Concord can be defined as the agreement between all elements of a sentence. Basically, a sentence can be defined as a string that connects the subject and the verb together. Concord is seen as a core part of English language that needs to be understood by learners and most especially for those who have English as a Second Language (ESL). Basically, there are laid-down rules which are put in place for the comprehensibility of both written and spoken language. Most people make the mistake of misuse of tense, as well as minor concord errors while writing their various types of articles.
Examples of these minor errors include:
Lack of agreement between between the number of subjects and the verb, for exmaple:
The girl have come. [wrong]
The girl has come. [right]
Top notch Steemians was present for the interview. [wrong]
Top notch Steemians were present for the interview. [right]
While this is so, there are different types of concord used in the English language, but in this article my focus will be placed mainly on the three major types of Concord which are:
- Grammatical concord
- Notional concord
- Proximity Concord
Grammatical Concord:
This is known to be the most important type of Concord. It mainly has to do with the agreement between the subject and the verb, as well as the agreement between number and person. For a sentence to be considered grammatically correct, the elements which are embedded in it must be in agreement with each other, that is the structure of the sentence must be balanced. In a more explanatory way, what I'm trying to say is that the subject must always agree with the verb for a sentence to be considered appropriate. For example:
The baby cries every evening.
Babies cry every evening.
It is pertinent to also note that the agreement between the subject and the verb is a very crucial thing to understand, as it gives effectiveness and competence in both writing and speaking. I recall my first year at the department of English language when I was told that a singular verb takes '-s' or '-es' while a plural verb does not take any of these. These might as well be a problem to learners of English language, As they mistake the mentality of "anything called plural ought to go with a '-s' or '-es,'" for example:
Singular forms:
I live in Lagos state
You live in Lagos state
She lives in Lagos state
Plural forms:
We live in Benue state
You live in Benue state
They live in Benue state
Note that in the example above the first- and second-person singular takes a plural verb while the third-person singular verb takes a singular verb.
More explanatory examples below:
James [singular subject] plays [singular verb] football every evening.
The students [plural subject] play [plural verb] every evening.
Proximity Concord:
otherwise known as Closeness Concord. In this type of Concord, the verb agrees with the subject that comes before it. For example, in the case of a multiple subjects whereby one subject is singular and the other appears to be plural, the verb appears in this situation agrees with the subject that comes immediately after it. In a more explanatory way, what I'm trying to say is that the subject that follows the verb determines whether the verb will be singular or plural. For example:
James and his parents are expected to be in
school by now.
Either his parents or James is expected to be in school by now.
Notional concord:
has to do with the semantic agreement of a subject which appears to be in a singular form, but whose deep meaning [semantic meaning] refers to more than one entity. Therefore if the subject is used in form of a singular way, the verb that follows also takes a singular form, and if it's otherwise used as plural, the verb that also follows takes a plural form. For example:
The congregation has taken the decision
[subject meant in a singular way]
The congregation has taken the decision
[subject meant in a plural way]
Problems associated with Concord
Most problems associated with Concord result from learners inability to distinguish how and when to use the verbs "have," "be, and "do." Most learners unconsciously use the verb "have" in place of "has," and "has" in place of "have."
Also, the verb "do" is used as "does" when the subject appears to be a singular noun or a third person singular pronoun e.g he, she, it.
For example: James does his necessary duties before coming on Steemit.
Other problems associated with concord is the learner's inability to make the verb agree with the subject in terms of number, thus violating the rule that state that the subject must always agree with the verb. For example:
The salivary glands produces saliva which is used for the softening of food.
This sentence appears to be incorrect as the subject of the sentence does not agree with the verb. To make this sentence a correct one we thus need to change the Verb into a plural one, Thus making it:
The salivary glands produce saliva which is meant to soften food."
Thanks for reading! I hope this lesson helps those who use English as a second language, in the preparation of their various articles as well as them in proper communication.