CONCORD
Nguyen Kim Anh
Types of concord
Subject-verb concord
Notional concord
Proximity concord
Concord of person
Subject-complement concord
Subject-object concord
Pronoun concord
1. Subject-verb concord
The most important type of concord in English
The concord of number between subject and verb
A singular subject is followed by a singular verb
A plural subject is followed by a plural verb
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
Her children are little angels.
Many leading members of the opposition party have tried to justify the decisions.
The only excuse that he gave for his action was that he was tired.
2. Notional concord
An agreement of verb with subject
According to the idea of number
Rather than the actual presence of the grammatical marker for that idea
The police are looking for the missing boy.
Measles is sometimes serious.
a. Collective nouns
Notionally plural
Grammatically singular
They obey notional concord
Association, audience, class, club, college, committee, community, company, crowd, family, government, group, jury, orchestra, public, school, team, university, etc
The group is considered as a single undivided body/unit, use singular verb
The audience was enormous.
Our team is the best.
The school is to close next year
( Something happens to the school as a a building or institution, not to the individuals that comprise it)
The group is considered as a collection of individuals, use plural verb.
The audience were enjoying every minute of it.
Our team are wearing their traditional clothes.
The committee usually raise their hands to vote. (individuals do, not the committee as a whole)
b. Coordinated subject
An implied reduction of two clauses, use verbs in the plural
Tom and Mary are now ready
Tom is now ready and Mary is now ready
What I say and what I think are my own affair.
(what I say is.....and what I think is.....)
A representation of a single entity, use singular verb
Bread and butter is my favorite breakfast.
Crime and Punishment is perhaps the best-constructed of Dostoyevsky’s novels.

c. Others
Some nouns are usually plural and take a plural verb
Clothes, goods, earnings, stairs, scissors, pliers, etc
The company’s earnings have increased for the last five years.
Some nouns ending in –s are singular noun
Economics, mathematics, physics, athletics, measles, rabies, etc
Economics has only recently been recognized as a scientific study.
3. Proximity concord
An agreement of the verb with whatever noun or pronoun closely precedes it
No one except his own supporters agree with him.
Either….or….
Neither…..nor…..
Either you or I am wrong
Either I or you are wrong
Neither she or you are right.
Neither you or she is right.
4. Concord of person
Concord of person between subject and verb
I am your friend
He is your friend
They are your friends
5. Subject-complement concord
Concord of number exists between subject and complement (not of person)
The child was an angel
The children were angels.
6. Subject-object concord
Concord of number, person and gender
Object is usually reflexive pronoun
I hate myself for loving you.
You should give yourself another chance
She looked at herself in the mirror.
He killed himself.
7. Pronoun concord
Personal pronouns in the 3rd person agree in number and gender
John hurt his foot.
Beatrice hurt her foot
John and Beatrice hurt their foot.
8. Others
Any of/ each of/ either of/ neither of/none of + plural noun
We can use a singular or plural verb
I don’t think any of them knows/know where the money is hidden.
Neither of the French athletes has/have won this year
the majority of/ a number of/ a lot of/ plenty of/ all (of)/ some (of) + plural noun
We use a plural verb
A number of refugees have been turned back at the border.
The majority of primary school teachers are women.
The number of + a plural noun
We use a singular verb
The number of books in the library has risen to over five million.
The number of pupils in school with reading difficulties has fallen this year.
Any of/ none of/ the majority of/ a lot of/ plenty of/ all (of)/ some (of)/ + an uncountable noun
We use a singular verb
All the furniture was destroyed in the fire.
None of the information is particularly useful to me.
Each/ every + singular noun
We use a singular verb
Each room has its own bathroom.
Although some people find cricket boring, each match is different.
Everyone/ everybody/ everything
Similar words beginning with any-, some- and no-
We use a singular verb
I can assure you that everything is safe.
Someone is waiting for you in your office
Phrases referring to measurements, amounts and quantities
We use a singular verb
About three meters separates the runners in first and second places.
The fifty pounds he gave me was soon spent.
After percent (%) we use a singular verb
An inflation rate of only 2 percent makes a big difference to exports
Around 10 % of the forest is destroyed each year.
% + plural noun
We use a plural verb
I would say that about 50% of the houses need major repairs
If those interviewed, only 20% ( of people interviewed) admit to smoking.