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Found 289 articles matching: everyone singular or plural

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Common Traps to Avoid
The English language can lay many traps for unwary writers, who can embarrass themselves by using a plural verb with a singular subject (more common) or a singular verb with a plural subject (less co…
Frequently Asked Questions
A lot or Alot?
A or An?
Accept or Except?
Acronyms and Initialisms?
Active or Passive Verbs?
Affect or Effect?
All Ready or Already?
Allusion or Illusion?
Among or Am…
Plurals of Nouns
Notice that words are characterized as nouns by their ability to form plurals. (Some pronouns have this ability as well, e.g., other and others.) You will form the plural for most nouns by adding ‑s …
Subject-Verb Agreement - Plural Subjects
Watch Out
Before winding up our discussion of conjunctions, we need to visit the notion of subject-verb agreement in number. When you write a plural subject, you must use a plural
Present Tense of Verbs
Some authors write novels in the present tense, and it drives me bats. Whenever I browse in a bookstore, seeking the latest in top beach literature, I always sneak a few peeks to make certain the aut…
People Is” vs “People Are”
Let’s begin with the most simplistic statement: “People are…” is correct. “People is…” is not correct.
Well, wait a minute!
• Does that mean that the word “people” is a singular noun or a …
“Fewer” vs. “Less”
Nine Items or Fewer
A couple of adjectives cause many writers a lot of trouble: less vs. fewer. Let’s straighten out the problems. Write with fewer lesses. Many writers confuse fe…
Group Nouns - “majority do” or “majority does”?
Another problem of subject-verb disagreement arises when the subject of the sentence is a group noun, also called a collective noun, that is, a word describing a bunch of people or things, such as gr…
“None” - Singular or Plural?
The indefinite pronoun none requires some separate discussion. A myth has emerged that none always requires a singular verb.
Not true.
Singular or Plural
The word none can t…
“Each” - Singular or Plural?
Under the traditional rule, the indefinite pronoun each is always singular and takes a singular verb.
Thus: Each of the golfers wants to win the PGA. Each…
number
The concept of number applies to nouns, verbs, and pronouns. Number distinguishes “oneness” and “more-than-oneness,” that is, it distinguishes the singular from the plural.
English verbs do not ha…
Lives vs. Lifes: A Comparison
In this article, I will define these words, compare them, and give examples of the different ways that these words are used in everyday conversation.
The word life.
The word l-i-f-e is a singul…
“Each”
Each Is Singular
Under the traditional rule, the indefinite pronoun each is always singular and takes a singular verb.
Thus: Each of the golfers wants<…
“None”
None Can Be Plural
The indefinite pronoun none requires some separate discussion. A myth has emerged that none always requires a singular verb.
Not true.
The word none can t…
data
In formal writing, it’s probably best to treat this word as a plural. Thus: the data are.
The singular is datum, but in nonscientific circles, yo…
Criteria vs. Criterion
Criteria” and “criterion” might be a pair of words that you rarely hear of, mainly because one is barely used, whereas the other is frequently used wrongly. If you believe that these words are synony…
Collective Noun
Noun is the main part of a sentence and one of the most important pillars of English grammar. Noun is the name of thing, place or person in a sentence. A noun can further be classified into proper no…
Conjugating the Verb "To Be"
Now let’s take the verb to be through a complete conjugation. But first, consider its uniqueness.
To Be, Unique Among All Verbs
In the entire English language, one verb stands …
Lens vs. Lense
Lens” and “lense” represent a pair of two controverted English words, because of their spellings and forms. As the English language has probably got you used, there are so many paronyms and words loo…
Possessives of Nouns
Words are also characterized as nouns by their ability to form possessives. Again, some pronouns have this ability as well (other, other’s). So before we explore the main functions of nouns, let’s pa…
3. Indefinite Pronouns
One, Each, Somebody, and Many Others
Oodles of indefinite pronouns enable us to refer to any one, any two, several, or all in a group or class of persons or things or ideas. As sh…
singular
Nouns and pronouns are either singular or plural. Nouns typically form their plurals by adding ‑s, (boys), ‑es (torches), or ‑ies (cities). Some plural words, like children and fish, do not use ‑s. P…
Conjugating Regular Verbs
Conjugating Regular Verbs - Charts
Here are completed charts showing the conjugation of the regular verb to skip:
Present Tense, Regular Verb
Here’s the pre…
Conjugating Irregular Verbs
Our grades plummeted when we had to conjugate irregular verbs in Miss Hamrick’s class. There was no way to figure out a scheme or system that would explain the necessary forms of irregular verbs, tha…
Group Nouns - Singular or Plural
Committee Do or Committee Does?
Finally, some nouns that look singular might be treated as plural. Words such as group, team, majority, and many others are called collective noun…


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Quiz

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Identify the sentence with correct use of the present perfect continuous tense:
A They have been waiting for the bus for over an hour.
B She will be finishing her work by now.
C We had been singing all night.
D He will have done his homework yesterday.

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