USING PROPER GRAMMAR
SIGNALS PROFESSIONALISM
When your grammar is sloppy, your readers will think either that you don’t
know what’s correct or that you don’t care. When you follow the standard
rules, you will be perceived as professional, and your readers will have more
confidence in you and your ideas. Two of the most common grammar errors
involve subject/verb agreement and noun/pronoun agreement.
Subjects and Verbs Must Agree
Subjects and verbs must agree in person and in number all the time—
there are no exceptions. The subject of the sentence, that is, the doer of
the action, must match the verb. A singular subject requires a singular
verb; a plural subject requires a plural verb.
The rule is straightforward, but applying it can be tricky. Where
people get into the most trouble is with intervening modifying phrases,
certain specific words (such as each and every), and collective nouns.
Ignore Phrases and Clauses That Separate Subjects from Verbs
Intervening, modifying phrases often add interesting details or important
qualifications. However, it’s easy to become confused about which word
in a sentence is the subject. For example, consider this sentence:
The briefcase (subject, singular) containing all the reports was (verb, singular)
in Max’s car.
It’s easy to see why you might be confused; the noun closest to the verb
is plural (“reports”). Nevertheless, the modifying phrase “containing
all the reports” should be ignored in making the subject/verb agreement
decision. Note that without that phrase, the sentence reads:
The briefcase (subject, singular) was (verb, singular) in Max’s car.
Subject/verb agreement doesn’t change when you add intervening,
modifying phrases, so it makes sense to eliminate them when making the
determination.