四、名词或代词作主语时和谓语之间的单复数的一致问题：

　　1.谓语和谓语基本保持单复数的一致,即：主语是可数名词单数或不可数名词时,谓语动词用单数形式：如：The computer was a great invention.(计算机是个了不起的发明)The water in the glass is very cold.(玻璃杯里的水很冷)

　　2.集体名词(如family, class, team, group, row, police, school等)做句子主语时,

　　① 如果表示整体概念,则谓语用单数形式,如：Class Three is a very good class.(三班是好班)

　　② 如果表示其中的所有成员时,则谓语用复数形式,如：Class Three have a map of China.(三 班有张中国地图)

　　3.Chinese, Japanese, fish, sheep, people等表示单个时谓语用单数,表示许多时,谓语用复数。如：There is a sheep in the yard.(院子里有只绵羊) / There are some sheep in the yard.(院子里有一些绵羊)

　　4.maths, news等虽然有s结尾,但不是复数,因此谓语仍用单数：The news is very exciting. (这个消息令人兴奋)

　　5.glasses, shoes, socks, trousers, gloves等名词往往用复数形式,故谓语用复数。如：

　　The trousers are very cheap and I want to take them.(裤子很便宜,我想买)

　　6.a lot of 后跟名词复数时谓语用复数形式,跟不可数名词时谓语用单数形式。如：A lot of students are playing baseball now.(现在有许多学生在打垒球) A lot of time was wasted on that work.(大量的时间花在了那个工作上)(被动句)

　　7.and 连接两个名词做主语时,谓语原则上用复数,但是两个名词若构成一个整体事物时,谓语则用单数。如：The teacher and his son are picking apples now.(老师和他的儿子在摘苹果) / Fish and chips is very famous food. (鱼和薯条是一种出名的食品)

　　8. there be 句型中be的单复数一般由靠近的名词决定。如：There is a table and four chairs in the room.(房间里有一张桌子和四张椅子)

　　9.用both…and…连接两个事物做主语时,谓语一般用复数。如：Both you and I are required to be here tomorrow.(你和我明天要求都来)

　　10.主语中含有with的短语时,谓语单复数由with之前的人物决定。如：A woman with a 7-year-old child was standing at the side of the road. (一名妇女带着一个七岁的孩子(当时)就站在路边)

　　11.either…or…或者 neither…nor…连接两个人物做句子主语时,谓语采用就近原则。如：Either you or he is right.(要么是你对,要么是他对。/你和他有一个人是对的) / Neither you nor I am going there.(你和我都不打算去那里)

　　12.表示一段时间或长度概念的复数名词做主语时,谓语一般用单数。如：Two months is not a short time.(两个月不是个短时间)Two thousand kilometers is quite a long distance(距离).(两千千米是相当长的一段距离)

　　13.主语中含有half of… / (three quarters)of… / all (of) the ….等词语时,谓语的单复数由名词确定,如：Over three quarters of the information on the Internet is in English.(因特网上四分之三以上的信息是用英语写的) / A third of the students were playing near the lake.(学生的三分之一(当时)正在湖边玩耍) / All of the water in these rivers has been polluted.(这些河流中的水已经被污染了)(被动句)

　　但是,population一词又有特殊情况： What’s the population of China?(中国人口是多少?)(句子用单数) / Three quarters of the population in this city are Arabs(阿拉伯人).(这个城市四分之三的人口是阿拉伯人)(句子用复数)