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Brokering agreements between Subject and Verb in Verbal Ability grammar questions for CAT
by Guest Writer on 23 August 2011 in MBA test prep, Subject Verb Agreement, Verbal ability Contributed By: Tanveer Ahmed 19 comments

(Photo credit: Christopher Matson)

[Teacher: "Sanjay, give me a sentence beginning with I."

[Teacher: "Sanjay, give me a sentence beginning with I." Sanjay: "I is ..." Teacher: "No, Sanjay. It's always 'I am...' " Sanjay: "OK. I am the ninth letter of the alphabet."] One of the most dreaded portions of the English section of the CAT is the one relating to grammar. MBA applicants find themselves frequently at a loss while trying to negotiate a deadly landmine of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions articles and gerunds. Additionally this is something that is of practical use to applicants in their professional life. Poor grammar makes for a poor impression! Thus proficiency in this section becomes all the more critical! A frequently tested aspect of grammar in MBA entrance tests is SubjectVerb Agreement (SVA). The Basics Subject: The part of a sentence that commonly indicates what it is about, or who or what performs a particular action. The simple subject consists of the specific noun or pronoun that is doing the action or whose state of being is being described. Example, The most hardworking student in my class never sleeps much. The simple subject of the sentence is student because the student performs the action. The complete subject of the sentence includes the simple subject and all words that modify it: The most hardworking student in my class. Verb: The part of speech that expresses existence, action, or occurrence. In other words the doing word. It may also express a state of being. Example, The most hardworking student in my class never sleeps much. The verb sleeps describes the action of the sentence. Example, Consequently, he is always fresh. The verb is describes the state of being of the subject, he. [What's the difference between a CAT and a comma? One has claws at the end of its paws and one is a pause at the end of a clause.] Generic Rules

1. Agreement in Number: SVA implies that if the subject is plural (cats), then the verb needs to be plural (meow). If the subject is singular (cat) then the verb needs to be singular (meows). Do remember that verbs do not form their plurals by adding an s as nouns do. In order to determine which verb is singular and which one is plural, think of which verb you would use with he or she and which verb you would use with they. runs, run Which one is the singular form? Which word would you use with he? We say, He runs. Therefore, runs is singular. We say, They run. Therefore, run is plural. 2. Agreement in Person: Sentences are written in either first, second, or third person, based on the authors viewpoint. If a sentence is written in first person, the writer is writing about herself/himself, using pronouns such as I and we. In a second-person sentence, the writer speaks directly to the reader, using the pronoun you. Third-person sentences generally refer to their subjects by name or with pronouns like he, she, it,or they. Often, there will be a change in the form of the verb, depending on whether its subject is in first, second, or third person. For example, the singular firstperson, second-person, and third-person forms of the verb are completely different from each other as seen below, I am hungry. ( am a first-person subject) You are hungry. ( are a second-person subject) He is hungry. ( is third-person subject)

[When I was a kid, my English teacher looked my way and said, "Name two pronouns." I said, "Who, me?"] There are some additional rules that will help you to maintain SVA in Sentence Correction questions of MBA entrance examinations. 1. A subject made up of two or more nouns or pronouns joined by and takes a plural subject, unless that subject is intended to be singular. He and I run every day. (Plural) Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite sandwich. (Singular) 2. When a subject is made up of nouns joined by or, the verb agrees with the last noun.

He or I run every day. Potatoes, pasta, or rice pairs well with grilled chicken. 3. Dont get confused by the words that come between the subject and verb; they do not affect agreement. Connectives, phrases such as combined with, coupled with, accompanied by, added to, along with, together with, and as well as, do not change the number of the subject. These phrases are usually set off with commas

The dog, who is barking noisily, is usually very well behaved. The team captain, as well as his players, is disappointed. 4. When I is one of the two subjects connected by either/or or neither/nor, put it second and follow it with the singular verb am. Neither she nor I am going to the festival. 5. When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or pronoun joined by or/nor , the verb should agree with the part of the subject that is nearer the verb. The boy or his friends run every day. His friends or the boy runs every day. [ Importance of Punctuation Follow on
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Let's eat, Grandpa! Let's eat Grandpa! ] 6. Words such as each, either, neither, anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always singular and, therefore, require singular verbs. For example, when we write each of my sons, the verb must agree with the singular subject each instead of the plural noun sons. And the singular subject everyone who knows my sons should be followed by the singular is impressed by them, and not are impressed by them. Note: There is one indefinite pronoun, none, that can be either singular or plural None of you claims responsibility for this incident? None of you claim responsibility for this incident?

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7. Collective nouns (team, couple, staff,committee etc.) take either a singular or plural verb depending on whether the emphasis is on the 71 comments individual units or on the group as whole.

individual units or on the group as whole. The committee were divided over the issue. (Tip : Think of it as The commitee (members) were divided over the issue.) The cricket team is practicing for the World Cup. A 7-step strategy to get the most out of your CAT mock tests 54 comments

I am a Team Man: Nominations open 8. With words that indicate portions percent, fraction, part, majority, some, all, none, remainder and so forth look at the noun for CAT Dream Team, Underdogs in your of phrase (object of the preposition) to determine whether to Team, SB Team and Girls' Dream Team use a singular or plural verb. If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb. If the object of the preposition is 50 comments plural, use a plural verb. Example, 70% of the cake has been eaten 70% of the cakes have been eaten Readn mks man prfct n gud mngr 2. IIMs, othrs intro writn esays n selctn proces so dat 'English' gts its du 47 comments Winning Silver: Figuring out the second last digit in Quantitative Aptitude

Practice

As in any other subject regular and continuous practice is the key to 46 comments success. There is no magic wand! After every Grammar lesson this what you should be doing, CAT replaces JMET: Move expected to ease pressure on aspirants, faculty 1. Refer to to your grammar book and go to the related chapter. Solve the exercise problems given at the end of the chapter. More than just mugging 43 comments the rules you should be focussing on these practice questions. 2. Use online resources for additional practice Sources, Theory http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sv_agr.htm http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/subjectVerbAgree.asp http://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules/20-Rules-of-subjectverb-agreement.html Practice http://www.englishpage.com/grammar/Subject_Verb_Agreement/Exercises/ http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cgi-shl/quiz.pl/sv_agr_quiz.htm 3. If you are really diligent and serious about the CAT while you are doing your online research keep open a word doc into which you copy paste all the material that you come across on the particular topic. Save the word document with the relevant name e. g. -Subject Verb agreement and you have a ready reckoner for revision when the CAT is just round the corner. CAT is not only about working hard but also about working smart! Shorter queues for CAT 2011 vouchers, aspirants say normalisation not an issue 43 comments Accept vs Except: De-obfuscating commonly confused words for CAT 35 comments

The successful student is one who can quickly revise all the concepts of the year long study in a matter of weeks! [We speak of a brother and also of brethren, But though we say Mother, we never say Methren, Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him, But imagine the feminine she, shis and shim, So English, I fancy you will all agree, Is the funniest language you ever did see.]

Tanveer Ahmed is an alumnus of St Xaviers College, Kolkata and currently works with a people search firm as a recruiter. He is a visiting faculty with T.I.M.E. and also coaches and mentors CAT hopefuls online in the intricacies of the English language. (On LinkedIn) If you think you have what it takes to write interesting articles of the above kind on CAT strategy and have a past record of 99 percentiles in mocks, we are looking for Freelance test prep writers. Feel free to apply and well be happy to hear from you!
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Comments (19)
Leave a Reply #1 August 23, 2011, 2:17 pm ank_mission_IIM Nice one PG #2 August 23, 2011, 2:53 pm rahul.sukhi Good references.

Good references. #3 August 23, 2011, 3:52 pm arigig Im enjoying the articles quite a few time and all of them are facinating, thanks a lot Tanveer. #4 August 23, 2011, 4:57 pm leo387 Awesome articles, examples are so perfect !!! #5 August 23, 2011, 5:17 pm rodneyrude101 its a gem #6 August 23, 2011, 5:44 pm rodneyrude101 Arun Sharma has mentioned this in his book but u have explained it in a much better wayThanx #7 August 23, 2011, 6:32 pm englis is a bhaery phunnny langvage.DO sounds like doo, then why does GO not soung like goo? serious doubt. ehehe Tanveer Sir, we dont have words to thank you, only opportunities to prove the worth of your lessons still, thank you sir #8 August 23, 2011, 7:33 pm Da_Zohan elaborately elucidated,thanks #9 August 23, 2011, 10:00 pm PALLAV BHATT Numero Uno..Thanks a ton sirjee #10 August 23, 2011, 10:21 pm rationalnuts good onethanks for the references #11 August 23, 2011, 11:55 pm KRG super stuff. thanks a lot sir

Aditya

#12 August 24, 2011, 12:10 am mytotemspins this was much needed #13 August 24, 2011, 12:35 am hi5blast

hi5blast

Super stuffThanks #14 August 24, 2011, 1:12 am its really worth if u guys save as a word doc. i hav done it sincere thanks to TANVEER sir #15 August 24, 2011, 9:12 am

montupatel_05

Highplainsdrift

nice..:-) #16 August 24, 2011, 11:57 am

fashd

nice and worthy #17 August 24, 2011, 12:19 pm

Hell2Bell

Thanks PG #18 August 24, 2011, 12:51 pm

rohitciet A LUCID EXPLANATION #19 August 24, 2011, 1:34 pm sowmyanarayanan thank you.. much needed post..

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