Instructions: Underline the undetermined pronouns in the next paragraph. There are 8 in total. In these constructions (called expletive constructions), the subject follows the verb, but always determines the number of verbs. Sometimes nouns take strange forms and can make us think that they are plural if they are really singular and vice versa. See the section on plural forms of names and the section on collective names for additional help. Words such as glasses, pants, pliers, and scissors are considered plural (and require plural verbs) unless they precede the pair of sentences of (in which case, the pair of words becomes the subject). Since a phrase like “Neither my brothers nor my father will sell the house” sounds strange, it`s probably a good idea to bring the plural subject closer to the verb whenever possible. The indefinite pronouns of everyone, everyone, someone, person, person, person, person are always singular and therefore require singular verbs. Broken expressions such as half of, part of, a percentage of, a majority of are sometimes singular and sometimes plural, depending on the meaning. (The same is true, of course, when all, all, all, more, most and some act as subjects.) Sums and products of mathematical processes are expressed in the singular and require singular verbs. The phrase “more than one” (oddly enough) takes on a singular verb: “More than one student has tried this.” Direction: Underline the verb that corresponds to the indeterminate pronoun.

Introduction: When looking for indefinite pronouns, you should be very careful not to confuse them with adjectives. Here`s an example: Should the verb that follows an indefinite pronoun be singular or plural? Well, it depends! Some indefinite pronouns are always singular and therefore assume a singular verb, while others are always plural and therefore take a plural verb. But some may be singular or plural, depending on the context. How confusing! Some indefinite pronouns are particularly annoying Everyone and everyone (also listed above) certainly feels like more than one person and therefore students are sometimes tempted to use a plural verb with them. However, they are still singular. Each is often followed by a prepositional sentence ending with a plural word (each of the cars), confusing the choice of verb. In addition, each one is always singular and requires a singular verb. Some indefinite pronouns like all, others are singular or plural, depending on what they refer to. (Is the thing referred to countable or not?) Be careful when choosing a verb that accompanies such pronouns. Sentences like with, also, and together with are not the same as and.

The sentence introduced by and with both will change the previous word (mayor in this case), but it does not mix the topics (like the word and would do). Introduction: Some indefinite pronouns can be singular or plural. They are: all, all, more, most, none, some and so on. For example: In this second worksheet on indefinite pronouns, students can practice subject-verb pairing. You need to identify which indeterminate pronouns are singular and which are plural. This is a great opportunity for them to see that some may be singular or plural, depending on their use. Sometimes modifiers get stuck between a subject and its verb, but these modifiers should not confuse the correspondence between the subject and its verb. There are many pronouns in the English language. Once you master the indefinite pronouns, look at the types of pronouns.

This article describes other entities, including personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, interrogative pronouns, and more! Basic principle: Singular subjects need singular verbs; Plural subjects need plural verbs. My brother is a nutritionist. My sisters are mathematicians. This first worksheet is a simple approach to indeterminate pronouns. This helps with recognition. While these types of pronouns can be identified, they can also be used correctly in future fonts. If your sentence is composed of a positive subject and a negative subject and is of a plural, the other singular, the verb must correspond to the positive subject. Verbs in the present tense for subjects in the third person, singular (he, she, she and everything these words can represent) have endings in S. Other verbs do not add S extensions. In informal writing, neither or both sometimes adopt a plural verb when these pronouns are followed by a prepositional sentence that begins with von. This is especially true for interrogative constructions: “Did any of you two clowns read the task?” “Do any of you take this seriously?” Burchfield calls this “a conflict between a fictitious agreement and an actual agreement.” * See if you can choose the verb form that corresponds to the indeterminate pronouns in the following sentences. On the other hand, there is an indefinite pronoun, none that can be in the singular or plural; It often doesn`t matter if you use a singular or plural verb, unless something else in the sentence determines its number.

(Writers generally think that none of them mean and choose a plural verb, as in “None of the engines work,” but if something else makes us think of none as not one, we want a singular verb, as in “None of the food is fresh.”) The names of sports teams that do not end in “s” will take a plural verb: the Miami Heat has watched, the Connecticut Sun hopes that new talent. For help with this issue, see plurals. Pronouns are extremely useful for avoiding an abundance of nouns. Indefinite pronouns allow us to write without the necessary specificity from time to time. Pronouns ni and both are singular and require singular verbs, although in a sense they seem to refer to two things. Don`t be confused by the word “students”; the subject is everyone and everyone is always singular Everyone is responsible. For more help with subject-verb correspondence, see plural. Indefinite pronouns are a useful part of the English language. They replace names when too many names become clumsy or repetitive. As indefinite words, they do not refer to anyone or anything specific. Examples of indefinite pronouns in the singular are “someone,” “person,” and “everyone.” Undetermined plural pronouns include words such as “many,” “many,” and “other.” The best way to put new concepts into practice is to see them in action in spreadsheets.

If you`re looking for a bit of pronoun practice, here are two sheets for you. The first worksheet for indefinite pronouns is straight and accurate. Once you`re sure you or your students have things under control, you can step up a notch with the second spreadsheet. . . * The New Fowler`s Modern English Usage, edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England. 1996.

Use with permission from Oxford University Press. p. 242. Whether a pronoun is singular or plural depends on the meaning of the word it replaces. You would always say, “Everyone is here.” This means that the word is singular and nothing will change that. I was on a different trip last week. Few have visited the park I saw because everyone visits Yellowstone. I saw something moving in the forest, but I couldn`t see it clearly. Then there was more movement and everyone saw it. It could have been a bear or maybe just the wind. No one could understand it, but we had a lot of assumptions. The scenery was beautiful; you could see from miles away.

Everyone would love this view of the valley because nothing on earth is more beautiful. .