Just So Agreement – The Importance of Grammatical Consistency
As a professional, it`s important to ensure that your content is not only grammatically correct, but also consistent in its language usage. One common mistake that is often seen in written content is called “just so agreement.”
Just so agreement occurs when the subject and verb in a sentence don`t agree in number, either singular or plural. For example, “The team of players are celebrating their victory.” This sentence contains a subject (“team”) that is singular, but the verb (“are”) is plural. The correct sentence should be “The team of players is celebrating their victory.”
Just so agreement can also occur when there are collective nouns, which refer to a group of individuals but are singular in nature, but are treated as if they were plural. For example, “The committee members have different opinions.” In this sentence, the subject (“committee members”) is plural, but the verb (“have”) is singular. The correct sentence should be “The committee members have different opinions.”
Another common instance of just so agreement is when using indefinite pronouns such as “anyone,” “everyone,” “someone,” or “no one.” These pronouns are singular, so they should be paired with singular verbs. For example, “Everyone were excited to attend the concert.” The correct sentence should be “Everyone was excited to attend the concert.”
Why is it important to avoid just so agreement? Consistency in language usage not only ensures grammatical accuracy, but it also helps increase the readability and credibility of your content. Inconsistencies in language usage can make your content appear sloppy and unprofessional, which can negatively impact your SEO efforts.
Fortunately, just so agreement is easy to avoid. Always remember to double-check your subject and verb agreement when writing sentences. Use singular verbs with singular subjects and plural verbs with plural subjects. If you`re uncertain about whether a subject is singular or plural, take a moment to clarify it before moving forward with your sentence.
In conclusion, just so agreement can be a common mistake in written content, but it`s also an easily avoidable one. By ensuring grammatical consistency in your language usage, you can improve the readability and credibility of your content and boost your SEO efforts. Remember to double-check your subject and verb agreement, particularly when dealing with collective nouns and indefinite pronouns, and your content will be well on its way to success.