hi i'm rebecca from engvid one of the
most important things when we speak a
language and we want to speak it
correctly is to make sure that our
subject agrees with our firm so if we
have a singular subject we want to make
sure we have a singular verb if we have
a plural subject we want to make sure we
use a plural verb and most of the time
this is something that you learn and you
master
but when it comes to pronouns it can be
a little bit trickier now with the
regular pronouns which are definite
pronouns like I you he she it and these
are singular and we they and you
sometimes these are plural so that's
also quite easy and usually you know
that but one area which can cause a lot
of confusion to people who are learning
English is something called indefinite
pronouns and there are lots of them okay
so what I'm going to focus on in this
lesson is five of the most confusing
ones because sometimes they are singular
and sometimes they're plural and I'm
going to explain to you so you will know
exactly what to do I'm also going to
review some of the others and tell you
when they're which ones are always
singular and which ones are always
plural so first of all just before we
start let me just tell you that an
indefinite pronoun is what it says it's
not definite so it doesn't refer to a
specific person or place or thing okay
let's get started okay so we have here
indefinite pronouns right we have as I
said three kinds some that are always
singular some that are always plural and
the five which we're going to focus on
in this lesson which could be singular
or plural okay all right so this is just
to review these first so which ones are
always singular
things like everybody everyone
everything so we say everybody is here
everyone is here everything is here okay
we don't say our same with somebody is
someone is something is is anybody here
is anyone here is anything here or
stands on nobody no one nothing also
singular each every much all of these
are always singular so you have to learn
that if you're not sure you need to
review that but these are always
singular okay they're always talking
about only one so there's even though it
seems like there's a lot okay when we
say everyone we're talking about like a
group of people so sometimes people
think that means it's plural but it's
not it's actually singular so you have
to learn that because we're considering
one group next we have a second category
half indefinite pronouns which are
always plural these kind of makes sense
so let's look at them both obviously
we're talking about at least two people
right here so several which means many
this is plural both of them are several
of the customers are a few of the
customers are here many of the customers
are here and others are here okay so
these indefinite pronouns are always
plural that's easy a little bit easier
even than this one right but what
happens when we come to these these five
are a little bit more confusing because
sometimes we can say the singular
version which is is and sometimes are or
depending on whatever the verb is so
what are these indefinite pronouns that
could go either way they are most all
none
any and some so now I'm going to explain
to you exactly when they become singular
and when they are plural okay so the way
that you decide with these five
indefinite pronouns most Oh none any or
some the way you decide whether the verb
should be singular or plural is based on
what follows these terms okay
let me give you an example first we're
going to start with the easy example
with countable nouns so most of the book
is interesting so what followed the word
most the word book and book is singular
so therefore we used a singular subject
right most of the book is interesting
not all parts of the book are
interesting but most of the book is
interesting okay let's look at another
example with the same countable nouns
all right most of the books are
interesting so now what followed the
word most books right when were we
talking about books so most of the books
becomes plural so we say most of the
books are interesting okay it's not that
complicated
alright it just seems that way but it's
really not it's pretty logical
especially when we're talking about the
countable nouns the same principle
applies when we are talking about non
count or uncountable nouns now if you
don't know what uncountable nouns are
I'm going to show you in a minute and
then I'll also show you where you can
get a resource which we have on our
website which you can download in case
you want to review the uncountable nouns
okay
so let's look at some of the uncountable
nouns and compare them to the countable
ones so most of the furniture was
expensive
now furniture is what
we call a non-count now okay we can't
count it it's considered and because we
cannot count it it's considered singular
okay the non count nouns the uncountable
nouns are always singular so most of the
furniture was expensive let's compare
that to a countable noun
most of the chairs right chairs with an
S were expensive see the difference most
of the furniture was but most of the
chairs were you're getting it same
principle if it's singular whatever
follows this word make it singular in
the verb if it's plural make it plural
let's look at another example all of the
food was delicious food is an
uncountable noun so it's singular all of
the desserts were delicious desserts you
can count and we're talking about more
than one dessert so it became the we
chose a plural verb next none of the
equipment was delivered equipment is an
uncountable noun so we make it singular
none of the equipment was delivered and
none of the computers were delivered
okay here it was countable here was
plural and so we used work it's not just
that when it's countable it's plural
remember up here we these were both
countable so then you have if it's
countable you have to check if it's
singular or plural but in these examples
I'm just showing you the contrast next
was any of his advice helpful now here
because it was a question it's not what
came after the word any in this case it
was what came before but here you see it
right was any of his advice helpful
advices uncountable so we said was it's
singular were any of his ideas helpful
right
so here it was ideas and ideas is plural
and we can count it so we had to use a
plural verb let's look at the last
example and I hope you're still with me
you've got it it's the same principle in
every example some of the information is
important right
information is something we cannot count
so it's considered singular some of the
information is important and some of the
lectures are important lectures we could
count it's plural so we use a plural
verb okay
did you understand the principle because
if you've got the principle then you can
apply it it doesn't matter whatever
situation or whatever context you're
talking about you'll be able to apply it
and you will know whether to say for
these indefinite pronouns whether to use
a singular verb or a plural verb for
which one's most all none any and some
and we're going to practice exactly how
to do that in just a second so let's do
this
number one some of the students is
absent or some of the students are
absent in all of these you have to
decide whether to use is or are okay so
what do we say some of the students tell
me are absent now how do we decide that
because the word that came after some
was students and in this case it was
students right plural so we had to use a
plural for some of the students are
absent next most of my homework blank
finished so what do we say most of my
homework what is it
is finished why because homework is one
of those uncountable nouns which is
always singular good blank any of your
luggage missing so do we say is any of
your luggage missing or are any of your
luggage missing we say tell me is any of
your luggage missing all right
because luggage is another uncountable
noun if it was suitcases then we could
have said are any of your suitcases
missing all right because suitcases we
can count and that is plural
next number for nama not sorry none of
the players blank injured what should it
be none of the players are injured okay
play yours right so it's plural so our
verb has to be plural number five all
learning blank useful so what should we
say is or are all learning is useful ok
learning is also something we cannot
count blank any of my answers incorrect
so should we say is any of my answers or
are any of my answers because it's
answers so we have to say are ok very
good
number seven some rice blank fragrant
what does fragrant me fragrant means
that it smells nice some rice is or some
rice are some rice
is fragrant rice is also something we
cannot count so its non-count very good
number eight none of the material blank
useful is useful or are useful none of
the material is useful because again we
cannot count there were material it's a
non count noun number nine most shows
blank a waste of time most shows is a
waste of time or most shows are most
shows as an S here big clue right most
shows are a waste of time and number ten
all your friends is safe or all your
friends are safe what should we say call
your friends are safe okay and that's
good news very good news
now what can we do after this what can
you do after this - really really learn
this part because you spend time
watching this video right now you want
to master this and take it with you for
the rest of your life so there are a few
things you can do first go to my website
go to our website sorry at wwlp.com
there you can do a quiz on this and
reinforce and review make sure that
you've really understood it second while
you're at the website go to the resource
section and there you can download a
page which i've written about countable
and uncountable nouns because knowing
those will help you to know these
indefinite pronouns correctly and use
them properly okay and last make sure to
click on the subscribe button so you can
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okay all the best with your English
thanks for watching bye