Choose the correct answer in parentheses
1. A number of students in the class (speaks, speak) English very well.
2. There (is, are) some interesting pictures in today’s paper.
3. There (is, are) an incorrect statement in that newspaper article.
4. Most people (like, likes) to go to the zoo.
5. My cousin, along with my aunt and uncle, (works, work) in my grandpa’s hardware store.
6. Anna, as well as her two older sisters, (is, are) in college.
7. This exercise on singular-plural agreement of subjects and verbs (is, are) easy.
8. Each girl and boy in the sixth-grade class (has, have) to do a science project.
9. Making pies and cakes (is, are) Mrs. Reed’s hobby.
10. Getting to know students from all over the world (is, are) one of the best parts of my job.
11. Alex, as well as his two older brothers, (has, have) a good full time job.
12. Some of the fruit in this bowl (is, are) rotten.
13. Half of the students in the class (is, are) from Arabic-speaking countries.
14. Half of his money (is, are) yours.
15. A lot of students in the class (is, are) from Southeast countries.
16. A lot of clothing in those stores (is, are) on sale this week.
17. One of my best friends (is, are) coming to visit me next month.
18. Each boy in the class (has, have) his own notebook.
19. Every one of the students (is, are) required to take the final test.
20. None of the animals at the zoo (is, are) free to roam. All of them (is, are) in enclosures.
21. A number of students (is, are) absent today.
22. The number of employees in my company (is, are) approximately ten thousand.
23. What percentage of the people in the world (is, are) illiterate?
24. What percentage of the earth’s surface (is, are) covered by water?
25. Carlos is the only one of those students who (has, have) lived up to the potential described in the yearbook.
26. The International Club, as well as the Choral Society and the Rowing Club, (need, needs) to submit a new constitution.
27. Not only the students but also their instructor (have, has) been called to the principal's office.
28. Most of the milk (has, have) gone bad. Six gallons of milk (is, are) still in the refrigerator.
29. Each and every student and instructor in this building (hope, hopes) for a new facility by next year.
30. Rice and beans, my favorite dish, (remind, reminds) me of my native Puerto Rico.
31. A large number of voters still (vote, votes) along straight-party lines.
32. John, as well as his younger brothers, (is, are) going to study at that school.
33. People from the South (is, are) very friendly.
34. Either the President or the Vice (has, have) signed the document.
35. No news (is, are) good news.
36. Neither of the statements (is, are) false.
37. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (do, does) not regulate vitamins and herbs.
38. Most experts (believe, believes) that herbal supplements are mild and somewhat harmless.
39. Still, anyone who (take, takes) too much of a vitamin or herb could suffer negative side effects.
40. People who (take, takes) more than 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily may experience diarrhea or kidney stones.
41. There (is, are) a lot of evidence that vitamin-rich foods are beneficial.
42. Eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily (is, are) said to provide all the essential vitamins we require.
43. Talking to your doctor before taking supplements (is, are) advisable.
44. A red and yellow bird (is, are) sitting in that tree.
45. One of my friends (wants, want) to come with us tonight.
46. Neither the President nor the Senators (has, have) found a solution.
47. Half of the food (has, have) already been eaten.
48. Half of the candy bars (was, were) eaten by the children before dinner.
49. Most of the current news on the front pages of both daily newspapers (concerns, concern) the progress of the peace conference.
50. There (is, are) several reasons why I can't come.
51. January and February (is, are) usually the coldest months of the year.
52. Almost two-thirds of the land on these islands (is, are) mountains.
53. Neither of your arguments (makes, make) sense.
54. There (is, are) a lot of unemployed people right now.
55. Fifty minutes (is, are) the maximum length of time allowed for the exam.
56. Both Chapter One and Chapter Two (is, are) easy.
57. Statistics (is, are) a branch of mathematics.
58. A number of books (is, are) required for that course.
59. The number of books required for that course (is, are) five.
60. Mr. and Mrs. Smith (has, have) invited us to dinner.
61. Each penny, nickel, dime, and quarter (has, have) to be counted carefully by the bank teller.
62. The statistics on the divorce rate in the United States (is, are) alarming.
63. Either the physicians in this hospital or the chief administrator (is, are) going to have to make a decision.
64. Some of the votes (seem, seems) to have been miscounted.
65. The tornadoes that tear through this county every spring (is, are) more than just a nuisance.
66. Kara Walters, together with her teammates, (present, presents) a formidable opponent on the basketball court.
67. Some of the grain (appear, appears) to be contaminated.
68. Three-quarters of the students (is, are) against the tuition hike.
69. Three-quarters of the student body (is, are) against the tuition hike.
70. A high percentage of the population (is, are) voting for the new school.
71. A high percentage of the people (was, were) voting for the new school.
72. Both candidates oppose increased defense spending. Neither of the two candidates (oppose, opposes) the war in Iraq.
73. Not one of these cell phones belongs to me. One of the phones (belongs, belong) to Meredith.
74. Most students take all of their classes in the morning. Nobody (takes, take) classes after 2:00.
75. One of my hobbies is collecting shopping bags. My hobbies (is, are) unusual.
76. Gus and Meredith want a trial separation. Neither one (wants, want) to move out of the apartment.
77. Neither of the players admits that he made an error. Both players (admits, admit) that somebody made a mistake.
78. Both the manager and her assistant have been fired. Neither the manager nor her assistant (has, have) been notified.
79. Where is your little brother? Several pages from my journal (is, are) missing.
80. Professor Legree often goes for long walks in the rain. The lights in his house (goes, go) on at midnight.
81. Dr. Ferndon is one of those professors who (seem, seems) distracted most of the time.
82. (Has, Have) either Luis or his parents written to Angela?
83. Neither Luis nor his parents (is, are) the least bit interested in keeping in touch with her.
84. Everybody in this team (try, tries) really hard to please the new coach.
85. Because there (is, are) so many students in that class, I can sometimes sleep in the back row.
86. Mr. Bradley, along with his two sisters, (has, have) lived in this town for thirty years.
87. There (is, are) no reasons for this horrible development that I can see.
88. Some of the water (has, have) already gone bad.
89. One of these students (has, have) obviously cheated on the exam.
90. Carlos and his brother Raoul (is, are) traveling across the country next summer.
91. Several of the students (has, have) decided to withdraw from the course.
92. Howard and Vincent, who (runs, run) a copy center in town, have decided to
expand their business.
93. Both of the statues on the shelf (is, are) broken.
94. The fishing boat that has been tied up at the pier for three days (was, were) finally on its way this morning.
95. The chairman, along with his two assistants, (plans, plan) to attend the annual convention.
96. Not one of the performers (was, were) at the party after the concert.
97. When there (is, are) thunderstorms approaching, we are always reminded of the threat of tornadoes.
98. The piano as well as the pipe organ (has, have) to be tuned for the big concert.
99. The mayor together with his two brothers (is, are) going to be indicted for accepting bribes.
100. Neither of my two suitcases (is, are) adequate for this trip.
101. There (is, are) a list of committee members on the head-table.
102. Everybody in the class (has, have) done the homework well in advance.
103. The jury (take, takes) their seats in the courtroom.
104. Neither the teacher nor the students (seem, seems) to understand this assignment.
105. (Has, Have) either my father or my brothers made a down-payment on the house?
106. Hartford is one of those cities that (is, are) working hard to reclaim a riverfront.
107. John or his brother (is, are) going to be responsible for this.
108. A few of the students (is, are) doing so well they can skip the next course.
109. One of my instructors (has, have) written a letter of recommendation for me.
110. Either the Committee on Course Design or the Committee on College Operations (decides, decide) these matters.
THE CATEGORY OF CASE
Case is a grammatical category which shows relation of the noun with other words in a sentence. It is expressed by the form of the noun.
English nouns have two cases: the common caseand the genitive case. However, not all English nouns possess the category of case; there are certain nouns, mainly nouns denoting inanimate objects, which cannot be used in the genitive case.
The common case is unmarked, it has no inflexion (zero inflexion) and its meaning is very general.
The genitive case is marked by the apostrophe s (’s).
The form of the possessive/genitive case
1. ’sis used with singular nouns and plural nouns not ending in s:
a man’s job the people’s job
men’s work the crew’s quarters
a woman’s intuition the horse’s mouth
the butcher’s (shop) the bull’s horns
a child’s voice women’s clothes
the children’s room Russia’s export
*** If a singular nouns end in s, there are two possible forms:
a) Add an apostrophe and –s: Thomas’s book
b) Add only an apostrophe: Thomas’ book
Plural nouns that end in -s take an apostrophe at the end :
the girls' dresses the students’ hostels
the eagles’ nest the Smiths’ car
2. classical names ending in susually add only the apostrophe:
Pythagoras’ Theorem Archimedes’ Law Sophocles’ plays
3. we use ’safter more than one noun:
Jack and Jill’s wedding Mr. and Mrs. Carter’s house
4. With compounds, the last word takes the ’s:
my brother-in-law’s guitar
Names consisting of several words are treated similarly:
Henry the Eight’s wives the prince of Wales’s helicopter
’scan also be used after initials:
the PM’s secretary/briefcase the VIP’s escort
*** when the possessive case is used, the article before the person or thing “possessed”:
the daughter of the politician = the politician’s daughter
the plays of Shakespeare = Shakespeare’s plays
The use of the possessive/genitive case and of-phrase
The genitive case is used:
1. With nouns denoting persons and animals.
John’s idea the swallow’s nest the mare’s back
With other nouns (denoting inanimate objects or abstract notions) the of + nounphrase is used: the back of the train, the legs of a table.
2. With nouns denoting time and distance,such as minute, moment, hour, day, week, month, year, inch, foot, mile and adverbs: today, yesterday, tomorrow, etc.
a moment’s delay a month’s absence
an hour’s drive a mile’s distance
today’s newspaper a few minutes’ silence
a week’s time yesterday’s telephone conversation
a night’s rest
With these nouns the of-phrase is impossible:
today’s paper = сьогоднішні газети
the papers of today ≠ газети сьогоднішнього дня
3. With the names of countries and towns.
Britain’s national museums
Canada’s population
London’s ambulance services
4. With the names of newspapersand nouns denoting different kinds of organizations.
the Guardian’s analysis, the company’s plans, the firm’s endeavours,
the government’s policy, the organization’s executive board.
5. Often with the nouns world, nation, country, city, town:
the world’s top guitarists, the nation’s wealth
6. With the nouns ship, boat, car:
the ship’s crew, the car’s wheel
7. With nouns denoting planets: sun, moon, earth
the sun’s rays, the earth’s life
8. With some inanimate nouns in the following set expressions:
to one’s heart content, at death’s door, at arm’s length, out of harm’s way,
a needle’s eye, at a stone’s throw, to move at a snail’s pace, at the water’s edge.
*** When the genitive case is used as a premodifier of a noun, it’s called the dependent genitive.However there are some cases when the noun in the genitive case is not followed by the headword and then it stands for the whole noun phrase. This is the so-called absolute genitive.It is used:
1. To avoid repetition:
Our house is better than Mary’s (than Mary’s house)
2. After the preposition of:
An old friend of my mother’s, that cousin of my husband’s
3. To denote shops as the butcher’s, the baker’s, the grocer’s, the chemist’s,
or institutions, where genitive is usually a saint’s name:
St. Paul’s (Cathedral), St. James’s (Palace)
or places of residence:
at Timothy’s, at my uncle’s
EXERCISES
1. Replace the phrases by the Possessive case where possible:
1) the father of Bob;
2) the book of my brother;
3) the cat of the girls;
4) the child of her sister;
5) the order of the colonel;
6) the room of my mother;
7) the garden of my family;
8) the trousers of the boys;
9) the cage of the bird;
10) the hamster of Ann;
11) the pets of the children;
12) the sister of my aunt;
13) the money of my brother;
14) the cat of my great grandmother.