Avoid long sentences
One of the reasons why people make mistakes of agreement is that they use long sentences. It is more noticeable in speech than in writing. Often you can hear a speaker getting carried away with making a point. But the speaker adds so many phrases and clauses to the sentence that the subject is forgotten.
No matter how many phrases you use, one rule of agreement is that intervening phrases do not change the number of the verb. An intervening phrase is one that comes between the subject and the verb.
Example: The birds in the pond search for food.
The phrase in the pond comes between the subject birds and the verb search. Another way to express this rule is that words coming after the subject do not change its number.A clause can also come between the subject and the verb.
Example: The headmaster who trained the lions has run away with the circus.
The clause, who trained the lions comes between the subject headmaster and the verb has.
When we speak and write we often add phrases and clauses to the subject to describe it or add some quality to it. Some persons get carried away with the description they have made and they forget what is the subject.
Take a look at the sentence below.
The lizard, sitting on the rock among the plants, is sunning itself.
Lizard is the subject. It is followed by two phrases sitting on the rock and among the plants. These phrases though adding to the subject to expand its meaning do not change the number of the subject. The lizard is still singular. It is only one lizard so the verb should be singular and we use the verb is. W
When one noun is singular and the other is plural
What may cause confusion is when the noun in the phrase or clause is different in number to the subject. In the example sentence above we have lizard as the subject and this is singular. In the phrases following we have another noun rock that is singular too. In addition we have plants that is plural. That noun is a different number to the subject and it comes just before we have to choose a verb to complete the sentence. Because the word plants is the last noun spoken or written before the verb, persons tend to make the verb agree with it. This is incorrect.
Don’t lose sight of your subject
When you string together lots of phrases or even a subordinate clause after your subject keep in mind the number of the subject of your sentence. When another noun in your sentence is plural and the subject is singular be careful. Similarly when the subject is plural and the other noun in a following phrase is singular, be careful as well. Remember your subject. That is the only word to determine the number of the verb.
It’s a good idea to use shorter sentences. If you have to use a long sentence do not lose sight of your subject. Remember that your verb has to agree with that subject.