The document provides information about subject-verb agreement including: - Singular and plural subjects and verbs - Identifying the subject - Indefinite pronouns as singular subjects - Activities to practice identifying subjects and selecting the correct verb form - Information and an activity about the novel "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" which explores an autistic character investigating a crime.

1. September 12, 2011 Click to let me know you are here!

2. Turn in Paragraph #1 with homework/in-class work from Wednesday behind it!

3. Go over Quiz #1

4. Subject/Verb Agreement

5. Subject/Verb Agreement A complete sentence contains a subject and a verb. The subject tells who or what is doing something or being something, and the verb expresses the action or links the subject to the rest of the sentence. To maintain subject-verb agreement, a singular subject must have a singular verb form and a plural subject must have a plural verb form.

6. Singular and Plural Verb Forms A singular subject consists of one thing. the student A singular verb form in the present tense usually ends in –s. Studies The student studies for the test.

7. Singular and Plural Verb Forms A plural subject consists of more than one thing. the students A plural verb form in the present tense generally does not end in –s. study The students study for the test.

8. Checking for Subject/Verb Agreement To check for subject-verb agreement, you must first identify the subject of the sentence. Remember that prepositions and other words sometimes occur between the subject and verb. Once you identify the subject, you can add the correct verb form. INCORRECT Elaine go to the amusement park. CORRECT Elaine goes to the amusement park.

9. Checking for Subject/Verb Agreement To check for subject-verb agreement, you must first identify the subject of the sentence. Remember that prepositions and other words sometimes occur between the subject and verb. Once you identify the subject, you can add the correct verb form. INCORRECT The cars swerves to avoid hitting the fence. CORRECT The cars swerve to avoid hitting the fence.

10. Activity 10: Identify Subject-Verb Agreement Go through this quickly as a class!

11. 1. This book (costs, cost) less at the store across the street. costs cost

12. 2. The runners (competes, compete) against one another every year. competes compete

13. 3. The door (sticks, stick) in rainy weather. sticks stick

14. 4. The airlines (offers, offer) advice for children traveling alone. offers offer

15. 5. Lester (works, work) as a team mascot. works work

16. 6. Strawberries (remains, remain) fresh for only a few days. remains remain

17. 7. Dr. Darin (sees, see) patients late in the day. sees see

18. 8. Phoebe (drives, drive) a vintage automobile. drives drive

19. 9. Kathy and Karen (attends, attend) an accelerated science program. attends attend

20. 10. Dancing (is, are) a form of art, a form of exercise, and a form of recreation. is are

21. Subject/Verb Agreement To determine correct subject-verb agreement, be sure that you have correctly identified the subject. Watch out for subject pretenders such as prepositional phrases. INCORRECT The bowl of cookies are on the table. CORRECT The bowl of cookies is on the table.

22. Activity 11: Identify Subject-Verb Agreement Go through this quickly as a class!

23. 2. The pieces of gum (sticks, stick) to the roof of my mouth. sticks stick

24. 3. The cat stuck in the bushes (needs, need) to be rescued. needs need

25. 4. The clouds on the horizon (looks, look) threatening. looks look

26. 5. The movies that I like best (is, are) romances and thrillers. is are

27. 6. One of the children (has, have) a bad cold. has have

28. 8. Jennifer Lopez’s marriages (is, are) always in the news. is are

29. 9. Remakes such as Freaky Friday often (becomes, become) more successful than the original movie. becomes become

30. 10. My pet ferrets, whose names are George and Laura, (eats, eat) more food than I do. eats eat

31. Indefinite Pronouns Sometimes the subject of a sentence is an indefinite pronoun. Here are some singular indefinite pronouns that take singular verb forms. anybody everyone nothing anyone everything somebody anything nobody someone each no one something everybody

32. Examples INCORRECT Each of us need to pay five dollars. CORRECT Each of us needs to pay five dollars.

33. Examples INCORRECT Anyone know the answer. CORRECT Anyone knows the answer.

34. Examples INCORRECT Everybody go to the movies on Friday night. CORRECT Everybody goes to the movies on Friday night.

35. HOW TO CHECK FOR SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT Remember that singular subjects take singular verb forms, and plural subjects take plural verb forms. Be sure that you have correctly identified the subject. Watch out for subject pretenders, such as prepositional phrases. Indefinite pronouns such as everyone, anyone, something, and no one are singular and take singular verb forms.

36. 1. Nothing about that movie (is, are) worthwhile. is are

37. 2. Everybody with a special decal (parks, park) in the same lot. parks park

38. 3. Somebody living on my street (plays, play) loud music late at night. plays play

39. 4. No one in that laboratory (has, have) a degree in science. has have

40. 5. Something inside the car (makes, make) a strange clunking noise. makes make

41. 6. Everyone in Carly’s family (speaks, speak) a foreign language. speaks speak

42. 7. Everything remaining on the floor (does, do) not belong there. does do

43. 8. Nobody with a new computer (uses, use) the old software. uses use

44. 9. Someone with red lipstick (leaves, leave) smudges on the cloth napkins. leaves leave

45. 10. Anything on the boat made of wood (requires, require) a waterproof finish. requires require

46. Vegas Grammar Review Game I will place you in groups Each group will receive $200 in grammar money You wager on each sentence before you see it Always a $10 minimum $50 maximum through sentence 5 $100 maximum through sentence 10 $200 maximum through sentence 15 No maximum wager through sentence 20 For 1 through 5, select the correct verb choice with your group’s iClicker. For 6 through 10, choose the correct conjugation of the verb in parentheses at the end of the sentence. For 11 through 20, write the subject(s), verb(s), and label the verb(s) as action (A), linking (L), or helping (H). If you have the answer correct, I will check your work. If you have all of the prepositions and phrases correct as well, you win your wager. If you answer incorrectly, I take your money. The group with the most money after sentence 20 wins three extra credit points.

47. Example

48. He (is/are) funny. is are

49. 1. The man in the black pants (has/have) my dog. has have

50. 2. Neither of the girls (is/are) ready for the swim meet. is are

51. 3. Anyone (know/knows) the answer to the question. know knows

52. 4. One of the pandas (is/are) sick. is are

53. 5. Everyone selected to serve on this jury (has/have) to be willing to give up a lot of time. has have

54. New Rules For 6 through 10, choose the correct conjugation of the verb in parentheses.

55. 6. Isabel has _______________________ to sing with a rock band. (begin) began begun beginned begunned beganned

56. 7. Last night, Charlie ___________ a lot of coffee to stay awake. (drink) drunk drinked drank drunked dranked

57. 8. The guests had ____________so much food that they had no room for dessert. (eat) ate eated aten eaten ated

58. 9. Patrick has _______________ for the day. (leave) leaft leaved leave leved left

59. 10. I _________ him at the store yesterday. (see) seen sawl saw seed sees

60. New Rules For 11 through 20, write the subject(s), verb(s), and label the verb(s) as action (A), linking (L), or helping (H).

61. Sentence #11 The waitress looks tired. L Time! 10 seconds!

62. Sentence #12 The cat jumped onto the sofa and slept away. A Time! A 10 seconds!

63. Sentence #13 June is helping Bill with his homework. H A Time! 10 seconds!

64. Sentence #14 Allison and Meghan would sing at every restaurant in town. A Time! H 10 seconds!

65. Sentence #15 Jacob felt the crisp breeze on his ears. A Time! 10 seconds!

66. Sentence #16 Declan began to walk to the supermarket, but forgot his wallet. A Time! A 10 seconds!

67. Sentence #17 Jackson could play baseball with his friends or go with his mom to the zoo. A H Time! A 10 seconds!

68. Sentence #18 Brian’s kitchen stinks like moldy cheese. A Time! 10 seconds!

69. Sentence #19 In the middle of the alley under an old, wet newspaper with torn pages lay the puppy. Time! 10 seconds! A

70. Sentence #20 The boy must have been running after the ball. H H H Time! A 10 seconds!

71. Paragraph #2 prompt

72. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time

73. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time Video Clip

74. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time Q5: Do you know what the terms autism and Asperger mean? Yes Sort of No

75. Background to the curious incident of the dog in the night-time

76. Background of Mark Haddon Born in 1962 in Northampton Worked with autistic children in the eighties, before the term autism was commonly used First book (2003)

77. The Story About an autistic boy Lives with his father Investigating the murder of his neighbor’s dog

78. The Setting Takes place around April 1998 Swindon, England Middle-class family

79. The Main Character Christopher John Francis Boone 15 years old Asperger’s Syndrome Whole book is told from his perspective (first-person point of view)

80. Homework Study for your quiz Rough draft of Paragraph #2