ABE English Tutorials/simple sentences/Compound Subjects

COMPOUND SENTENCE
We have been learning to add information in a sentence: by adding modifiers (adjectives and adverbs) by adding objects and phrases by changing the verb to fit the situation

Now we'll add some information to the subject.

There are two subjects in this sentence: Carmen and her sisters. When a sentence has more than one subject, the subjects are called compound subjects. When compound subjects are joined together with the word "and", they must use the plural form of the verb. Compound subjects, joined with the word "and", always take the plural form of the verb. How can you be sure that you are using the plural form of the verb? Remove the compound subjects, substitute the word "they", and see if the sentence still makes sense:

The boy and his friend like to go skateboarding. They like to go skateboarding. Another kind of sentence has compound subjects joined together with the combination of either.....or, or neither.....nor.

Did you notice how the form of the verb changed in these pairs of sentences? Deciding on the correct form of the verb when you are using either....or, or neither.....nor, requires one extra step:

CONCLUSION
The combination not only ..... but also works the same way as the neither .... nor combination, as in these examples:
 * 1) Not only the flowers but also the maple tree was affected by the dry weather.
 * 2) Not only the maple tree but also the flowers were affected by the dry

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