peakers are liable to forget:--

1. The expressions _each, every, many a, either_, and _neither_ are
singular.
2. When the subject consists of singular nouns or pronouns connected by
_or, either_--_or_, or _neither_--_nor_, the verb must be singular.
3. Words joined to the subject by _with, together with, in addition to_,
or _as well as_, are not a part of the grammatical subject, but are
parenthetical, and therefore do not affect the number of the verb.
4. Since a relative pronoun has the number and person of its antecedent,
a verb whose subject is a relative pronoun agrees in person and number
with the antecedent of the relative.
5. "When the subject though plural in form is singular in sense, the verb
should be singular; when the subject though singular in form is plural
in sense, the verb should be plural:"[89] as, "'Gulliver's Travels'
_was_ written by Swift;" "Five hundred dollars _is_ a large sum;" "Half
of them _are_ gone."
6. "A collective noun, when it refers to the collection as a whole, is
singular in sense, and therefore requires a singular verb; when it
refers to the individual persons or things of the collection, it is
plural and requires a plural verb."[90]

[88] "Foundations," pp, 101-108.
[89] A.S. Hill: Principles of Rhetoric, revised edition, p. 56.
[90] Ibid., p. 57.

EXERCISE LIII.

_Insert the proper form of the verb "to be" in each of the blank places_:--

1. "Horses" ---- a common noun.
2. Such phenomena ---- very strange.
3. The ship with all her crew ---- lost.
4. No less than fifty dollars ---- paid for what was not worth twenty.
5. Homer, as well as Virgil, ---- once students (a student) on the banks of
the Rhine.
6. The committee ---- divided in its (their) judgment.
7. The genii who ---- expected to be present ---- deaf to every call.
8. France was once divided into a number of kingdoms, each of which ----
ruled by a duke.
9. Sir Richard Steele lived in the reign of Queen Anne, when the tone of
gentlemen's characters ---- very low.
10. Each man employed in this department ---- paid for his (their) work.
11. Mathematics ---- my hardest study.
12. There ---- once two boys who were so exactly alike in appearance that
they could not be distinguished.
13. Each of the heads of the Chimera ---- able to spit fire.
14. The jury ---- eating dinner.
15. "Plutarch's Lives" ---- an interesting book.
16. One of the most beautiful features