Task 2. Chose the right variant.

Task 1 Agreement of subject and verb.

Sentence parts and patterns

Syntactical structure of the sentence. The main parts are the subject and the predicate which hold the obligatory structure of the sentence, e.g. Ben smiled.However, the English sentence can consist of one part, mostly of the subject, e.g. Explosion. The other part can be restored: An explosion broke out, (Cf. there was an explosion; I saw an explosion). Or the predicate, e.g. Stay! They express predication. The subject can be expressed by a noun, a gerund, a pronoun, an adjective, a numeral, a clause (what they wanted is not clear), a phraseological unit. The predicate can be shown by a noun, a predicate, an adjective, a pronoun (The writer was someone unknown).

The secondary parts of the sentence are the object and adverbial modifiers. They are governed by the predicate of the sentence, e.g. She treated him like a child. They modify the way the action is performed.

The other secondary part is the attribute that modifies the quality of the noun, e.g. A big tree was seen in the dark park.

The basic sentence patterns:

Pattern One. N + V + Adverbs or prepositional phrase

A hurricane struck

Cheryl skis beautifully

Theatergoers waited in the lobby

Pattern Two N + V + N

Carlos plays the trumpet

Pattern Three N + V + N(IND OBJ) + N (DIR OBJ)

Ken showed Maria the letter

Pattern Four N LV (linking verb) N

The leader has become a tyrant

Ms. Abrams remained our counselor

is

Pattern Five N LV ADJ

Her laugh is contagious

Pattern Six N LV ADV

The doctor is away

Pattern Seven N V N N

Practice made Jamie a winner

Some, most, all, none, and any are singular when they refer to a quantity. They are plural when they refer to a number of individual numbers. Chose the right variant.

1. Some of the film was/were destroyed.

2. Some of the tickets was/were retuned.

3. Most of the show is/are hilarious.

4. Most of the players are / is excellent.

5. All the pie was / were eaten.

6. all the pictures were /was lost.

1. Neither the firefighters nor their chief knows / know how the fire started.

2. Neither your manner nor your argument is / are convincing.

3. Either Carl or Jess has / have your jacket.

4. Dad or Mother drives / drive us to school every day.

5. The first paragraph or the last two paragraphs are / is unnecessary.

6. Dwindling resources are /is one problem.

7. One problem is / are dwindling resources.

8 The jury is / are ready with its verdict.

9. The group has / have changed its / their decision.

10. Politics ii / are everyone’s business.

11. His politics are / is known to everyone.

12. The man’s ethics were / was questionable.

13. The United Nations meets / meet in New York

14. Three – fourths of the job is / are completed.

15. five dollars seems / seem too much to charge.

16. Sixty pounds of potatoes was / were what we ordered.

17. Sixty of the passengers were / was saved.