Учебное пособие: Консультации по английской грамматике В помощь учителю иностранного языка

money: Two hundred pounds is to be paid for it.

time: Three years is a long time to do it.

6. Arithmetic operations take the singular:

One plus one is two. Four minus one is three. Two times three is six. Twelve divided by two is six.

Problems may arise when the subject is expressed by a noun-phrase:

Either my friend or my relatives are going to see me soon.

Neither my relatives nor my friend is going to see me soon.

The proximity principle works here: the predicate agrees in number with the closest part of the subject. The same rule is applied in "there is/are" structures.

There is a book and two notebooks on the table.

There are two notebooks and a book

The principle of non-intervention is observed when the subject is a prepositional phrase including "together with," "along with," "as well as," etc.

Nick, together with his friends, is going for a trip.

The subject predicative agreement is problematic in certain types of relative clauses.

She is one of those people who never ceases to work hard.

Practice Activities

TPR Activities