Subject verb agreement - SC guide

[prepp]

Hi,

I came across a sentence on pg 218, chapter 11 such as:

Tracking satellites accurately ___ important for the space agency.

(Since you are tracking many satellites, should the verb also agree in number with the subject and be plural here? . The correct sentence uses the singular verb is ie Tracking satellites accurately is important for the space agency.

Please help me understand why the plural form 'are' won't come here ? (What if the sentence is: Tracking satellites ___ important for the space agency)

Thanks!

[rte.sushil]

because tracking satellite is together and is singular.
this is a noun phrase e.g. Driving cars
Driving cars is his passion
playing cards is a tricky game.

[prepp]

Thanks. So can it be considered that ALL noun phrases always are treated as one entity and are singular?

because tracking satellite is together and is singular.
this is a noun phrase e.g. Driving cars
Driving cars is his passion
playing cards is a tricky game.

[tim]

well, yes, if the primary word is a gerund, but you have to figure out whether you actually have this kind of phrase. it would be fine to say "tracking satellites are important" (the satellites are important) or "tracking satellites is important" (the tracking is important). the thing about the original example is that the word "accurately" tells you which one of these meaning you are using..

[rte.sushil]

In the example :

Rising Interest rates is a worrisome sign for the economy
or
Rising Interest rates are a worrisome sign for the economy

from the link: sc-pronoun-ambiguity-because-t6532.html
it is mentioned that :

it's plural.
"rising" is an adjective describing interest rates.
in fact, "rising" can't take a direct object, so this must be the case even if you don't understand the sentence at all.

So can i say that if the verb is intransistive then it will not act as adjective and the singular/plural will be decided based on noun (as in interest rates), hence rising interest rate/rates is always singular(rate)/plural(rates)

[tim]

you should not be talking about verbs here at all. "rising" is not a verb in this example, so any discussion of transitive/intransitive or direct objects is irrelevant..

[prepp]

Thanks Tim. In this sentence,

Tracking satellites accurately ___ important for the space agency,

'accurately' is an adverb? How does that affect the whether the verb must be singular or plural?

What about this sentence:

Several new species ___ added to a list of endangered animals.

Is several new species a noun phrase?


Thanks!

well, yes, if the primary word is a gerund, but you have to figure out whether you actually have this kind of phrase. it would be fine to say "tracking satellites are important" (the satellites are important) or "tracking satellites is important" (the tracking is important). the thing about the original example is that the word "accurately" tells you which one of these meaning you are using..

[prepp]

Another sentence:

None of the guests ___ arrived.

'of the guests' is the prepositional phrase. None is an indefinite pronoun which is always singular. Hence the verb must be singular since prep phrases are ignored.

Another sentence:

All people ___ an inherent sense of justice.

Again, 'All' is an indefinite pronoun and hence singular. Should the verb be singular too?

What about:

Everyone ____ an inherent sense of justice.
Again, 'Everyone' is an indefinite pronoun..

Please explain this confusion.

Thanks!

[Willy]

Thanks Tim. In this sentence,

Tracking satellites accurately _IS__ important for the space agency,

'accurately' is an adverb? How does that affect the whether the verb must be singular or plural?

What about this sentence:

Several new species ___ added to a list of endangered animals.

Is several new species a noun phrase?


Thanks!

well, yes, if the primary word is a gerund, but you have to figure out whether you actually have this kind of phrase. it would be fine to say "tracking satellites are important" (the satellites are important) or "tracking satellites is important" (the tracking is important). the thing about the original example is that the word "accurately" tells you which one of these meaning you are using..

'accurately' is adverb and hence it can modify 'tracking' because gerund (tracking) no matter acts NOUNS, gerund do have properties of VERBS and hence can be modified by adverbs.

Several new species ___ added to a list of endangered animals.

I also think 'several new species' is noun phrase. But I think here we need ARE as individual member of the species is added to a list of endangered animals not 'species' as a group.

In case I am wrong, please correct me. Thank you.

[Willy]

Another sentence:

None of the guests ___ arrived.

'of the guests' is the prepositional phrase. None is an indefinite pronoun which is always singular. Hence the verb must be singular?

Another sentence:

All people ___ an inherent sense of justice.

Again, 'All' is an indefinite pronoun and hence singular. Should the verb be singular too?

What about:

Everyone ____ an inherent sense of justice.
Again, 'Everyone' is an indefinite pronoun..

Please explain this confusion.

Thanks!

I don't think GMAT will test these 'pronoun', SOME, ALL, NONE, ANY, MORE and MOST because these depend on the context what comes after the OF phrases.

As in

None of the guests ___ arrived.

Here after OF comes the 'the guests' (plural) so here verb must be 'plural'.

in

All people ___ an inherent sense of justice.

I believe, here also verb must be 'plural'.

in

Everyone ____ an inherent sense of justice.

'Everyone' is always singular. So, verb must be 'singular'

[tim]

Tracking satellites accurately ___ important for the space agency,

'accurately' is an adverb? How does that affect the whether the verb must be singular or plural?

What about this sentence:

Several new species ___ added to a list of endangered animals.

Is several new species a noun phrase?

"accurately" is an adverb, and its use requires an action. "tracking" must therefore be this action, which means it is not simply an adjective for a subject of "satellites". thus "tracking" is the subject, and "is" goes with it..

for the second one, simplification is key (as you'll see with a lot of the other examples i'll deal with). get rid of "new species", and ask yourself what verb goes with "several". i'll give you a hint, "several" is plural.. :)

[tim]

Another sentence:

None of the guests ___ arrived.

'of the guests' is the prepositional phrase. None is an indefinite pronoun which is always singular. Hence the verb must be singular since prep phrases are ignored.

Another sentence:

All people ___ an inherent sense of justice.

Again, 'All' is an indefinite pronoun and hence singular. Should the verb be singular too?

What about:

Everyone ____ an inherent sense of justice.
Again, 'Everyone' is an indefinite pronoun..

Please explain this confusion.

Thanks!

simplify!

in the first sentence, "none" is a proxy for "zero". would you say zero has arrived or zero have arrived? :) more to the point, what makes you say "none" is ALWAYS singular?

and what makes you say "all" is always singular? in fact, can you give me a single example where "all" is truly singular?

for your third one, replace "everyone" with "every person" and that might help you see it as singular. doesn't look like a simplification because it's more "wordy"*, but it's a simplification if it helps you process the sentence more easily..



*remember, if you ever use the word "wordy" to make a choice on SC, you have already lost the battle. "wordy" is NEVER EVER a reason to make any decisions on the GMAT. "redundant" on the other hand is..

[prepp]

Thanks a lot for the explanations, Tim!

I read this in the verbal foundations guide, that 'None' is an indefinite pronoun and hence must be always singular, a characteristic of indefinite pronouns. Although in the given sentence it sounds awkward, I was simply applying the rules. I guess, when the object of a prep phrase comes, the preceding noun is considered. Since guests is plural, it must take a plural verb? (Besides the 'zero' analogy is a great way to simplify the sentence)

For 'All' - Again, I was just applying the rules. But, it doesn't make sense to have a singular verb following all :)

Everyone - follows the rules.

Thanks again!

Another sentence:

None of the guests ___ arrived.

'of the guests' is the prepositional phrase. None is an indefinite pronoun which is always singular. Hence the verb must be singular since prep phrases are ignored.

Another sentence:

All people ___ an inherent sense of justice.

Again, 'All' is an indefinite pronoun and hence singular. Should the verb be singular too?

What about:

Everyone ____ an inherent sense of justice.
Again, 'Everyone' is an indefinite pronoun..

Please explain this confusion.

Thanks!

simplify!

in the first sentence, "none" is a proxy for "zero". would you say zero has arrived or zero have arrived? :) more to the point, what makes you say "none" is ALWAYS singular?

and what makes you say "all" is always singular? in fact, can you give me a single example where "all" is truly singular?

for your third one, replace "everyone" with "every person" and that might help you see it as singular. doesn't look like a simplification because it's more "wordy"*, but it's a simplification if it helps you process the sentence more easily..



*remember, if you ever use the word "wordy" to make a choice on SC, you have already lost the battle. "wordy" is NEVER EVER a reason to make any decisions on the GMAT. "redundant" on the other hand is..

[tim]

can you give me book titles and page numbers for these rules you've seen for "none" and "all"?

[prepp]

Sure.. This is the Foundations of GMAT verbal. Pg 31.

"Most indefinite pronouns are singular.." (ok i found my mistake. it doesn't say - always)
Follows with a list.. the last line has

All, many, more, most, much...none.

can you give me book titles and page numbers for these rules you've seen for "none" and "all"?