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Making Words Agree in English by Mr.Zaki Badr

Making Words Agree in English by Mr.Zaki Badr

Which one of the following sentences is correct?

Each of you have been given a pencil.

Each of you has been given a pencil.

The second example is correct. ‘Each’ is a singular pronoun and therefore ‘has’ should be used as it refers to one person or thing.

Some other pronouns which are singular and should always be followed by the singular form of the verbs are: everyone, nobody, anything, something:

 Everyone comes to the match.

•Nobody likes her.

• Anything is better than that.

• Something has fallen off the desk.

Mistakes are often made with the pronoun ‘everyone’, which is singular:

Everyone has their own books. This is incorrect. Everyone is singular. ‘Their’ and ‘books’ are plural so ‘his’ or ‘her’ and ‘book’ should be used. Following is the correct version. Everyone has his or her own book.

Singular pronouns must always agree with the rest of the sentence.

•Collective nouns, like singular pronouns, must always be followed by the singular form of the verb. Look at the following common mistakes:

The Government are planning a new divorce Bill.

This is incorrect. ‘Government’ is a singular noun. There is one Government. The correct version is: The Government is planning a new divorce Bill. 

•Most collective nouns can, of course, be made plural by adding an ‘s’. They are then followed by the plural form of the verb.

•The Governments of France and England are both democratic.

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