When you first started learning English, you probably learned a
very basic rule, which is that in an English sentence the
subject and the verb must agree. What does that mean? Let's have
a look.
So, basically, it's quite simple. When you have a singular
subject, you have a singular verb; when you have a plural
subject, you have a plural verb. Okay? And most of the time,
that's pretty easy. For example, we say: "The chair is black",
singular subject, singular verb. Right? Or we say: "The chairs
are black", plural subject, plural verb. Okay? So, most of
the time, it's quite easy for you to decide which verb to use
with the subject.
But sometimes it's not that clear; it's not that obvious.
And in this lesson, I'm going to focus on four words that
sometimes cause students a little bit of confusion in this
area of subject-verb agreement. Those four words are the
pronouns: "all", "most", "some", and "not".
Now, why are these a little bit confusing? Because sometimes
they take a singular verb and sometimes they take a plural
verb. It depends on the context; depends on the sentence, depends
on the situation. Okay? But by the end of this lesson, you're
going to know 100% which one to use; when to use the singular
verb and when to use the plural verb. Okay?
To get you started thinking about this subject, look at this
sentence. Okay? "All of the equipment is on sale." Is that
correct? Or should we say: "All of the equipment are on sale"?
Think about that for a second, and I'll be back to explain.
Okay, so let's look at some pairs of sentences to see how
this works. The first one is the one that I'd asked you to think
about. So, the correct answer is: "All the equipment is on
sale." Okay? Another way we could say this is: "All the
computers are on sale." Okay? I'm going to explain the
principle to you in a minute. In the meantime, try to see if you
see any patterns here.
"Most of the information is true, but most of the reports
are true." Okay? Good. Think about that. Let's look at
another example: "Some of the advice is useful. Some of the
ideas are useful." Okay. Are you starting to see a little
pattern, there? Okay? And the last one: "None of the jewellery
is missing" or "None of the rings are missing."
So, what's going on here? Did you see the pattern? So,
basically, what's happening is when we have the pronoun and we
match it with an uncountable noun, such as "equipment", then
we use a singular verb. Okay?
So, if you're not sure what an "uncountable noun" is or what a
"countable noun" is, then, of course, you can watch my other
video where I explain to you exactly what uncountable and
countable nouns are. And you can also get our resource; the r
source that I've written on t is subject. Okay? But I'm g
ing to explain to you in short s you understand right now.
So, an "uncountable noun" is something which we cannot count.
Right? Smart. Like what? For example: "sugar". I can't really
count, right? All of those grains of sugar, or salt, or
flour. That's something uncountable. Also, sometimes
when we look at collective words, like "furniture", that we
consider uncountable because we look at the whole group, but
something that's countable is "tables" because we can count
tables. Right?
Also, a general word, like "food". Okay? "Food" is a
general word, so we consider it something that we cannot count,
but "pizzas" are countable because you can count the
individual pizzas. Okay? There is a long list of uncountable
nouns, and you should know that. You need to know that in
English, so check the resource and it'll... I've classified it
for you. Okay?
But for now, let's look at the patterns. So: "The equipment
is"... Right? Uncountable and singular, but "The computers
are" -- countable; plural. "The information is" -- uncountable;
singular. "The reports are" -- countable; plural. Right? "The
advice is" -- singular. "The ideas are" -- plural. "The
jewellery is" -- singular, right? Because "jewellery" is
considered a collective, uncountable word or noun, but:
"The rings are". Okay?
So, that's the rule that you have to follow. And if you
follow that rule with these pronouns: "all", "most", "some",
and "none", then you will always be right. And why is it
important? Because this mistake -- subject-verb agreement is a
very basic mistake. And if you make that kind of mistake, it's
really going to bring down your score if you're doing an exam,
like the IELTS or TOEFL, or any English exam. And also if you
use this kind of language or you make this kind of mistake in
your business writing, it doesn't look good for your
employer or for a client. Okay? So, let's practice a little bit
more now to make sure that you've really got it.
All right, so let's practice what we've learned. Okay? So,
what I would like you to do is: While we're doing these
sentences, decide whether to use the verb "was" or "were". "Was",
of course, is the singular and "were" is the plural; it's the
verb "to be", but of course, it's in the past just to change
things a little bit. Because we don't only have to use the verb
"to be"; we can use any verb. I'm just using this one to make
it simpler for you to see the difference between the singular
and the plural.
Okay, so let's give it a go. Number one: "Most of the
vocabulary was easy" or "Most of the vocabulary were easy"? What
should it be? "Most of the vocabulary was easy".
"Vocabulary" is considered one of those collective, uncountable
words. Okay? And, therefore, we use the singular. If it said:
"Most of the words", then it would be "were easy". "Most of
the words were easy." Good.
Next: "All of the suitcases _____ heavy." What should it be?
"was" or "were"? "All of the suitcases were heavy", because
"suitcases" is a countable noun. If it said: "All of the
luggage", then we have to say: "was heavy". "All the luggage
was heavy". "Luggage" is considered an uncountable noun.
All right? I know it can be a little bit annoying, but once
you look at some of the examples and you sort of really put them
into your mind, it'll come much more easily. Okay? I promise you.
Next: "Some of the news _____ disturbing". "was" or "were"?
"Some of the news was disturbing." Okay. Now, you're
saying: "But Rebecca, there's an 's' there. And when there's an
's', I noticed it's usually plural." Yes, you're 100% right.
Usually it is, but not always, like in words, like "the news".
Okay? "News" is considered singular; it's uncountable. All
right. So, therefore, we use the singular. But if it said: "Some
of the reports were disturbing", okay? Then it would be plural.
All right? You got it.
Next, number four: "None of the people _____ hurt." "was" or
"were"? "None of the people were hurt." Okay. Now, what happened
this time? This one is plural and there is no "s". Okay? This
one was singular and it had an "s"; this one plural. Know this.
Sometimes English is funny. Right? We know that. So, this is
a plural word. Okay? But if he said... Yeah. Okay? It's plural.
That's all.
All right. Number five: "Some of the bands _____ excellent."
"Bands" like rock bands. Okay? Music groups. "Some of the
bands" -- yes -- "were excellent". Okay? "Bands", here
it's a regular plural word.
Next. Sorry, here we could say, for example: "Some of the
music". If we said: "Some of the music", it's an uncountable, so
then it would be: "Some of the music was excellent." Okay? Good.
Next: "Most of the training _____ helpful." "was/were"?
Okay? This is uncountable. So, when we have uncountable, what
do we use? The singular. "Most of the training was helpful."
Very good. But if we said here: "Most of the courses were
helpful." Okay? "Courses" would be countable, and then plural.
Next: "All the developments _____ positive." "was" or
"were"? "All the developments were positive." Okay? This is a
regular plural word, so we need a plural verb. All right? If we
said, for example: "All the progress" or "All the progress
was positive." That's an uncountable word. Okay?
And the last one: "None of the homework _____ difficult." "None
of the homework", what should it be? "was difficult". Okay. So,
"homework" is another uncountable noun. Okay? "None of
the homework was difficult." But, for example: "None of the
math problems were difficult." Okay? So, you have to change it
according to this noun; whether this noun is uncountable or
countable. All right?
Now, you spent time, you watched this video, and you want to get
this once and for all; you don't want to keep on learning this
again and again. So, if you want to master it once and for all,
do a few things. Okay? First of all, make sure that you
understand clearly what "countable" and "uncountable
nouns" are. Right? And if you have any uncertainty, which is
possible because it can be a little bit confusing, go and
watch that lesson of mine on countable and uncountable nouns.
Then go to our website, do a quiz on this so you can get some
more practice. Okay? Practices makes you much better. Okay?
Practice will really take you forward. Get that resource on
countable and uncountable nouns; make your own sentences, maybe
take some of those examples from there and write some sentences
in your comments using these pronouns and you using these
uncountable and countable nouns. Okay? You can do it. It's really
not that complicated, but you need to practice it so that your
time watching this video was really worthwhile. Okay?
And, last of all: Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube
channel so you can keep on getting lots of other lessons
that will help you learn English much more quickly and
effectively. Okay? Thanks very much for watching, and all the
best with your English. Bye for now.