Agreement, Quantifiers & Articles

Teaching points

• • Each/every/everyone/everybody = singular.
• • A number of + plural noun = plural verb.
• • The number of + plural noun = singular verb.
• • Neither...nor / either...or: agreement commonly follows the nearer subject.
• • Many/few with countable nouns; much/little with uncountable nouns.
• • Articles: a/an for one non-specific countable noun; the for specific/known reference; zero article for many general plural/uncountable uses.
• • STEP trap: ignore the noun inside "of + noun" when finding the main subject.

- Each / every / everyone تعامل كمفرد. - A number of + جمع يأخذ فعلاً جمعاً. - The number of + جمع يأخذ فعلاً مفرداً. - مع neither...nor و either...or يتبع الفعل غالباً أقرب فاعل. - many/few مع المعدود، و much/little مع غير المعدود. - a/an لاسم مفرد غير محدد، و the لشيء محدد أو معروف. - فخ STEP: لا تجعل الاسم بعد of يخدعك؛ ابحث عن الفاعل الأساسي.

Examples

• • Each of the applicants is ready.
• • A number of students are absent.
• • The number of applicants is increasing.
• • Neither the teachers nor the principal is available.

Practice

Quick check — اختبار سريع

1. 1. The number of international students _____ this year. A. have increased B. are increasing C. is increasing D. increase