The Road of My Happy Crazy Life

I hope to share this post to all my students in English. Hope this will be a good reference to you all.  

RULES ON  
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT 

Rule 1: Basic Principle - Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs.  

• My brother is a nutritionist. My sisters are mathematicians.

Rule 2:  The indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always singular and, therefore, require sigular verbs. 

• Everyone has done his or her homework.
• Somebody has left her purse.

Rule 3 :  Some indefinite pronouns — such as all, some — are singular or plural depending on what they’re referring to. (Is the thing referred to countable or not?) Be careful choosing a verb to accompany such pronouns. 

• Some of the beads are missing.
• Some of the water is gone.

Rule 4 :  On the other hand, there is   one indefinite pronoun, none,  that can be either singular or  plural; it often doesn’t matter  whether you use a singular or a  plural verb — unless something  else in the sentence determines  its number.  

• None of you claims responsibility for this incident?
• None of you claim responsibility for this incident?
• None of the students have done their homework.

• The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison.
• The mayor and his brothers are going to jail.

Rule 5 : Phrases such as together with, as well as, and along with are not the same as and. The phrase introduced by as well as or along with will modify the earlier word (mayor in this case), but it does not compound the subjects (as the word and would do).

Rule 6 : The pronouns neither and either are singular and require singular verbs even though they seem to be referring, in a sense, to two things.  

• Neither of the two traffic lights is working.
• Which shirt do you want for Christmas? 
  Either is fine with me.

Rule 7 : In informal writing, neither and either sometimes take a plural verb when these pronouns are followed by a prepositional phrase beginning with of. This is particularly true of interrogative constructions  

• Have either of you two clowns read the assignment?
• Are either of you taking this seriously?

Rule 8 : The conjunction or does not conjoin (as and does).  When nor or or  is used the subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb.  

• Either my father or my brothers are going to sell the house.
• Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house.
• Are either my brothers or my father responsible?
• Is either my father or my brothers responsible?

Rule 9 : The words there and here are never subjects.  

• There are two reasons [plural subject] for this.
• There is no reason for this.
• Here are two apples.

Rule 10 : Verbs in the present tense for third-person, singular subjects (he, she, it and anything those words can stand for) have s-endings. Other verbs do not add s-endings.  

• He loves and she loves and they love_ and . . . .

Rule 11 : Sometimes modifiers will get between a subject and its verb, but these modifiers must not confuse the agreement between the subject and its verb.  

• The mayor, who has been convicted along with his four brothers on four counts of various crimes but who also seems, like a cat, to have several political lives, is finally going to jail.

Rule 12 : Words such as glasses, pants, pliers, and scissors are regarded as plural (and require plural verbs) unless they’re preceded by the phrase pair of (in which case the word pair becomes the subject). 

• My glasses were on the bed.
• My pants were torn.
• A pair of plaid trousers is in the closet.

Rule 13 : Some words end in -s and appear to be plural but are really singular and require singular verbs. 

• The news from the front is bad.
• Measles is a dangerous disease for pregnant women.

Rule 14 :   On the other hand, some words ending in -s refer to a single thing but are nonetheless plural and require a plural verb. 

• My assets were wiped out in the depression.
• The average worker’s earnings have gone up dramatically.
• Our thanks go to the workers who supported the union.

Rule 15 : Fractional expressions such as half of, a part of, a percentage of, a majority of are sometimes singular and sometimes plural, depending on the meaning.  

• A large percentage of the older population is voting against her.
• Two-fifths of the troops were lost in the battle.
• Two-fifths of the vineyard was destroyed by fire.
• Forty percent of the students are in favor of changing the policy.
• Forty percent of the student body is in favor of changing the policy

Rule 16 : Sums and products of mathematical processes are expressed as singular and require singular verbs. The expression "more than one" (oddly enough) takes a singular verb. 

• More than one student has tried this.
• Two and two is four.
• Four times four divided by two is eight.

Rule 17 : If your sentence compounds a positive and a negative subject and one is plural, the other singular, the verb should agree with the positive subject.  

• The department members but not the chair have decided not to teach on Valentine’s Day.
• It is not the faculty members but the president who decides this issue.
• It was the speaker, not his ideas, that has provoked the students to riot.

Absolutely. Play is crucial for your child’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive growth. It’s your child’s way of learning about his body and the world, and he’ll use all five senses to do it, especially in the first year. What does this feel like when I touch it? What does this sound like when I squeeze it? What will happen if I push this or pull that? Crawl over there? Pull myself up on this? Exploration is the heart of play, and in your child’s mind any experiment counts, even hurling a bowl of cereal off the highchair tray. Development experts are fond of saying that play is the work of children (and cleaning up after play seems to be the work of parents).

As your child moves into the toddler years, his play will become more imaginative and complex. Through play, he’ll exercise key skills and qualities, such as independence, creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving. It can also be an important place to explore feelings and values and develop social skills. Long before your child feels comfortable sharing his favorite toy with his sister, he may offer it to a doll. His first spontaneous “please” and “thank you” may slip out at an imaginary tea party. And what parent can resist wasting a perfectly good bandage the first time her child says his teddy got hurt?

FAKE FRIENDS: Never ask for food.
REAL FRIENDS: are the reason you have no food.
FAKE FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr/Mrs
REAL FRIENDS: Call your parents DAD/MOM
FAKE FRIENDS: never seen you cry.
REAL FRIENDS: cry with you
FAKE FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then
give it back.
REAL FRIENDS: keep your shirt so long they forget its yours.
FAKE FRIENDS: know a few things about you.
REAL FRIENDS: Could write a book about you with direct quotes from you.
FAKE FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that is what the crowd is doing.
REAL FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowds that left you.
FAKE FRIENDS: Would knock on your front door.
REAL FRIENDS: Walk right in and say "I’M HOME!"
FAKE FRIENDS: Are for a while.
REAL FRIENDS: Are for life.

That’s Not My Job This is a story told about four people named, Somebody, Everybody, Anybody and Nobody. There was one important job to be done. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about it because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it. Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

i got this article from one of the analysis signs. please check this out for what the year of the ox may take us…

We will feel the yoke of responsibility coming down on us this year. No success can be achieved without conscientious efforts. The trials and tribulations the Ox year brings will be mainly on the home front. It is a good time to settle domestic affairs and put your house in order.

Way-out fashions, abstract art forms and newfangled notions will be given an impassive stare by the phlegmatic Ox, while politics and diplomacy will simply be treated with indifference. Better stick to routine and support conservative policies. Frivolities are out!

This year will no doubt bear fruit, but the motto is: "No work, no pay!" Time waits for no man; if we are too lazy to sow then we can blame no one if we have nothing to reap. We will find a great many things requiring our attention, and the list of what needs to be done will seem endless. The Spartan influence of the Ox will be a constantly cracking whip over our heads. Better to apply oneself diligently than waste time arguing with the authorities. They will prevail, as the year of the Ox favors discipline.

Most conflicts this year will arise more from a lack of communication and refusal to give in on small technicalities than anything else. But hang on and be patient. Everything will be sorted out and we will be rewarded for our efforts–so long as we remember to do things the conventional way. This is no time for tricky shortcuts.

For the rebels, it may be worthwhile to point out that although the stoical Ox is soft-spoken, he carries a big stick, and this is his year.

The Chinese calendar is based on solar and lunar cycles and thus the new year falls on a different day of the Western solar calendar each year. Year Ahead: The OX year is a conservative year, one of traditions and values. This is not a year to be outrageous. A slow but steady year. This OX year will bring stability and growth where patience and diligence pays off. This is a year of Harvest - when we reap what we have sown. Take care of business this year, do not let things slide. People Born in the Year of the OX: Characteristics: People Born in the Year of the OX are stable, strong, dutiful, reliable, tenacious, practical, industrious, determined, honest, loyal, sincere, persevering and down to earth and tolerant. They can sometimes be lonely but they form firm bonds with home and family. The OX people cherish their private lives and are not usually very adventurous. They can be loners. They know the way to succeed is by a slow, steady, sustained effort. OX people are great traditionalists, they like the familiar.

All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me. You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you. Life is no brief candle. It is a sort of splendid torch which is permitted to hold for the moment, and wanted to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

You can find an outlet for your depression that allows your heart to heal and your mind to clear by transforming your feelings into a tangible expression through art. In this thought, people can be artist in many ways whether it be by writing, painting or by transferring your sadness and lowliness to musical rhythms and songs. These creative tensions would release the melancholy in your life through these mediums. Based on my experience, I have written an unpublished novel entitled “What Makes Him”. Honestly, I wrote it because of an assignment on my school years. It was a novel reflecting my life and the life of my father.

It is my confirmed belief that we are on this earth to evolve our souls. We are spiritual beings who have taken on flesh and blood to experience that which could not be earned in the higher realms of Spirit.

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for"