SKILL 22: MAKE INVERTED VERBS AGREE

STRUCTURE AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION

SKILL 22: MAKE INVERTED VERBS AGREE

When the subject and verb are inverted, it can be difficult to locate them, and it can therefore be a problem to make them agree. 

In the example it is easy to think that house is the subject, because it comes directly in front of the verb was. House  is not the subject, however, because it is the object of the preposition behind. The subject of the sentence is bicycles, and the subject bicycles comes after the verb because of the place expression behind the house. Because the subject bicycles is plural, the verb should be changed to the plural were.

EXERCISE 22: Each of the following sentences contains an inverted subject and verb. Circle the word or group of words that causes the subject and verb to invert. Find the subject and verb that follow these words. Underline the subjects once and the verbs twice. Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (I).

_______	3	What in the world is the children trying to do?
_______	4	John would be studying the chapters were he able to get hold of the book.
_______	5	This chapter has many more exercises than do the next one.
_______	6	The computer programmer was unaware that there was so many mistakes in the program he had written.
_______	7	seldom in the history of television has new comedies been so successful in one season.
_______	8	How many huge mistakes have the teacher actually found in the research paper?
_______	9	The new phone system is able to hold far more messages than was the phone system that had previously been used.
_______	10	In the parking lot south of the stadium was the cars that about to be towed.

ANSWER KEY

1	C
2	I	(is should be are)
3	I	(is should be are)
4	C
5	I	(do should be does)
6	I	(was so many should be were so many)
7	I	(has should be have)
8	I	(have  should be has)
9	C
10	I	(was should be were)