{"id":9569,"date":"2020-07-15T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/?p=9569"},"modified":"2022-05-03T08:10:28","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T08:10:28","slug":"what-is-subject-verb-agreement-and-how-do-you-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/blog\/what-is-subject-verb-agreement-and-how-do-you-do-it\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Subject-Verb Agreement and How Do You Do It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
This month\u2019s topic is how to make your subjects and verbs agree. Think of yourself as a grammatical mediator\u2014your job is to make everyone get along and play nice. This means singular subjects should have singular verbs, and plural subjects should have plural verbs. Sounds simple, but this can be surprisingly difficult once you add words between the subject and the verb.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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First the basics: the subject of a sentence is the noun (the thing) that is doing something (the verb). Let\u2019s start off by identifying the subject and the verb in a sentence. Tip: look for the action word and then find the thing that\u2019s doing the action<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PA student studied all month for the PANCE<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the action word in this sentence? Studied<\/strong>. Who studied? The PA student<\/strong>. Great, you\u2019ve identified the subject and the verb! Let\u2019s try another example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This NP Certification Exam Qbank boosts my confidence<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time to identify the subject and the verb. Remember, if you\u2019re stuck, look for the action word and figure out which noun is doing that action. What is the verb in this sentence? Boosts<\/strong>. And which noun (thing) in our sentence is boosting? The Qbank<\/strong>.* And now the topic of subject-verb agreement comes in. Since we only have one Qbank, we use the singular form of the verb: boosts<\/strong>.**<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A singular subject takes a singular verb, and similarly, a plural<\/a> subject (more than one) needs a plural verb.<\/p>\n\n\n

Nurse practitioner Qbanks<\/span> make<\/span> great study tools for NP students. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Feeling ok about this? Let\u2019s ramp it up a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n

Other risk factors of chronic pancreatitis <\/strong>[includes<\/strong><\/span>\/include<\/strong><\/span>] cholelithiasis<\/strong>, peptic ulcer disease<\/strong>, hyperparathyroidism<\/strong>, hyperlipidemia<\/strong>, pancreatic obstruction<\/strong>, autoimmune and genetic disorders<\/strong>, and toxic metabolites<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

I\u2019ve highlighted the verb here for you\u2014should it be singular or plural? Depends on our subject. Since we know the sentence\u2019s verb, the subject will be the noun that\u2019s doing the verb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have two nouns in the beginning of the sentence: \u201crisk factors\u201d (would take the verb \u201cinclude\u201d) and \u201cpancreatitis\u201d (would take the verb \u201cincludes\u201d). Are the risk factors including something or is the pancreatitis including something? The risk factors<\/strong>. Notice the word \u201cof\u201d? It indicates that chronic pancreatitis is further describing which risk factors we\u2019re looking for and, therefore, is NOT the subject of this sentence. Since \u201crisk factors\u201d is plural, include<\/strong> is the correct form of the verb.<\/p>\n\n\n

Other risk factors<\/span> of chronic pancreatitis <\/strong>include<\/strong><\/span> cholelithiasis<\/strong>, peptic ulcer disease<\/strong>, hyperparathyroidism<\/strong>, hyperlipidemia<\/strong>, pancreatic obstruction<\/strong>, autoimmune and genetic disorders<\/strong>, and toxic metabolites<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

The easiest way for me to make sure my subjects and verbs agree is to remove the words between them. Since we know \u201crisk factors\u201d is the subject and \u201cinclude\/includes\u201d is our verb, removing the words between them leaves \u201cOther risk factors…include cholelithiasis, peptic ulcer disease\u2026\u201d\u2014distractors are no longer in the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How about this example from AMA?<\/p>\n\n\n

A review of all patients with grade 3 tumors<\/strong> [were<\/span><\/strong>\/was<\/span><\/strong>] undertaken in the university hospital<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take a similar tactic to the last example (I\u2019ve highlighted the verb for you again): <\/p>\n\n\n\n