Make Verbs Agree After Expressions Of Quantity

Skill

Make Verbs Agree After Expressions Of Quantity

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A particular agreement problem occurs when the subject is an expression of quantity, such as all, most, or some, followed by the preposition of. In this situation, the subject (all, most, or some) can be singular or plural, depending on what follows the preposition of.

All (of the book) was interesting.
was -> SINGULAR
All (of the books) were interesting.
were -> PLURAL
All (of the information) was interesting.
was -> UNCOUNTABLE

In the first example, the subject all refers to the singular noun book,
so the correct verb is therefore the singular verb was. In the second example, the subject all refers to the plural noun books, so the correct verb is the plural verb were. In the third example, the subject all refers to the uncountable noun information, so the correct verb is therefore the singular verb was.

Exercise

Complete the following exercises to reinforce what you’ve learned:

EXERCISE 21: Each of the following sentences has a quantity expression as the subject. Underline the subjects once and the verbs twice. Circle the objects that the verbs agree with. Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (I).

  1. _C_ The witnesses saw that most of the (fire) in the hills was extinguished._
  2. _I_ Some of the (animals) from the zoo was released into the animal preserve._
  3. ___ All of the students in the class taught by Professor Roberts is required to turn in their term papers next Monday.
  4. ___ Half of the food that we are serving to the guests are still in the refrigerator.
  5. ___ We believe that some of the time of the employees is going to be devoted to quality control.
  6. ___ All of the witnesses in the jury trial, which lasted more than two weeks, have indicated that they believed that the defendant was guilty.
  7. ___ She did not know where most of the people in the room was from.
  8. ___ In spite of what was decided at the meeting, half of the procedures was not changed.
  9. ___ I was sure that all of the questions on the test were correct.
  10. ___ Most of the trouble that the employees discussed at the series of meetings was resolved within a few weeks.

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