Use Of Verb Agreement

Twenty may seem like many rules for a topic, but you`ll quickly discover that one is related to the other. In the end, everything will make sense. (In the following examples, the concordant subject is bold and the verb is in italics.) On the other hand, there is an indeterminate pronoun, none that can be either singular or plural; It doesn`t matter if you use a singular or a plural plate, unless something else in the sentence determines its number. (Writers usually don`t think of anyone not to mean just any one, and choose a plural verb, as in “No engine works,” but if something else causes us not to consider any as one, we want a singular verb, as in “None of the foods are fresh.”) Rule 5a. Sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by words like with, as well as, next to it, not, etc. These words and phrases are not part of the topic. Words such as glasses, pants, pliers, and scissors are considered plural (and require plural verbs), unless the pair of sentences precedes them (in this case, the pair of words becomes subject). . . .