Business Writing Tips - Sentence Structure: Subject-Verb Agreement (2)

Number three of our 12 essential subject-verb agreement rules:

3. If the subject of the sentence is a singular pronoun, use a singular verb.
   The 'e' pronouns and their negatives are always singular:
   
   each
   each one
   either, neither
   everybody, nobody
   everyone, no one
   everything, nothing
   
         Examples:                  
         Everybody (singular) in our department donates (singular) to United Way.
   
         Each (singular) of the executives wants (singular) his or her own office.

These pronouns are also always singular: one anyone anybody someone somebody

Example: Somebody (singular) in the audience is arguing (singular) with her husband.

These pronouns are singular or plural. Their number is determined by the key word in the prepositional phrase that follows the pronoun: all any most none some

Examples: All of the work is (singular) finished. None of the reports are (plural) finished.

NOTE: None, used alone, may also be singular or plural. When the sense is "no persons or things," the plural is used: The proofreaders checked for errors, but none were found (none = no errors). When the sense is "not one," the singular is used: Of all my reports, none was as well written as my latest (none = not one).

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This edition was adapted from our Business Grammar Program. Previous editions may be read at this location. To receive this free weekly e-mail, select the newsletter option at  www.uliveandlearn.com/userjoin.cfm.