NOUNS AND VERBS

NOUN - word / set of words for person, place, thing, or idea.

• Compound noun - a noun of more than one word (food cart, tree house)

Common noun - words for a general class of people, places, things, and idea

Proper noun - names specific people, places, and things. Always capitalized.

VERB - a word or a set of words that shows action, feeling, or a state of being.

State-of-being verbs are called linking verbs. They include all forms of the verb to be, plus words such as look, feel, appear, act, go followed by an adjective.

Verbs often consist of more than one word. 'Had been breaking down' is a four-word verb. It has a two-word main verb, 'breaking down' (also called a phrasal verb) and two helping verbs (had and been). Helping verbs help clarify the intended meaning.

Many verbs can function as helping verbs, including is, shall, must, do, has, can keep, get, start, help, etc.

If a verb follows the word to, it is called an infinitive and is not the verb. The main verb is either before or after the infinitive.

• e.g: I'm trying to cook. (TO COOK is an infinitive, TRYING is the verb)

Split infinitive - when a word is inserted between to and the verb in an infinitive.

(Using split infinitives is seen as amateur-ish in formal writing).

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

Subject - a subject is the noun / pronoun / set of words that performs the verb. Sentences can have more than one subject and more than one verb.

A singular subject takes a singular verb. A plural subject takes a plral verb.

• A subject will come before a phrase beginning with 'of'.
• Two singular subjects connected by 'or', 'either/or', 'neither/nor' require a singular verb.
• If it's not two singular subjects, the verb in a sentence with 'or', 'either/or', and 'neither/nor' agrees with the noun/pronoun closest to it.
• Two or more subjects connected by 'and' require a plural verb.
• When subjects are separated by 'along with', 'as well as', 'besides', 'not', these words are not part of the subject.
• With words that indiciate portion (percent, fraction, majority, some, all), the verb agrees with the noun after 'of'. None is both singular and plural and its correct verb depends on the context it is used in.
• In sentences beginning with 'here' and 'there', the true subject follows the verb.
• Use a singular verb with distances, periods of time, sums of money, when considered as one unit.
• Some collected nouns such as family, couple, staff, audience, etc., may take either a singular or plural verb depending on the context they're used in. When using a plural verb with a collective noun, be consistent.
• The word 'were' replaces 'was' in sentences that express a wish or a contrary to fact. This is called the 'subjunctive mood', which is used to express things that are hypothetical, wishful, imaginary, or factually contradictory. This mood pairs singular subjects with a plural verb.