AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH GRAMMAR & LANGUAGE
     The duty of every        boy     and     every    girl             She not her friends     is responsible.
                        ̄       ̄              ̄         ̄                                    ̄      ̄
                      every Sing. Noun every           Sing. Noun                     Subject Verb
          is to respect their parents.                                  8. If the subject of a sentence is – Each / Either /
         ̄                                                          Neither, then it takes a singular verb.
     Sing. Verb                                                         Examples:
     4. If two singular nouns are joined with and to express            I invited two guests but neither           has come.
something about a person, thing or expression, then singu-                                               ̄           ̄
lar verb is used.                                                                                      Subject Singular Verb
     Examples:                                                          He proposed both the girls but either
         Bread and Butter                is my favourite
                                                                                                               ̄
            ̄              ̄                ̄
                                                                                                          Subject
      Sing. Noun Sing. Noun           Sing. Verb
                                                                              has responded.
     breakfast.
                                                                                ̄
     t A few other such pair of nouns are – Bread and
butter / Rice and curry / Horse and carriage / Hammer                     Singular Verb
and Sickle / Crown and glory, etc.                                      9. After – Each of / Either of / Neither of / Everyone
     But, the exception is: If two such nouns are used to          of/ One of, etc., the noun or pronoun is always plural but,
denote two different things, then it takes a plural verb.          the verb remains singular.
     Example:                                                           Examples:
     Crown and glory           exist together.                          Each of the snakes                 is poisonous.
          ̄              ̄        ̄                                                          ̄                  ̄
      Noun            Noun     Plural verb                                          Plural noun        singular verb
     5. If two nouns or pronouns are joined with – as well              One of them               has topped in exam.
as / in addition to / besides / like/ unlike / with / along                        ̄                ̄
with / together with / accompanied by / led by / headed
                                                                              Plural Noun      Singular Verb
by / guided by / controlled by / governed by, etc., then the
verb is according to the noun or pronoun given in the first             Look at this example:
case in the sentence.                                                   The professor asked the student / if everyone of them/
     Examples:                                                                         (A)                          (B)
       You as well as your brother were absent yesterday.               were ready to go / for a picnic on the coming Sunday./
         ̄                        ̄          ̄                                   (C)                         (D)
      Noun                      Noun Plural verb                        No error
      She together with her friends         is visiting her uncle.          (E)
        ̄                            ̄        ̄                            In this sentence (in Part C), ‘was’ will be used instead
      Noun                     Noun Plural Verb                    of ‘were’; because, after ‘everyone of’, the Noun or Pronoun
     6. If two subjects are joined by –                            is always plural but the verb is singular.
     Not only...   ..but also                                             10. If the subject of a sentence is Everybody / Some-
     Neither...  ...nor                                              body / Nobody / Anybody / Someone/ No one / Everyone
                                                                   / Anyone / Everything / Something / Nothing / Anything,
     Either... ..or
                                                                   etc., then the verb always singular.
     then, the verb always follows its nearest subject.
                                                                        Examples:
     Examples:
                                                                        Everybody        knows that the sun is a star.
     Neither you nor       I am    going to see him.
                 ̄          ̄           ̄                                       ̄               ̄
             Subject       Subject Verb                                    Subject      Sing. Verb
     Neither you nor        she is listening to music.                  Someone among his friends likes partying.
                  ̄           ̄           ̄                                      ̄                            ̄
              Subject      Subject      Verb                              Subject                        Sing. Verb
     7. If subjects are joined with not...    ..but or not, then the      11. If the subject of a sentence is Many / Both / Few/
verb follows that subject, which is not with the subject not.      A few, etc., then the verb is always plural.
     Examples:                                                          Example:
     Not she but her friends        are responsible.                       Both        are beautiful and charming.
                             ̄        ̄                                        ̄            ̄
                        Subject      Verb                                 Subject     Plural Verb
                                                               SEE–12