Composing Sentences

 

Subject-Verb Agreement

1. Singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs.

   Correct: The dog eats his food.

   Incorrect: The dog eat his food.

2. Separated subjects and verbs: If the verb and subject are separated by other words, the verb should agree with its subject rather than with the nearest noun.

   Correct: The actors in the movie, which we went to see before dinner on Tuesday, were impressive.

   Incorrect: The actors in the movie, which we went to see before dinner on Tuesday, was impressive.

3. Collective nouns: When the subject is a singular noun that refers to a group, the verb remains singular.

   Correct: The band of soldiers piles into the chopper.

   Incorrect: The band of soldiers pile into the chopper.

4. A singular subject that is part of a plural element: When a singular subject is isolated from a larger group, use a singular verb.

   Correct: One of the backup singers was unable to perform at the President’s Day concert.

   Incorrect: One of the backup singers were unable to perform at the President’s Day concert.

5. Two singular subjects joined by “and” take a plural verb.

   Correct: Frankie and Edmund love dancing.

   Incorrect: Frankie and Edmund loves dancing.

6. Two subjects combined to form a single unit take a singular verb.

   Correct: Cutting and pasting is a good technique to master.

   Incorrect: Cutting and pasting are a good technique to master.

7. Two singular subjects joined by “or” or “nor” take a singular verb.

   Correct: Either Darla or Judith is going with me to the dance.

   Incorrect: Either Darla or Judith are going with me to the dance.

8. A mixed subject joined by “or” or “nor”: The verb agrees with the closest noun.

   Correct: Neither milk nor eggs contain much Vitamin A.

   Correct: Neither eggs nor milk contains much Vitamin A.

 

Subject-Phrase Correspondence

Descriptive phrases that introduce sentences must agree with the grammatical subject of the sentence.

Correct: Hanging in the closet, my dress smelled like mothballs.

Incorrect: Hanging in the closet, I saw my dress.

 

Comparisons

1. To compare two items, use -er or “more.”

   Julia is shorter than Isabelle.

   Isabelle is the more imaginative of the two girls.

2. To indicate a superlative among more than two items, use -est or “most.”

   Jack is the fastest runner in the group.

   Luther is the most gifted dancer in New York.

 

Pronouns

1. Pronouns must agree with the nouns they replace in person, number, and gender.

   Original: Jenny and Sarah crashed Matt’s car into a tree.

   With pronouns: They crashed his car into it.

2. “None” takes a singular verb when it indicates “no one” or “not one” and a plural verb when it indicates more than one thing or person.

   Correct: None of us is perfect.

   Correct: None are as angry as those whose money was stolen.

3. Pronouns should refer clearly to a particular noun.

   Correct: As John showed his house to Joseph, John asked him what he thought of it.

   Incorrect: John asked Joseph what he thought of his house.

4. Do not change a sentence’s perspective by switching personal pronoun reference midway.

   Incorrect: They thought of calling a cab, but you can’t always trust cab drivers, so they didn’t.

   Correct: They thought of calling a cab, but they didn’t trust cab drivers, so they didn’t.

 

Things to Avoid

1. Fragments. Don’t use incomplete sentences as complete sentences.

   Incorrect: She liked all sorts of movies. Such as dramas, comedies, and mysteries.

   Correct: She liked all sorts of movies, including dramas, comedies, and mysteries.

2. Double negatives. If two negations (words like “not” or “never”) occur in the same phrase, they confuse the meaning of the phrase by canceling one another out.

   Incorrect: You should never not change the batteries in your smoke detector.

   Correct: You should always change the batteries in your smoke detector.

3. Comma splice. Using a comma instead of a semicolon or period to separate independent clauses is incorrect and creates a run-on sentence.

   Incorrect: There are many people in India, the country has a high population density.

   Correct: There are many people in India; the country has a high population density.