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  • and I say that a dancing dog is funnier than a cat playing the piano! Well I disagree!

  • But unfortunately for subjects and verbs, according to the rules of grammar, they must

  • agree. So here are three more ways to make sure that your subjects and verbs always agree.

  • Roll tape!

  • The government is debating the new law. The government are debating the new law.

  • Now, government is a collective noun which represents a group of people, like police.

  • But unlike police, which is always plural, government can be singular or plural depending

  • on whether you mean: a group of individuals working together, i.e. they; or a single unit, it.

  • Here are some more examples.

  • It's also worth noting that in a relative clause, we use 'who' for the group and

  • 'which' for the unit. For example:

  • 'The government, who are in talks right now, are reviewing the law.'

  • Or, 'The government, which is in talks right now, is reviewing the law.'

  • Do you see the difference?

  • 3 minutes is perfect for tea.

  • Now, despite the fact that 3 is a plural number and minutes is a plural noun, this sentence

  • uses a singular verb; and this is because within the context, three minutes is considered

  • to be one unit of time. This is also true for amounts, distances, periods of time, quantities, weights etc.

  • Here are some more examples.

  • Be careful with expressions with ONE. Even if the noun is plural, we still use a singular

  • verb. This is easier to remember with something like:

  • One of my friends has a Ferrari.

  • But much more difficult when you have a sentence such as:

  • More than one of us is a secret undercover agent.

  • Be careful with portions! The noun after 'of' dictates the verb. For example.

  • Finally, when 'speaking' mathematics the verb can be singular or plural and the funny

  • thing is that people often switch inconsistently, even in the same sentence. So, for example:

  • Two and three is five. Two and three are five.

  • Or Two plus three is five.

  • Finally, a quick note about indefinite nouns such as: somebody, anywhere, nothingand

  • the others. They take singular verbs. For example:

  • Someone is at the door!

  • However, once you've referred to somebody using 'someone', the pronoun that we use

  • to refer to the same person is 'they', which takes a plural verb; and this is because

  • we don't know if the person is a he or a she. For example:

  • Someone is at the door. They are knocking loudly!

  • Did you get it? Of course you got it! Now for more information please log on to bbclearningenglish.com.

  • I've been Dan, you've been fantastic. See you next time, ok? Hello?

  • What do you mean Titanic was more romantic than Terminator 2? Are you mad? I cried at the end of Terminator 2!

  • No it was the bit with the thumb

and I say that a dancing dog is funnier than a cat playing the piano! Well I disagree!

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