Grammar mistake discussion

Among all the grammar mistakes, one of the most commonly found in my essays is subject verb agreement. One of the reasons behind is that there is no similar structure in my mother tongue language. The use of subject verb agreement is that for singular subject we should use a singular verb while for plural subject we would use plural verb. This sounds easy but one very important key is to correctly identify the right subject which the verb describes. It is common for me to confuse the multiple ideas in the sentence. For sentences which contain dependent clauses, it can sometimes distract me from the original subject. In academic writing, this is even more common. As a result, I tend to make mistakes in subject verb agreement, since the subject of the verb is not think of what follows is “a lot of…” there is another type of word that easily seen. Another mistake could be the use of uncountable subject such as controversy or evidence. It can be mistaken when we use phrases like “there is a lot of controversy…” during writing, I can easily write “there are…” when I tend to confuse me, words such as “everyone”, “each”, or “neither”. Subject verb agreement with these words can be difficult too. There are situations in which I cannot identify the singularity of the ideas these words describe. The way to improve subject verb agreement is through practice and reading, the more I expose myself to the environment, the easier I can get used to way to use it. This grammar mistakes can surely be reduce if there is sufficient practice and exposure.

1.Tick one of the two given choices in the brackets to complete the sentences in the passage.

Vitamin and Health

The use of vitamin supplements and herbs (1) (is) becoming increasingly popular among Americans. While many studies claim that vitamins and herbs can improve health, there (2) (is) a lot of controversy about their safety. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (3) (does) not regulate vitamins and herbs. Most experts (4) (believe) that herbal supplements are mild and somewhat harmless. Still, anyone who (5)(takes) too much of a vitamin or herb could suffer negative side effects. For example, some medical problems (6) (have) been linked to overuse of ephedra, an herb taken by people to lose weight. Some research (7) (suggests) that Vitamin C may help prevent cancer. However, people who (8) (take) more than 1,000 miligrams of vitamin C daily (9) (experience) diarrhea or kidney stones. Advertisers say that the herb "kava kava" (10) (reduces) anxiety and insomnia, but using large amounts of kava kava (11) (is) not wise as muscle, eye or skin problems could result. The danger of long-term use of vitamins and herbs (12) (is) still unknown.

There (13) (is) a lot of evidence that vitamin-rich foods (14) (are) beneficial. However, whether the use of supplements (15) (is) helpful or not is still being debated. Most people (16) (are) able to get all the vitamins they need in the foods they eat. A daily diet that (17) (contains) foods from the 4 groups should supply all the nutrients a person needs. Eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily (18) (is) said to provide all the essential vitamins we require. The best way to get the necessary vitamins and minerals (19) (is) naturally, through a healthy diet. Talking to your doctor before taking supplements (20) (is) advisable.

Adapted from: http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/9901/cw-svagreement.html

Answer Sheet (Subject-Verb Agreement)

Level: Intermediate:

Passage 1

Vitamin and Health

(1) is

Explanation: “Use” as subject (singular)

(2) is

Explanation: controversy (uncountable here), be verb takes singular form in “there be” structure

(3) does

Explanation: name of an organization (singular)

(4) believe

Explanation: “most experts” (plural) as subject

(5) takes

Explanation: after indefinite pronouns “anyone, anything, anybody, etc.” the verb is always singular.

(6) have

Explanation: “some medical problems” as subject here (plural)

(7) suggests

Explanation: “research” is uncountable noun taking a singular verb

(8) take

Explanation: “people” as collective noun (plural)

(9) experience

Explanation: “milligrams” (plural) as the noun head

(10) reduces

Explanation: “the herb” (singular) as subject

(11) is

Explanation: Gerund (using large amounts of…) as subject, takes a verb in the singular form

(12) is

Explanation: “the danger” as subject (singular)

(13) is

Explanation: “evidence” uncountable here

(14) are

Explanation: “foods” as subject (plural)

(15) is

Explanation: “the use” as subject

(16) are

Explanation: same as 8

(17) contains

Explanation: “diet” uncountable

(18) is

Explanation: same as 11

(19) is

Explanation: “the best way” as subject

(20) is

Explanation: same as 11

Practice adapted from: http://courses.nus.edu.sg/courseware/ITSELF/downloadexercise/gsui.doc