rocky Mountain) Thank you
gmat-admin's picture

Most definitely!

"from the foothills..." is a prepositional phrase modifying the verb COME

"of the Rocky Mountain" is a prepositional phrase modifying the noun FOOTHOLDS

Cheers,
Brent

On the sentence " Eating vegetables is good" I am confused when thinking about the subject. Is "eating vegetables" the subject? But wait, doesn't the subject "perform the action"? What action is "Eating vegetables" performing?
gmat-admin's picture

In this case, EATING is a gerund, which means it functions as a noun (more on gerunds here: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1155)

So, EATING is the subject of the sentence.
And IS is the verb.

By the way, IS is a linking verb (also known as a stative verb). More on this here: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1151

Does that help?

Cheers,
Brent

Thanks a lot yes! :)

Hello Brent, help me understand how to know what is the subject of a sentence.
gmat-admin's picture

This video covers everything you need to know: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1153

Cheers,
Brent

Hi Brent,

Could you please explain why A is incorrect, I don't see any significant problem here,

https://gmatclub.com/forum/to-josephine-baker-paris-was-her-home-long-before-it-was-fashionable-64758.htm

Thank you in advance,
gmat-admin's picture

Link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/to-josephine-baker-paris-was-her-home-long-be...

To Josephine Baker, Paris was her home long before it was fashionable to be an expatriate, and she remained in France during the Second World War as a performer and an intelligence agent for the Resistance.

There's a redundancy issue with "To Josephine Baker, Paris was HER home..."
It should read "To Josephine Baker, Paris was home..."

Another issue is that PARIS is not the subject of the sentence, yet the pronoun SHE is used to refer to PARIS.
If we place the modifying phrase "To Josephine Baker" somewhere else, we can see the problem.

PARIS was Josephine Baker' home (long before it was fashionable to be an expatriate), and SHE remained...

Cheers,
Brent

Hi Brent,

Thank you for refreshing the possessive. So since I have seen the rule that "you can't refer to the possessive noun like in here". My brother's house is big, and he is very happy with it(WRONG).
so the same must be here,

To my brother, the house is big, and he is very happy with it.(WRONG you can't refer to a noun that is included in the prepositional phrase). Am I right?

Thank you in advance,

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