Subject-verb agreement is an essential part of any well-written sentence, and it becomes even more important when proper nouns are involved. Proper nouns refer to specific individuals, places, or things and are always capitalized.
To ensure proper subject-verb agreement for proper nouns, it is crucial to understand the role of each word in a sentence. The subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing that performs the action of the sentence. The verb, on the other hand, is the action or state of being that the subject performs.
When a proper noun is used as the subject of a sentence, it must agree with the verb in number, meaning that if the subject is singular, the verb must also be singular, and if the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural.
For example, „John is going to the store” and „The Smith family is going on vacation” are both correct because the subject is singular, and the verb is singular. In contrast, „John are going to the store” and „The Smith family are going on vacation” would be incorrect.
However, when the subject is a group of proper nouns that are treated as a single entity, such as a company or a team, the verb should be singular. For example, „Microsoft was founded in 1975” and „The Lakers is a basketball team in Los Angeles” are correct because the company and team are treated as a singular entity.
Likewise, when using proper nouns in compound subjects, it is essential to ensure that the subject agrees with the verb. For example, „Tom and Jerry are watching a movie” is correct because both subjects are plural, while „Tom and Jerry is watching a movie” would be incorrect.
Finally, it is also important to ensure that the verb agrees with the tense of the sentence. For example, „John runs every day” is correct because the verb is in the present tense, while „John ran every day” would be incorrect.
In conclusion, subject-verb agreement is crucial for proper noun usage in any well-written sentence. By following the rules outlined above, you can ensure that your writing is clear, concise, and grammatically correct.