414 / Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics
-^ Some indefinite pronouns are always plural and take plural verbs:
several, few, both, many
The desserts look wonderful, so surely few are calorie laden!
-^ Some indefinite pronouns can be singular or plural.
some, any, all, none, most
(The prepositional phrase that follows indicates whether these indefinite
pronouns are singular or plural.)
Some of the flour was spilled; some of the canisters have loose lids.
A third common error occurs when the sentence has a compound subject.
-^ Two subjects joined by and^ take a plural verb.
The coach and the quarterback were conferring.
-^ Two singular subjects joined by or or^ nor take a singular verb.
The coach or the quarterback will answer questions from the media.
-^ A singular subject and a plural subject joined by or or nor take a singular^ or
plural verb, depending on which subject is nearer the verb.
The coach nor the players are happy about the call; the players nor the
coach finds a satisfactory solution.
A fourth common error occurs when the subject is a collective noun. Collective
nouns are words that represent a group, such as team, jury, class, cast, crew, audi-
ence. They can be singular or plural.
-^ Collective nouns are singular and take a singular verb when the group works
together as a unit.
The orchestra is performing admirably.
-^ Collective nouns are plural and take a plural verb when^ the members of the
group are acting individually.
The cast usually collects their own costumes.
A fifth common error occurs when words look plural but are not.
-^ Some words end in –s but represent a single thing and, therefore, take singular
verbs:
news, measles, mumps
The news is sometimes about wonderful human-life sagas.