中学英语中常见的主谓一致现象

在英语中，句子的谓语动词必须在人称和数上与主语保持一致。主谓一致是中学英语语法学习中的一个重点，也是一个难点。通常采用下列三个原则处理，即，语法一致的原则、意义一致的原则、毗邻一致（即就近一致）原则。

一、语法形式一致原则

即在语法形式上取得一致。如：主语为单数形式，谓语动词用单数；主语为复数形式，谓语动词也采用复数形式。但须注意下列几种情况：

1.由“the number of，a/the/this pair（form，kind，type，glass）of，either（neither）+of+名词复数”等结构作主语时，谓语用单数。例如：

（1）Is either of your parents an engineer？

（2）There is a pair of shoes left on the shelf.

2.由“both...and”连接的两个名词作主语时，谓语动词常用复数。

（3）Both my father and my sister are famous writers.

3.由many a，more than one修饰单数名词作主语时，谓语动词用单数。

（4）Many a ship has been damaged in the storm.

（5）More than one person has been the movie “Titanic”.

但在“more+名词复数+than one”结构中，谓语动词一般用复数形式。例如：

（6）More young teachers than one are against this plan.

4.当“主语+as well as（as much as，no less than，with，along with，together with，rather than，like，unlike，but，except，besides，including）”时，其谓语单复数与主语保持一致。例如：

（7）Nothing but stampts and envelopes is for sale.

（8）The teacher with a number of students is in the classroom.

5.当“every-”，“some-”，“any-”，“no-”等构成的不定代词作主语时，谓语动词用单数。例如：

（9）Everybody obeys the school rules；anybody who breaks the rules is punished.

（10）I’ll tell you something that sounds interesting.

6.当不可数名词、动名词、动词不定式、从句作主语时，谓语动词用单数。例如：

（11）Much land has been deserted in this area in the past few years.

（12）Nodding the head means agreement，while shaking it means disagreement.

（13）What you need most is to have a good sleep.

7.由and连接并列的主语时，谓语动词通常用复数。

（14）Plastics and rubber never rot.

（15）Swimming and walking are good exercises.

但是，并列主语如果表示同一个人、同一个事物或同一个概念时，谓语动词用单数形式（这时and后的名词前没有冠词）；若并列的单数名词前被every，each，no等修饰时，谓语动词也用单数形式。例如：

（16）The poet and writer is gone.

（17）Going to bed early and getting up early is a good habit.

（18）A knife and fork is on the table.

（19）No clothes and no food is difficult to live.

8.在定语从句中，谓语动词总是与先行词保持一致；若先行词为“one of+复数名词”时，谓语动词用复数；但若先行词为“the only one of +复数名词”时则用单数。例如：

（20）Those who want to go on a journey please sign your name here.

9.当“half，all，the majority，the rest，some，most，part，a part，a plenty，a lot，lots以及分数、百分数+of+名词/代词”作主语时，谓语动词要与of后面的名词（短语）保持一致。

（21）Half of the work is left unfinished.

（22）Lots of damage was caused by smoking fire.

（23）More than 70 percent of the surface of our earth is covered by water.

二、意义一致原则

即谓语动词的单复数取决于主语所表达的内在涵义。常见的有以下几种情况：

1.如果主语由“the+形容词（分词）”担任时，往往根据意义一致原则来决定谓语的单复数形式。如果指一类人，谓语动词用复数形式；如果指个人或抽象概念，谓语动词用单数形式。如：

（1）The blind in China study in special schools.

（2）The old are taken good care of in our motherland.

（3）The beautiful is not always the useful.

2.当表示时间、金钱、距离、书名、度量衡等数词短语作主语时，根据意义一致原则，通常被看作是一个整体，谓语动词用单数。

（4）Three years quickly passes at school.

（5）Two thousand dollars is not enough.

（6）Fifteen miles seems like a long way to walk.

3.当一些由两部分构成的表示衣物或工具的名词作主语时，谓语动词通常用复数形式，如：clothes，trousers，shoes，shorts，glasses，chopsticks，goods，scissors等。但如果主语由a kind of，a pair of，a series of等加名词构成，谓语动词一般用单数。

（7）Her trousers are beautiful indeed.

（8）A pair of new shoes is in your suitcase.

4.以集体名词family，class，group，crowd，enemy，government，crew，public，team等作主语时，如果作为一个整体看待，谓语动词用单数形式，如果就其中每一个成员而言，谓语动词用复数形式。例如：

（9）My family is going to have a long journey.

（10）The whole class are watching a football match.

5.表示总称意义形单意复的名词，如peole，police，cattle等作主语时，只当作复数看待，谓语动词用复数形式。

（11）The police are searching for a murderer in that mountain.

（12）Cattle are one cause of the problem.

6.名词所有格之后的名词被省略的情况一般只指商店、公共建筑物、住宅等，作主语时，动词一般用单数。

（13）The baker’s is on the other side of the street.

（14）My aunt’s is not very far from here.

7.国名、报名、剧名、山名、水名、学科等专有名词作主语，谓语动词用单数。

（15）The United Nations was founded in 1945.

（16）Maths seems to be difficult for me.

8.复数形式的单、复数同形名词作主语时，依照意义一致原则，表示单数意义时，谓语动词用单数，反之，谓语动词用复数形式。这类名词有：means，works，species，Chinese，Japanese等。例如：

（17）The glass works was rebuilt in 1990.

（18）Many means have been tried.

9.由“pair，piece of+名词/代词”作主语时，谓语动词与pair，piece等保持一致，与of后的代词、名词无关。例如：

（19）There is a pair of shoes left.

（20）The pieces of stone were then carried to the new place for the temple.

三、毗邻一致原则

即谓语动词的数随最近的主语而定，又称就近一致原则。

1.由连词“or，either...or，neither...nor，not only...but also...，not...but...，whether...or...”等连接的并列主语，谓语动词单复数取决于最靠近于它的名词或代词。

（1）Not his brothers but he wants to pay you a visit.

（2）Neither we nor she knows the stranger.

2.在倒装句及there be的结构中，谓语动词往往与最邻近的一个主语保持一致。

（3）Where is your mother and younger sisters？

（4）Here comes the bus and two cars.