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Eddie88 Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Subject-Verb Agreement with Gerunds
Establishing goals for a team is the essential building blocks for effective team work.
Establishing=gerund (subject of sentence)
goals=object of gerund
for a team=prep phrase
is=linking verb
How do I determine subject verb agreement?
The subject is a greund, which there is no plural form, so does that mean that the verb is always singular with the word 'establishing'?
Thanks.
Establishing=gerund (subject of sentence)
goals=object of gerund
for a team=prep phrase
is=linking verb
How do I determine subject verb agreement?
The subject is a greund, which there is no plural form, so does that mean that the verb is always singular with the word 'establishing'?
Thanks.
Top answer
There may be rules to the contrary, but my common sense tells me that you have a singular subject. Your singular verb "is" is correct, but your plural complement "blocks" is not. Offhand, I can't think of an example where a gerund subject would take a plural verb, unless the gerund is plural, or there are two of them.
- There may be rules to the contrary, but my common sense tells me that you have a singular subject.
- Your singular verb "is" is correct, but your plural complement "blocks" is not.
- Offhand, I can't think of an example where a gerund subject would take a plural verb, unless the gerund is plural, or there are two of them.
- His musings continue to astound me.
- Walking and running are good for the health.
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12 Answers
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There may be rules to the contrary, but my common sense tells me that you have a singular subject. Your singular verb "is" is correct, but your plural complement "blocks" is not.
Offhand, I can't think of an example where a gerund subject would take a plural verb, unless the gerund is plural, or there are two of them.
His musings continue to astound me. Walking and running
Offhand, I can't think of an example where a gerund subject would take a plural verb, unless the gerund is plural, or there are two of them.
His musings continue to astound me. Walking and running
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Thanks for noticing the plural complement being a mistake. Mind you, it does sound rather strange to the ear for it to be singular because of the object 'goals' being plual, so it is natural for me to put the complement in plural form, too.
Do you think you would natually use the plural form in speech too (because of GOALS)? Or are you more versed in this department haha.
Do you think you would natually use the plural form in speech too (because of GOALS)? Or are you more versed in this department haha.
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Establishing goals for a team is the essential building blocks for effective teamwork.
I don't think it's necessary to say "for a team" . Also in this context, it should be "teamwork" in my opinion. Gerund usage is almost always considered singular. I can't think of an example where gerund is
used in plural context.
I don't think it's necessary to say "for a team" . Also in this context, it should be "teamwork" in my opinion. Gerund usage is almost always considered singular. I can't think of an example where gerund is
used in plural context.
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By the way, gerund is an act which has no imapct to the nouns receiving the action as far as being singular or plural is concerned in my opinion. So “goals” does not impact its singularity.
Making a fresh pot of coffee and breakfast for us is what my mom does first thing every morning.. I have two nouns here, coffee and breakfast but verb is still singular. It so
Making a fresh pot of coffee and breakfast for us is what my mom does first thing every morning.. I have two nouns here, coffee and breakfast but verb is still singular. It so
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Eddie88 Do you think you would natually use the plural form in speech too (because of GOALS)? Or are you more versed in this department haha.*** blessed or cursed me with an ear for agreement. I never ***** up!
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<<<Washing and ironing arepart(s) of my mom's daily routine>>>
Sure, There are two acts here and each is subject of the sentecne which is entirely different than the question posted earlier. Plural is required here.
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Sure, There are two acts here and each is subject of the sentecne which is entirely different than the question posted earlier. Plural is required here.
.
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Hi. Please help. I have a problem locating or finding out whether a certain gerund in plural is correct or not. I am reading books that I think were published in the 50s and 70s and they seem to have gerunds in plural like "givings" (in the context of church) or "questionings" that make me wonder whether they are correct. I thought it might be that they might have been correct some decades ago but
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There has been no significant change in English grammar since the 19th century. Since the 1950's we have just added new vocabulary like 'internet' and 'space shuttle'.
Virtually all uncountable gerunds, like any other uncountable nouns, can appear in a countable form (singular or plural) when they are modified, in a process called 'reclassification': The uncountable 'Questioning', for i
Virtually all uncountable gerunds, like any other uncountable nouns, can appear in a countable form (singular or plural) when they are modified, in a process called 'reclassification': The uncountable 'Questioning', for i
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