Corpus-Based Investigation of S-V Concord Patterns of Nouns with Latin Plural Endings

Abstract

English subject-verb concord can pose problems to learners such as omission of third person singular inflection and overextension due to linguistic typology, phonological and perceptual factors, syntax, and the number of nouns acting as the subject of the sentence, among others. A group of nouns that invites confusion is what Huddleston and Pullum (2002) call nouns with Latin plural endings whose singular forms are uncommon compared to their plural counterparts. This investigation aims to provide teachers with guidance on the general and genre-based agreement patterns of these nouns using the balanced Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). This study found that based on their agreement patterns these nouns can be classified into three groups: 1) nouns whose tendencies are line with prescriptive rules; 2) noun whose tendencies are ambivalent; and 3) nouns which might have already been “reclassified” by speakers. By genres, there was a strong preference to use “plural” verbs with these nouns in the written and the academic components of the corpus while “singular” verbs are preferred in the spoken components. The implications of the study for teaching and research were also provided.