Parenthetical Statements
Statements in parentheses ( ) can be ignored when it comes to Subject-Verb agreement.
- My husband (the doctor) works at Community Hospital.
- My best friend (the one in the green shirt) wants to meet you.
Sometimes commas are used in place of parentheses:
- His brother, John, lives in Sacramento.
- My sister, who works in Miami, is visiting me this week.
- Mr. Johnson, however, was not amused.
- The teacher, along with her students, is coming to the party.
Prepositional phrases usually have no effect on Subject-Verb agreement.
- The men in the car were shouting wildly.
- The men in the cars were shouting wildly.
- The books on the shelf next to the window are mine.
However, in some quantifying expressions, prepositional phrases do make a difference.
- A lot of people are traveling to Belize these days.
- A lot of milk was left in the refrigerator last night.
- Some of the apples were rotten.
- Some of the wine is too old.
- None of the water is safe to drink.
- Relative clauses can have an effect, depending on the meaning.
- Mary is the one who takes care of applications.
- Mary is one of the people who take care of applications.
- One of the men who live there is deranged.
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