Understanding Sentence Structure and Agreement

This video tutorial covers advanced topics in subject-verb agreement, including compound subjects, collective nouns, and inverted sentences. It explains how to identify and differentiate between singular and plural compound subjects, the rules for using collective nouns, and how to handle inverted sentence structures. The tutorial includes practice problems to reinforce learning and provides tips for ensuring subject-verb agreement in various sentence structures.

What is a compound subject?

• A subject with a single verb

• A subject with a single noun

• A subject with multiple verbs

• A subject with more than one noun or pronoun

Which of the following is an example of a plural compound subject?

• Either Jamal or the players

• Neither Jamal nor Sam

• Jamal and Sam

• A peanut butter and jelly sandwich

When two subjects are joined by 'nor' or 'or', what type of verb should be used?

• Singular verb

• No verb is needed

• Either plural or singular verb

• Plural verb

In the sentence 'Either Jamal or the players love to eat ice cream', why is 'love' used instead of 'loves'?

• Because 'either' implies both subjects

• Because 'or' requires a plural verb

• Because 'players' is plural and closer to the verb

• Because 'Jamal' is singular

What is a collective noun?

• A noun that refers to multiple actions

• A noun that refers to a group of individuals acting as a unit

• A noun that refers to a single individual

• A noun that refers to a single action

In the sentence 'The Heron feeds on fish, frogs, and crustaceans that it grabs with its sphere-like beak', why is 'it' used instead of 'their'?

• Because 'Heron' is a proper noun

• Because 'Heron' is a singular noun

• Because 'Heron' is a plural noun

• Because 'Heron' is a collective noun acting as a unit

Which of the following sentences is correct?

• There were several regular and one gluten-free and vegan pizzas.

• There were several regular and one gluten-free and vegan pizza.

• There were several regular and one gluten-free and vegan pizza's.

• There were several regular and one gluten-free and vegan pizza's.

What is an inverted sentence?

• A sentence with multiple verbs

• A sentence with multiple subjects

• A sentence where the verb comes before the subject

• A sentence where the subject comes before the verb

In the sentence 'There are many flies in the barn', what is the subject?

• There

• Are

• Many

• Flies

What must each clause of a sentence have?

• Its own subject and verb

• Multiple verbs

• Multiple subjects

• No subject or verb