Subject-verb agreement is one of the essential elements of the English language. It is necessary to ensure that the subject and verb in a sentence agree with each other in terms of number and person. In simpler terms, if the subject is plural, the verb should be plural too. In this article, we will discuss the subject-verb agreement when using “many” as the subject of the sentence.
“Many” is a quantifying adjective that defines a plural concept. It is used to describe a large number of people, objects, or ideas. Therefore, when using “many” as the subject of the sentence, the verb should be plural as well.
For example, “Many students are participating in the science fair.” In this sentence, the subject “many students” is plural, and the verb “are participating” is also plural, which means that the sentence has proper subject-verb agreement.
However, sometimes people may make the mistake of using a singular verb with “many” as the subject. This mistake happens mainly when the subject is not explicitly mentioned, making it difficult to determine the number of objects being referred to.
For example, “Many of the book is missing.” In this sentence, “many of the book” is the subject. Although “many” is an indicator of plural, the verb “is missing” is singular, which creates a subject-verb disagreement. A better way to phrase this sentence would be “Many pages of the book are missing.”
Another example of improper subject-verb agreement is “Many of the people was happy.” In this sentence, “many of the people” is once again the subject, and the verb “was happy” is singular. The correct sentence would be “Many of the people were happy.”
It is essential to pay attention to the subject-verb agreement when using “many” as the subject of the sentence. By ensuring proper agreement, you can avoid confusing or misleading sentences that may affect your content`s clarity and accuracy. As a professional, it is crucial to follow grammatical rules to enhance the chances of your content ranking higher on search engines.