Plural Noun Subject-Verb Agreement: A Guide for SEO Copywriters
As an SEO copywriter, it’s important to not only create content that’s engaging and informative but also optimized for search engines. One aspect of SEO copywriting that’s often overlooked is plural noun subject-verb agreement.
Subject-verb agreement is the grammatical rule that governs the relationship between the subject and verb in a sentence. In order for a sentence to be grammatically correct, the subject and verb must agree in number (singular or plural).
For example, “The dog barks” is grammatically correct because “dog” is singular and “barks” is the correct form of the verb for a singular subject. However, “The dogs barks” is incorrect because “dogs” is plural and “barks” is the incorrect form of the verb for a plural subject.
Plural noun subject-verb agreement can be tricky, but it’s important to get it right in your SEO content because search engines prefer grammatically correct content. Here are some tips to help you master plural noun subject-verb agreement in your writing.
1. Identify the subject of the sentence
The subject of the sentence is the noun or pronoun that the sentence is about. To identify the subject, ask yourself who or what the sentence is talking about. For example, in the sentence “The dogs bark loudly,” the subject is “dogs.”
2. Determine if the subject is singular or plural
Once you’ve identified the subject, determine if it’s singular or plural. Singular subjects refer to one person, place, thing, or idea, while plural subjects refer to two or more people, places, things, or ideas.
3. Use the correct form of the verb
Once you know if the subject is singular or plural, use the correct form of the verb. For singular subjects, use a singular verb form (e.g., “The dog barks”). For plural subjects, use a plural verb form (e.g., “The dogs bark”).
4. Watch out for tricky subjects and verbs
Some nouns that are plural in form are actually singular in meaning, such as “news” and “mathematics.” For these nouns, use a singular verb form (e.g., “The news is good today”).
On the other hand, some nouns that are singular in form are actually plural in meaning, such as “people” and “data.” For these nouns, use a plural verb form (e.g., “The data are consistent with our findings”).
5. Proofread for errors
Once you’ve written your content, proofread it to check for subject-verb agreement errors. Read each sentence carefully and make sure the subject and verb agree in number.
In conclusion, mastering plural noun subject-verb agreement is essential for SEO copywriting. It not only helps improve the grammatical correctness of your content but also helps increase its visibility in search engine results. Follow these tips to ensure your writing is grammatically correct and optimized for search engines.
