Concord

Concord is the agreement between a subject and a verb 

Rule 1

Subject and verb concord
When the subject in a sentence is singular, the verb should also be singular.
For example,
She (singular subject) goes (singular verb), not: She go ( plural verb). Also, when the subject is plural, the verb should be plural.

The girls (plural subject) go (plural verb), not The girls (plural subject) goes (Singular verb).

Rule 2

Subject and Object concord
When everybody or everyone is used, the object must be singular, not plural.

For example
Everybody knows his or her name, not: Everybody knows their name.

Rule 3

Mandative subjunctive concord
When prayer, suggestion, wish, demand, recommendation, or resolution is used in a sentence, the verb that follows must be plural, whether the subject is singular or plural.
For example;

  1. It has been suggested that he go not goes away.
  2. The board has Recommend that the manager resign not resigns.
  3. I pray that God help me on my upcoming examination, not God helps.

Rule 4

The Principle of proximity
This principle states that when there is a list of nouns or pronouns at the level of the subject, it is the nearest noun or pronoun to the position of the verb that will determine the choice of the verb.

E.g
If James fails his examination, his teachers, his parents, his friends, or John ( ) to be blame.
The correct option to fill that blank space is, “is” not “are” because, at the subject level, we have his teachers, his friends, his parents and John ( four different people).
In order to choose the correct verb, we will need to choose the nearest subject to the gap as the subject, which is John.

Note: what makes us consider the only one noun or pronoun used in this sentence is because of the use of “or.” However, if the conjunction used is “and,” all the nouns or pronouns used in the sentence will be considered as the subject. I’ll explain better when I get to the type of such concord. 

Back to James.
But if the question comes in this manner, the answer will be different,
For example,
If James fails his examination, his teachers, his parents, his friends, or I ( ) to be blame.

The correct answer here is “am,” because the pronoun “I” is the nearest subject to the gap, so if “I” is the subject, the verb that goes with it, is “am.” – the 24 rules of concord. 

Rule 5

Many – a concord
When many – a is used, the verb and the noun that follows must be Singular
E.g

  1. Many a candidate (not candidates) speaks ( not speak) bad English expressions.
  2. Many a girl (not girls) is (not are) here.

The actual meaning of statements 1 and 2 are many candidates and many girls.

Rule 6

A pair of concord
When  “a pair of” is used, the verb must be singular. 

For example,

  1. A pair of trousers (not trouser) lies(not lie) on the bed.
  2. A pair of scissors lies (not lie) on the table.

Rule 7

National Concord
National concord is also called collective noun concord.
A collective noun: is a noun that stands for many units that constitute that single word. 
For example,

  1. An audience which means people who watch programs.
  2. The congregation, which means worshipers.
  3. Clergy which means religion officers.
  4. A club, which means the association of members.

So whenever, you use a collective noun, the verb that follows must be a plural verb

For example,
Club: is a collective noun for members, so, we can also say, members of this association.

  • Our club meet ( not meets) ones in a week.

However, in some situations, a singular verb goes with a collective noun. Here is the principle;

If the collective noun performs an action, a plural verb follows, but if not, a singular verb follows.

  1. Our Club is celebrating its twentieth anniversary today.
    In the above statement, you can see that; Our Club performs no action, hence, a singular verb is used.
    But;
  2. Our Club are (not is) going on a vacation tomorrow.
    You can see that; the above sentence is different from the first sentence, here the club is performing an action “going,” hence, we will use a plural verb (are) in compliance with the rule. 
  3. The audience are (not is) partial in their judgment of the winner. The answer is “are” because the collective noun (audience) performs an action “judgment.”

Rule 8

Parenthesis
The parenthesis statement is an additional statement to what has already been said before.
Note A parenthetical statement should not be considered in choosing the verb that will follow.

E.g

  1. The teacher, not her students is in the class.
    The correct answer is, is because ( not her students) is just parenthesis, and parenthesis has nothing to do with choosing the verb.
  2. The manager, not many of his workers, is (not are) here now. not many of his workers is just a parenthesis, therefore, the parenthesis should be ignored.
    The manager is a singular noun, hence a singular verb.

Rule 9

Accompaniment Concord
When any of these following words are used, the subject of the clause would be the noun and pronoun that comes before the marker of accompaniment.top↑

Words like as much as, alongside, as well as, together with, no less than, in association with, including, like, with, and in collaboration with, etc

  1. Example 1
    Mary,  as well as her friends, is ( not are) beautiful. 
    The answer is, “is” because mary is the noun that comes before as well as, hence mary is the subject and it is a singular noun hence a singular verb. 
  2. Example 2
    The little kids alongside their parents are  (not is) here. 
    The answer is are not is because the little kids come before alongside. The subject is plural hence a plural verb. 

Rule 10

More than concord
When more than is used, the word or number that comes after more than will determine the next verb. 
For example

  1. More than two apples are ( not is) here.
  2. More than one oranges is (not are) here.

In the first statement, the answer is “are” not isbecause two attracts are but in the second statement, the correct option is, “is” not arebecause one attracts is.
Note: Do not think because more than one means at least two, that you will use a plural verb after, no, you will use a singular verb – the 24 rules of concord. 

Rule 11

Indefinite pronoun concord
When any of the following words are used, you should use a Singular verb
Such words as; Everybody, everything, everyone, everywhere, no one, nothing, nobody, nowhere, something, someone, somebody, anyone, anything, anybody, anywhere and each. the next verb must be singular.

For example

  1. Nothing goes ( not go).
  2. Everybody likes (not like) him.
  3. Everybody thinks (not think) he stole the money.

Rule 12

Relative Concord
When who, whose, which and that refers to a previously mentioned noun or pronoun, such noun is a Relative noun

Example:

  1. One of the farmers who plant (not plants) on the farm has (not have) been asked to withdraw.

Rule 13

Uncountable nouns of concord
Countable nouns are nouns that can be quantified in units and numbers, that is, are nouns that can be counted.
E.g chairs, tables, phones, and so forth.

Uncountable nouns are nouns that cannot be quantified in units and numbers.
E.g water, information, equipment.

Note all uncountable nouns will avoid “s” at the back.
It is wrong to use any of these words below;
E.g informations, clothes, equipments, furnitures, machineries, datas, advices, evidences, wealths, and so forth.
Instead, you say a piece of, information, evidence, data, cloth, equipment, advice, etc
It is wrong to say machineries instead, you say a machine or two machines.

Other examples of nouns that attract plural verbs are;

  1. The police work hard (not works), but, that policeman (not policemen) works (not work) hard.
    police and policemen are collective nouns that is why they attract a plural verb from the seventh rule.
    But policeman is not collective noun but a singular noun, hence a singular verb
  2. The headquarters look (not looks) palatial.
  3. Cattle give (not gives) bad odor, and a cow gives bad odor.
  4. Aircraft make (not makes) traveling easier but, that chopper, airbus, or airplane makes traveling easier.

All the four examples attract plural verb because the subject in each example is a collective noun.

Rule 14

Pluralia tantums
Pluralia tantum are nouns that come in plural forms.
Some of these words have final “s”, while some do not. However, whenever any of the following forms appear, it must be followed by a singular verb.

  1. School Subject: Mathematics, Economics, Civics, Physics, Statistics, and so forth. You can see that all of the words end with “s” but it does not show plurality.
  2. Games: Darts, Snakes and Ladders, Draughts, Billiards, Bowls and Skittles, and so forth, all end with “s” but do not show plurality.
  3. Diseases: Measles, Tuberculosis, Shingles, Mumps, and so on, all end with “s” but do not show plurality.
  4. Others: titles, news, series, means, and so forth.

Examples,

  1. The series of incidents makes (not make) me shudder.
  2. The means of transport hastens (not hasten) traveling.

Note: There are some nouns that do not appear as singular at all but as plurals and they often attract plural verbs.

Such words are: Funds (money), annals, spirits, surroundings, guts, earnings, arms (weapons), auspices, the middle ages, entrails, bowels, quarters ( headquarters), banns, means, holidays, stars, suds, wages, thanks, riches, writs, savings, remains, ashes, goods ( product), arrears, outskirts, pains, particulars, fireworks, and so forth.

All these nouns not verbs cannot appear without “s” and, hence they attract plural verbs

Examples:

  1. His manners are (not is) good
  2. The remains (corpse) of the boy have ( not has) been buried.

Rule 15

Double title subject concord
When two subjects are joined together by “and”but the two subjects refer to only one person or thing, a singular verb should be used.

Example:

  1. Our principal and mathematics teacher knows me.

In the above sentence, our principal and mathematics teacher is not two different people but, our principal is also our mathematics teacher, hence the subject is our principal, and it is a singular noun, hence, singular verb.

Consider this example:,

  1. Our principal and the mathematics teacher.

This is quite different from the first sentence because the principal and the mathematics teacher are two different subjects because of the use of “the” Mathematics teacher
Hence, in this second sentence, you use a plural verb – the 24 rules of concord. 

Rule 16

Co-ordinate concord
When two subjects are joined together by and, the verb to be used should be plural.

Examples:

  1. James and John are (not is) here.
  2. Elizabeth and Johnson know (not knows) me.

Rule 17

Categorization concord
When a collective name, denoting category (not a collective noun) is used, the verb to be used must be plural.

Categories like: the poor, the rich, the wealthy, the successful, the gifted, the weak, the young in spirit, the handicapped, the helpless, and so forth. The verb to be used should be plural.

Examples:

  1. The poor need help (not helps or needs) from the government.
  2. The young are (not is) disobedient.
  3. The weak are (not is) left to their fates.

Rule 18

Plural number concord
When amount or unit is mentioned in a statement, units such as five thousand, three hundred, percent, twenty meters, five times, and so on. The next verb must be singular.

Examples:

  1. Two pounds of flour is (not are) too few to bake a cake.
  2. Ten percent of my earnings goes (not go) to my wife.

Rule 19

Mathematical facts
When mathematical facts are used, such as subtraction, multiplication, addition, division, and so forth, are used, the verb will be any of Singular and plural, that is, a singular or plural verb can be used when mathematical facts are used.

Examples:

  1. Ten plus ten is or are ( are and is are both correct) twenty.
  2. Ten multiplied by two is or are twenty.

Both singular and plural are correct.

Rule 20

Every + plural number concord
When every precedes a plural, the next verb is plural.

Examples:

  1. Every ten liters of oil bought come (not comes) with a bonus of an extra liter.

But when “every” appears without any plural number, the verb is singular.

Examples:

  1. Every boy (not boys) likes girls.
  2. Every man (not men) likes football.

When and joins two or more subjects with every or each, the verb should be singular.

Examples:

  1. Every man and woman speaks ( not speak) good English here.
  2. Every student and teacher comes ( not come) to school early – the 24 rules of concord. 

Rule 21

Most or much concord
When most is used, the verb will either be singular or plural, depending on whether the referent is a countable or uncountable noun,

Examples:

  1. Most of the boys (countable noun) aretall.
  2. Most of the time (uncountable noun), John has (not have) always been there for her.

When Much is used in a statement, the verb to be used must be singular.

Examples:

  1. Much of the water has (not have) been spilled.

Rule 22

All concord
When all appears, it means either everything or all the people.
When all means everything, the verb to be used should be Singular but when all means all the people, the verb to be used should be plural.

Examples:

  1. All are already seated in the hall.
    In the above sentence, “All” means all the people are already seated in the hallhence a plural verb.
  2. But;
    All is well with me.
    In the above sentence, “All” meanseverything is well with me hence a singular verb.

When all but is used, the following verb should be plural
Example:

  1. All but John are (not is) on the bus. That means, only John is absent.

Rule 23

Either or neither concord
When either or neither joins two singular nouns together, the following verb should be Singular.

Examples:

  1. Either John or Jackson knows (not know) me.
  2. Neither Mary nor her friend was (not were) here.

But, when either or neither joins two subjects (one singular and the other plural), the verb should be chosen by considering the nearer of the two subjects.

Examples:

  1. Either James or his friends know me.

You can see that the word “friends” is nearer to the verb gap than it is near James.

These rules also apply, when “but or but even” joins two subjects.

Examples:

  1. Not only Sola but even teachers laugh in school.
  2. Not Lawrence but James speaks good English.

You can see that the word James is nearer to the verb gap than it is near Lawrence, hence, you use singular verb.

Rule 24

Each and one of concord
When each appears in concord, a singular noun + a singular verb will be chosen.

Example:

  1. Each boy (not boys) has a car.

But, when “each of or one” of appears, the next noun should be plural but the next verb should be singular.
Example:

  1. Each of the candidates (not candidate) stands (not stand) a good chance to win a scholarship.

We have come to the end of today’s class session on the 24 rules of concord.