As a copy editor, it is essential to understand the concept of agreement and how it relates to writing. Agreement refers to the proper matching of words in a sentence, which is crucial for effective communication.
To achieve agreement, writers must ensure that their subject and verb agree in both number and person. For instance, “The dog barks” is correct because the subject, “dog,” is singular, and the verb, “barks,” agrees with it in number and person. However, “The dogs barks” is incorrect because the subject is plural, but the verb is singular.
Additionally, singular subjects require singular pronouns, and plural subjects require plural pronouns. For example, “He is going to the store” is correct because the subject, “he,” is singular, and the pronoun, “is,” agrees with it. In comparison, “They is going to the store” is incorrect because the subject is plural, but the pronoun is singular.
Furthermore, writers should ensure that their adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in both number and gender. For instance, “The red car” is correct because the adjective, “red,” agrees in number and gender with the noun, “car.” In contrast, “The red cars” is incorrect because the noun is plural, but the adjective is singular.
Agreement is also critical when using collective nouns, which refer to a group of people, animals, or things as a single entity. For example, “The team is practicing” is correct because the collective noun, “team,” is singular. Similarly, “The audience was cheering” is correct because the collective noun, “audience,” is singular. On the other hand, “The team are practicing” or “The audience were cheering” is incorrect because it violates subject-verb agreement.
In conclusion, understanding agreement is crucial for effective writing, as it ensures that sentences are grammatically correct and communicated properly. As a professional, it is essential to pay attention to agreement when optimizing content for search engines, as poor agreement can negatively impact the readability and ranking of a website.