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Besides, Langan 1996 adds if subjects in a sentence are joined by and, they would be followed by a plural verb p. 340. The examples are:
[14] Desya, Clarina, and Rio are very smart students in the class. [15] The shirt, the skirt, and the hat are new.
In addition, Greenbaum 1989 states if and is not present in a sentence, the subject is still decided as plural p. 211.
[16] Desya, Clarina, Rio are very smart students in the class. [17] The shirt, the skirt, the hat are new.
However, Greenbaum 1989 also states if the noun phrases are introduced by every or each, the subjects are considered singular p. 211.
[18] Every man and every woman has the same right. [19] Each girl and each boy in the seventh-grade is a great student.
b. Concord of Person
According to Leech and Svartvik 1994, in the present tense there are
three be as the form, they are I am I am a student, HeSheIt is She is very beautiful, WeYouThey are You are a dentist p. 264. In a sentence, be form is
not only has the present tense form, but also it has eight different forms in common. They are am, is, are, was, were, being, and been. These be forms are
used in every sentence based on the tense that is used. Leech and Svartvik made a table that would help students to learn easily. In the table 2.1. below shows the
forms of be which is proposed by Leech and Svartvik 1994.
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Table 2.1: The Forms of Be Leech Svartvik, 1994, p. 243 Non-negative
Uncontracted negative
Contracted negative
Base be
Present
1
st
person singular 3
rd
person singular 2
nd
person singular and all persons plural
am, ‘m is, ‘s
are, ‘re am not, ‘m not
is not, ‘s not are not, ‘re not
ain’t isn’t
aren’t
Past
1
st
and 3
rd
person singular 2
nd
person singular and plural 1
st
and 3
rd
person plural was
were were
was not were not
were not wasn’t
weren’t weren’t
-ing form being
not being -ed form
been
Then, according to Leech and Svartvik 1994, main verbs have only two forms in the present tense p. 264, for example,
[20] Hesheour friend etc. likes cooking [21] Iyouwetheyour friends etc. like cooking
Sentence [20] shows the 3
rd
person singular subject, while sentence [21] does not show the 3
rd
person singular subject. Leech and Svartvik 1994 also add that modal auxiliaries only have one
form p. 264. It means that modal auxiliaries cannot be added by –s form, -ing form, or –ed participle, for example,
[22] Iweyouhesheour friendour friends etc. will cook dinner today.
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For modals can, may, shall, and will have a special past forms could, might, should, and would. While the others must, dare, need, ought to, used to do not
have any forms. The table 2.2. below is the examples of modal auxiliaries.
Table 2.2: The Modal Auxiliaries Leech Svartvik, 1994, p. 244 Non-negative
Uncontracted negative Contracted negative
Can could
may might
shall should
will, ‘ll would, ‘d
must ought to
used to c need c
dare c Cannot, can not
Could not May not
Might not Shall not
Should not Will not, ‘ll not
Would not, ‘d not Must not
Ought not to Used not to
Need not Dare not
Can’t Couldn’t
mayn’t a Mightn’t
Shan’t b Shouldn’t
Won’t Wouldn’t
Mustn’t Oughtn’t to
Didn’t used to, usedn’t to Needn’t
Daren’t
a mayn’t is rare b shan’t is rare, especially in American English
c used to, need, and dare as auxiliaries are rare in all forms
3. Subject in English
