Concord

Definition

Concord refers to the grammatical agreement between different elements within a sentence, ensuring they match in number, gender, case, and person. This agreement is essential for maintaining clarity and coherence in language, affecting subjects, verbs, and pronouns. Understanding concord helps in identifying how different grammatical categories interact through inflectional morphology to create syntactically correct structures.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Concord can be categorized into two main types: grammatical concord (or agreement) and notional concord, where the meaning of the subject influences verb agreement rather than strict grammatical rules.
2. In English, singular subjects typically take singular verbs while plural subjects take plural verbs, which is crucial for maintaining proper sentence structure.
3. Pronoun forms must also adhere to concord rules; for instance, 'he' or 'she' must agree with singular antecedents, while 'they' can refer to plural antecedents or be used as a singular gender-neutral pronoun.
4. Errors in concord often lead to ambiguity or confusion in meaning, making it an important focus for both writing and speaking skills.
5. The principles of concord are influenced by factors like collective nouns; for example, 'The team wins' (singular) versus 'The team members win' (plural), showing different approaches to agreement.

Review Questions

• How does subject-verb agreement illustrate the concept of concord within English grammar?
  • Subject-verb agreement exemplifies concord by ensuring that the verb matches the subject in number. For instance, a singular subject like 'The cat' requires a singular verb 'runs,' while a plural subject like 'The cats' necessitates a plural verb 'run.' This agreement is vital for constructing grammatically correct sentences that convey clear meaning.
• In what ways does pronoun-antecedent agreement contribute to the understanding of concord in sentence structure?
  • Pronoun-antecedent agreement contributes significantly to concord by mandating that pronouns align with their corresponding nouns in number, gender, and person. For example, if the antecedent is plural ('students'), the pronoun must also be plural ('they'). This consistency enhances clarity and prevents ambiguity in communication.
• Evaluate how errors in concord can impact the clarity and coherence of communication.
  • Errors in concord can severely disrupt clarity and coherence by creating confusion about the relationships between subjects and verbs or pronouns and their antecedents. For instance, a sentence like 'The group are going to their meeting' leads to ambiguity about whether 'group' is treated as singular or plural. Such mistakes can hinder effective communication and may cause readers or listeners to misinterpret the intended message.

Related terms

Subject-Verb Agreement: The rule that the verb must match the subject in number (singular or plural), ensuring that the subject and verb form a coherent unit in a sentence.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement:

The requirement that pronouns agree with their antecedents in number, gender, and person to avoid confusion and maintain clarity in sentences.

Inflectional Morphology:

The study of how words change form to express different grammatical features such as tense, mood, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, and case.