Vocabulary of the day

1. a blind alley: a direction that leads nowhere
2. a bolt from the blue: a great surpise
3. a cat's paw: a person used as a tool or dupe
4. a feather in one's cap: something to be proud of
5. a flash in the pan: promising at the start but then disappointing

Formal Greetings

JAMES: Good morning, Professor Austin, how are you doing?

PROFESSOR AUSTIN: Good morning, James. I am doing well. And you?

JAMES: I’m great, thank you. This is my friend Emma. She is thinking about applying to this college. She has a few questions. Would you mind telling us about the process, please?

PROFESSOR AUSTIN: Hello, Emma! It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m more than happy to speak with you. Please stop by my office next week.

EMMA: It’s a pleasure to meet you, professor. Thank you so much for helping us.

PROFESSOR AUSTIN: Don’t mention it. Hopefully, I will be able to answer your questions!

LANGUAGE NOTES

• The greetings good morning/good afternoon/good evening are used at different times of the day to greet people. “Good evening” is often used after 6 p.m. or generally when the sun has set.

• “Good night” is not a greeting: It is used when leaving a place or group of people. Thank you and good night!/Good night, and see you tomorrow.

• When people meet in the United States, it is customary for them to shake hands. A handshake should be firm and usually lasts for about two to three seconds — which allows enough time to say “Nice to meet you.”

• “Don’t mention it” is another way of saying “You’re welcome.” The phrase “You are welcome” is more formal. However, responses such as Don’t mention it./No problem./Happy to help. are informal ways of responding to a thank you.

A Singular Subject Must Have a Singular Verb

Now that you can recognize singular and plural nouns, pronouns, and verbs, you will be able

to make all sentence parts agree in number. Remember the rule introduced in the beginning

of this chapter: A subject must agree with its verb in number.

All the other rules follow from this one. The easiest rules are these two:

·           A singular subject must have a singular verb.

·          A plural subject must have a plural verb.

Let’s examine the first rule.

5. A singular subject must have a singular verb.

She                       hesitates at all intersections, making the other drivers angry.

sing. subject      sing. verb

The singular subject she agrees with the singular verb hesitates.

Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.

sing. subject      sing. verb

The singular subject procrastination agrees with the singular verb is.

I am                      ready for dinner now.

sing. subject      sing. verb

The singular subject I requires the singular verb am.

6.Two or more singular subjects joined by or or nor must have a singular verb.

This makes perfect sense: You are making a choice between two singular subjects. The or

shows that you are only choosing one.

Either the             dog         or the cat                has to go.

sing. subject.        or sing. Subject    sing. verb

Only one pet will go—the dog or the cat. Therefore, you will only have one pet left. Two

singular subjects—dog and cat—joined by or take the singular verb has.

Neither Elvis Costello nor Elvis Presley is in the room.

sing. subject             nor sing. subject sing. verb

Each subject is being treated individually. Therefore, two singular subjects—Elvis

Costello and Elvis Presley—joined by nor take the singular verb is.

7.Subjects that are singular in meaning but plural in form require a singular verb.

These subjects include words such as measles, civics, social studies, mumps, molasses,

news, economics, and mathematics.

The news             is on very night at 11:00 P.M.

sing. subject      sing. verb

The singular subject news takes the singular verb is.

8.Plural subjects that function as a single unit take a singular verb.

Spaghetti and meatballs is my favorite dish.

sing. subject                      sing. verb

The singular subject spaghetti and meatballs requires the singular verb is.

Bacon and eggs makes a great late night snack.

sing. subject      sing. verb

The singular subject bacon and eggs agrees with the singular verb makes.

9. Titles are always singular.

It doesn’t matter how long the title is, what it names, or whether or not it sounds plural—

a title always takes a singular verb.

For Whom the Bell Tolls is a story about the Spanish Civil War.

sing. subject                      sing. verb

The singular title For Whom the Bell Tolls requires the singular verb is.

Stranger in a Strange Land was written by Robert Heinlein.

sing. subject                      sing. verb

The singular title Stranger in a Strange Land requires the singular verb was.

Most measurements are singular—even though they look plural. For example: “Half a dollar

is more than enough” (not “are more than enough”).

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Like Peas in a Pod

Romeo and Juliet

Spaghetti and meatballs

Peanut butter and jelly

The birds and the bees

Some things just seem to go together well. We carry this concept over into grammar by

matching all sentence parts. This matching of sentence elements is called agreement. It helps

you create smooth and logical sentences.

The basic rule of sentence agreement is simple: A subject must agree with its verb in number.

Number means singular or plural.

_ A singular subject names one person, place, thing, or idea.

_ A plural subject names more than one person, place, thing, or idea.

Here are some examples:

	Singular	Plural
	Subjects	Subjects
Person:	I	they
Place:	beach	beaches
Thing:	desk	desks
Idea:	freedom	freedoms

1.Singular and plural nouns

In English, the plurals of most nouns are formed by adding -s or -es to the singular form.

For example: bike → bikes; race → races; inch → inches. Some nouns have irregular plurals,

such as mouse → mice; woman → women, goose → geese. You can find the plural

forms of irregular nouns in a dictionary.

2. Singular and plural pronouns

Pronouns have singular and plural forms, too. Study the following chart.

Singular : I , she, he, it 

Plural :  we, they

Singular or Plural : you

3. Singular and plural verbs

As with nouns and pronouns, verbs show singular and plural forms. There are two areas

in which you may have difficulty identifying singular and plural forms of nouns: the basic

present tense and tenses using the helping verb to be.

As you study the following chart, notice that the form of the verb changes only in the

third-person singular column, the middle column. Find the -s or -es added to the verb.

That’s the tricky part:

_ Singular verbs end in -s or -es.

_ Plural nouns end in -s or -es.

Here are some examples:

First and second person	Singular Third Person	Plural First, Second, Third Person
(I, you) begin	(he, she, it) begins	(we,you, they) begin
(I, you)do	(he, she, it) does	(we,you, they) do

As you can see from this chart, subject-verb agreement is most difficult to determine in the

present tense.

4. Singular and plural forms of be

The form of the helping verb be may also help you determine whether a verb is singular or

plural. The following chart shows the forms of be that are different from singular to plural.

Double Negative

Using two negative words in the same clause (group of words) creates a double negative. 
A double negative is an incorrect usage and should be avoided. To avoid this grammatical error,

use only one negative word to express a negative idea.

Double negative: The traveler did not have no energy after the long flight.

Correct: The traveler did not have any energy after the long flight.

or

The traveler had no energy left after the long flight.

Double negative: Shakira could not hardly see in the blizzard.

Correct: Shakira could hardly see in the blizzard.

or

Shakira could barely see in the blizzard.

Double negatives are especially likely to cause problems when contractions are used.

When the word not is used in a contraction—such as isn’t, doesn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t, don’t—the negative tends to slip by. As a result, writers and speakers may add another negative.

Double negative: Billy didn’t bring nothing with him on vacation.

Correct: Billy didn’t bring anything with him on vacation.

or

Billy brought hardly anything with him on vacation.

However, to create understatement, you can use a word with a negative prefix and another

negative word. The two most common negative prefixes are un- and -in.

Nowadays, it is not uncommon to take six years to complete a four-year college degree.

The report is not inaccurate, but no one should stake their reputation on it.