Agreement and Number: Understanding the Importance of Proper Grammar in Writing

As a copy editor, one of the most important aspects of your job is to ensure that all written content is grammatically correct and free from errors. This not only helps to improve the readability and clarity of the text, but it also plays a crucial role in search engine optimization (SEO).

One of the key elements of proper grammar is understanding agreement and number. These two concepts may seem straightforward, but they can be quite complex and are often the source of errors in written content.

Agreement refers to the matching of two or more words in a sentence in terms of their form and grammatical function. In simple terms, it means that the subject of a sentence should agree with the corresponding verb, pronoun or noun.

For example, consider the sentence: “The dog barks loudly.” Here, the subject “dog” is singular and the verb “barks” agrees with it in terms of number. However, if we change the subject to a plural noun, we need to use a plural verb: “The dogs bark loudly.”

Number refers to the grammatical category of singular or plural. It is important to maintain consistency in number throughout a sentence, paragraph or entire document.

For instance, if we write a sentence like “A student should always bring their textbook to class,” we are using a singular subject (“student”) and a plural pronoun (“their”), which is not grammatically correct. A better way to write this sentence would be “A student should always bring his or her textbook to class” or “Students should always bring their textbooks to class.”

Proper agreement and number are important not only for the sake of grammatical correctness but also because search engines use algorithms that take into account the quality of the writing on a website. Good grammar, including correct agreement and number, can help boost a website`s ranking in search engine results.

In conclusion, as a professional, it is important to have a strong understanding of agreement and number in order to ensure that written content is free from errors and optimized for search engines. By paying close attention to these important elements of grammar, you can help improve the quality of your clients` writing and help their websites gain the visibility they need to succeed.