There were 6 silver dollars in each of the stockings.If the subject is“a fraction /percentage+ of phrase",the form of the verbis determined by the noun in the of-phrase.A plural noun in the of-phraserequires a plural verb; a singular or a mass noun in the of phrase is to befollowed by a singular verb.e.g.:Over60%of the citywas destroyed in thewarTwo-thirdsofthe swampland has been reclaimedforfarmingNearly50%of thedoctors arewomen.If the subject is an expression of "A plus/and B"”or“Amultiplied byB,the verb can either take the singular or the pluralform.If,ontheother hand,the subject is one of"Aminus B"or“"A divided by B",the verbcan only be singular.e.g.:Sevenplus/and five(7+5)makes/maketwelveFortyminusfifieen(40-15)leaves twentyfive.Fivetimeseight(5x8) is /are forty.Fortydividedbyeight(40-8)如fivepluralIf the subject is a noun phrase cornposed of "one in / out of +noun",the verb takes the singularform in formal style,but in informal styleit can be plurale.g.:One in ten students has /have failed the exam.One out of twenty was/were badlydamaged.2)Concord with expression ofindefinite quantity as subjectWhen the subject is a noun phrase composed of "all of..., some of....none of..., half of..., most of.., etc", the number of the verb is determinedby the noun in the of-phrase. This is also true of "lots of, heaps of, loads of,scads of, plenty of +noun",11
11 There were 6 silver dollars in each of the stockings． If the subject is “a fraction／percentage + of phrase"，the form of the verb is determined by the noun in the of-phrase．A plural noun in the of-phrase requires a plural verb；a singular or a mass noun in the of phrase is to be followed by a singular verb. e.g.： Over 60％of the city was destroyed in the war． Two-thirds of the swampland has been reclaimed for farming． Nearly 50％of the doctors are women． If the subject is an expression of “A plus／and B” or “A multiplied by B”, the verb can either take the singular or the plural form．If，on the other hand，the subject is one of “A minus B’’ or “A divided by B”，the verb can only be singular. e.g.： Seven plus／and five(7+5)makes／make twelve． Forty minus fifteen(40-15)leaves twenty—five． Five times eight(5×8) is ／are forty． Forty divided by eight(40÷8)如 five． If the subject is a noun phrase cornposed of "one in／out of + plural noun"，the verb takes the singular form in formal style，but in informal style it can be plural. e.g.： One in ten students has／have failed the exam． One out of twenty was／were badly damaged． 2) Concord with expression of indefinite quantity as subject When the subject is a noun phrase composed of “all of., some of.， none of.，half of.，most of.，etc”，the number of the verb is determined by the noun in the of-phrase．This is also true of “lots of，heaps of，loads of， scads of，plenty of + noun’’
e.g.:All ofthe cargo was lost.Allof the crew were saved.Lots of food is going to waste.Lots ofpeoplearewaitingoutside.When the subiect is a noun preceded by“a portion of, a series of, a pileof. a panel of", the verb in Variably takes the singular form, whatever theforms of the noun. likewise, when the subject is a noun, singular or plural,kind/sort/preceded by“a kind/ sort/type of" or by“"thistype of", the Verb takes the singular form.If “kind / sort /typeof"ispreceded by“these/those"andfollowed by a plural noun,the verb shouldbe plural.eg:Asubstantial portionof the reporis is missingAseriesofaccidents hasbeenreportedThis kind of man annoys me.That type of men is dangerous.Thesesortof machines are up to dateIf the subject is a noun phrase composed of "many a+noun"or"more than one + noun", this kind of noun phrase,though notionally plural,is treated as singular.Many a man has done his duty.More than one game was lost.If the subject is a plural noun preceded by “an average of / amajority of", the verb form is determined by the notion of the nounphrase:if the noun head is the word “average /majority"the verbshouldplural.be singular;if the head is the plural noun,the verb should beCompare:An average of 25 applications amonth is not unusual.12
12 e.g.： A1l of the cargo was lost． A1l of the crew were saved． Lots of food is going to waste． Lots of people are waiting outside． When the subject is a noun preceded by “a portion of，a series of，a pile of, a panel of”，the verb in Variably takes the singular form，whatever the forms of the noun．likewise，when the subject is a noun，singular or plural， preceded by “a kind／sort／type of’’ or by ‘‘this kind／sort／ type of"，the Verb takes the singular form． If “kind／sort ／type of” is preceded by “these／those’’ and fo1lowed by a plural noun， the verb should be plural. eg： A substantial portion of the reports is missing． A series of accidents has been reported． This kind of man annoys me． That type of men is dangerous． These sort of machines are up to date． If the subject is a noun phrase composed of “many a + noun’’ or “more than one + noun"，this kind of noun phrase，though notionally plural， is treated as singular． Many a man has done his duty． More than one game was lost． ． If the subject is a plural noun preceded by ‘‘an average of／ a majority of"，the verb form is determined by the notion of the noun phrase：if the noun head is the word “average／majority” the verb should be singular；if the head is the plural noun，the verb should be plural． Compare： An average of 25 applications a month is not unusual．
Anaverageof25personsapplyeachmonth6.Otherproblems of subject-verbconcordI) Problems of concord with a nominal clause as subjectWhen the subject is a nominal clause introduced by what, who, which,how,why whether etc,the verb usually takes the singular form.But when toor more such clauses are coordinated by and or both... and, a plural verb isrequired.eg:Whatcaused theaccident is a complete mystery.what caused theaccident andwho was responsibleforit remain a mystery tous.2) Subject-verb concord with a non-finite clause as subjectWhenthe subject is a non-finiteclause,theverb of the main clauseusually takes the singular form.But when two or more such clause arecoordinated by and, the verb of the main clause takes the singular form whenthe subject refers to one thing,and the plural form when the subject refers toseparatethings.eg:To climb mountains requires courage.Playing tennis is a very good exercise.Compare:Reading Ibsen and solving a quadratic equation are entirely differentassignments.3)Subject-verb concord inrelative clausestheIn the construction of “one of + plural noun + relative clause",principle of grammatical concord isgenerally observed.Sometimes especially inBritish English, in order to lay emphasis on "one", the verb can also take thesingular form.When"one"is preceded by“the"or“the only",the verb can onlybe singular.13
13 An average of 25 persons apply each month． 6. Other problems of subject-verb concord 1) Problems of concord with a nominal clause as subject When the subject is a nominal clause introduced by what, who, which, how, why, whether, etc，the verb usually takes the singular form. But when to or more such clauses are coordinated by and or both . and, a plural verb is required. eg： What caused the accident is a complete mystery． what caused the accident and who was responsible for it remain a mystery to us． 2) Subject-verb concord with a non-finite clause as subject When the subject is a non-finite clause， the verb of the main clause usually takes the singular form. But when two or more such clause are coordinated by and, the verb of the main clause takes the singular form when the subject refers to one thing，and the plural form when the subject refers to separate things. eg： To climb mountains requires courage． Playing tennis is a very good exercise． Compare： Reading Ibsen and solving a quadratic equation are entirely different assignments． 3) Subject-verb concord in relative clauses In the construction of “one of + plural noun + relative clause”， the principle of grammatical concord is generally observed. Sometimes especially in British English，in order to lay emphasis on "one"，the verb can also take the singular form．When "one" is preceded by “the" or “the only"，the verb can only be singular．
Compare:Joan is one of those peoplewhogo out of their waytobehelpful.Jasper White is one of those rare people who believes in ancient myths.Keves is the only one of the players who has learned allthe rules.4) Subject-verb concord in clefi-sentencesIn cleft-sentences,subject.verb concord in that /who-clause isgenerally determined by the number of the focal element functioning assubject in the clause.There is one point that should be noted: when the focalelement is“1",the verb To BE in the following who-/that-clause usuallyagreeswith“T"inbothperson and number;if,on theotherhand,thefocalelementis“'me"instead of"I",theverb ToBE inthefollowingwho-/what-clause should take the third person singular number.e.g.:It is I who am to blame.Itismethat istoblame.5)Subject-verbconcordinexistentialsentencesIn existential Sentences,Subject-verb concord is generally determinedby the number of the“notional subject",but in informalstyle,especially inspoken language,the verb often agrees withthe“formal subject"and takesthe singular form,even though the notional subject is plural.When thenotional subject is a coordinateconstruction, the verb fom goes with thefirst coordinate element ofthe notional subject, singular or plural.e.g.:There is a note lefi on the desk.There are three routes you can take.There's moregrace and less carelessness.There's a long springboard, and three rafis at varying distances fiom theshore.StageIV:Practice (100mins)14
14 Compare： Joan is one of those people who go out of their way to be helpful. Jasper White is one of those rare people who believes in ancient myths． Keves is the only one of the players who has learned all the rules． 4) Subject-verb concord in cleft-sentences In cleft-sentences， subject．verb concord in that／who-clause is generally determined by the number of the focal element functioning as subject in the clause．There is one point that should be noted: when the focal element is “I”，the verb To BE in the following who-／that- clause usually agrees with “I" in both person and number；if，on the other hand，the focal element is ‘'me" instead of “I”. the verb To BE in the following who-／whatclause should take the third person singular number. e.g.： It is I who am to blame． It is me that is to blame． 5) Subject-verb concord in existential sentences In existential Sentences，Subject-verb concord is generally determined by the number of the “notional subject", but in informal style，especially in spoken language，the verb often agrees with the “formal subject” and takes the singular form，even though the notional subject is plural. When the notional subject is a coordinate construction，the verb form goes with the first coordinate element of the notional subject，singular or plural. e.g.； There is a note left on the desk． There are three routes you can take． There’s more grace and less carelessness． There’s a long springboard, and three rafts at varying distances from the shore． StageⅣ: Practice (100mins)
1. Ask the students to read the textbook again and write down their ownsummaries of thetheories concerned with subject-verb concord2.Ask the studentstofinishtheEXERCISE2A,EXERCISE2B.EXERCISE3AandEXERCISE3B ingroups in the class.3.AskthestudentstofinishtheEXERCISE3CbythemselvesafterclassStageV:Consolidation (90mins)1.TheteacheraskssomestudentstogivetheanswersoftheEXERCISE2AEXERCISE2B,EXERCISE3AandEXERCISE3B2. The teacher explains some difficult sentence in EXERCISE2AEXERCISE2B,EXERCISE3AandEXERCISE3BindetailsandmakesurethestudentsmasterthemcorrectlyStageVI: Assignments (Imins)1.FinishEXERCISE3C after class and the teacher will check and explainthem in the next class.2.Give a brief summary about all the knowledge about the subject-verbconcord in the notebook.3.ReviewagainEXERCISE2AEXERCISE2B,EXERCISE3A andEXERCISE3B.4.Previewthe next lecture:Lecture4:Nouns&NounPhrases.15
15 1. Ask the students to read the textbook again and write down their own summaries of the theories concerned with subject-verb concord. 2. Ask the students to finish the EXERCISE 2A, EXERCISE 2B, EXERCISE 3A and EXERCISE 3B in groups in the class. 3. Ask the students to finish the EXERCISE 3C by themselves after class. StageⅤ: Consolidation (90mins) 1. The teacher asks some students to give the answers of the EXERCISE 2A, EXERCISE 2B, EXERCISE 3A and EXERCISE 3B. 2. The teacher explains some difficult sentence in EXERCISE 2A, EXERCISE 2B, EXERCISE 3A and EXERCISE 3B in details and make sure the students master them correctly. StageⅥ: Assignments (1mins) 1. Finish EXERCISE 3C after class and the teacher will check and explain them in the next class. 2.Give a brief summary about all the knowledge about the subject-verb concord in the notebook. 3.Review again EXERCISE 2A, EXERCISE 2B, EXERCISE 3A and EXERCISE 3B. 4.Preview the next lecture: Lecture 4: Nouns &Noun Phrases