GRAMMAR AND USAGE CONTENT

First, when AND is replaced by such words as: ‘with’, ‘as well as’, ‘together with; the verb retains SINGULAR VERB as in:

Examples:  i. The boy with his sister is here.

                  ii. The boy as well as his sister is here.

                  iii. The man together with his wife is here.

Second, when a compound subject joined by “and” gives the impression of a unit, the verb becomes SINGULAR. Examples:

i.               Bread and butter is ready for you.

ii.             Garri and soup is tasty.

iii.           Trial and error results in success.

Thirdly, when a compound subject is connected with correlative, the SINGULAR VERB is used. Examples:

i.               Neither the teacher nor the student is here

ii.             Either the boy or the girl plays the piano.

iii.           Not only Hauwa but also Amina plays well.

 

b    PRONOUN/ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT

      The second rule of agreement states that a pronoun must agree in number, gender, and case with its antecedent. This rule implies that:

i.               A pronoun replacing a noun  must have the same number as the noun it replaces

ii.             A pronoun replacing a noun must be Masculine if the noun is masculine; Feminine, if the noun is feminine; Neuter, if the noun is neuter.

iii.           A Subject noun must be replaced by a subject pronoun, an Objective noun is replaced by an objective pronoun.

 

NUMBER

i.               Nigeria expects everyone to do his duty.

                                          Singular         Singular

ii.             The kind and the wicked have their place.

                  Plural            Plural       Plural

iii.           All men are created equal, they are blessed by God.

                     Plural                            Plural       

iv.            Each of the students wanted to express his view.

Singular                                               Singular

CASE

i.               All men are created equal, they are blessed by God.

   Subject Plural               Subject Plural

ii.             Some women are fickle minded, they do not reason

Subject Plural                          Subject Plural

iii.           I met the man and I him the letter.

      Object Singular  Object Singular

iv.            The lady sang a beautiful solo when she was accompanied.

Subject Singular                            Subject Singular

GENDER

I.               Look at this lady, we believe she is ill.

            Feminine Singular    Feminine Singular

     Ii         When old men speak, we should listen to them

                       Masculine plural                                Masculine plural