Life Skills 101

ALWAYS SINGULAR: anybody, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, somebody, someone, something

If it ends with body, one, or thing it is usually singular!

ALWAYS PLURAL: both, few, many, several

SINGULAR OR PLURAL: all, any, more, most, none, some

Look in the prepositional phrase to determine which one these are!

Singular antecedents joined by or or nor are singular.
Ex. Jason or David left his textbook yesterday.

Plural subjects joined by or or nor are plural.
Ex. Either mice or squirrel are living in our attic; they are eating through the wall.

When both a singular and a plural subject are joined by or or nor, the verb agrees with whichever one is closer to the verb.
Ex. A student or students have left the courtyard a mess; they must clean it up.
Students or a student has left the courtyard a mess; he or she must clean it up.

COLLECTIVE NOUNS: if it’s referring to the unit as a whole, it’s singular; if it’s referring to each member, it’s plural.

IRREGULAR VERBS: “brung” “ seeked” “ has froze” and “hurted” are slang; DO NOT MARK THEM ON YOUR TEST!

HAS/HAVE determines which verb to use:
She wrote   it froze   I brought   he swam
She has written   it has frozen   I have brought   he has swum

RISE VS RAISE: Raise means to lift up; rise means to move upward. Raise has an object, but rise does not.

SIT VS SET: a person sits in a chair or bench; a thing is set down. Set usually has an object, but sit does not.

LIE VS LAY: Lie means to rest or be resting. Lay means to put something down. Lay usually has an object, but lie does not. (laid is the past participle of lay, lain is the past participle of lie)

She has laid down the pencil.             He has lain in bed all day.

  *