Written by Ari Julianto
Verb agreement (persesuaian kata kerja) dalam penulisan skripsi berbahasa Inggris memainkan peran yang sangat penting. Untuk menghasilkan sebuah skripsi yang baik tentu membutuhkan pelatihan penulisan formal language yang baik pula.
Subject-verb agreement adalah persesuaian verb dengan subject dalam hal number, yaitu: singular (tunggal) atau plural (jamak). Subjek dapat berupa noun, pronoun, atau konstruksi lain yang bertindak sebagai noun, seperti gerund dan infinitive.
Peran mata kuliah writing dan Grammar sangat dibutuhkan untuk dijadikan modal utama dalam penulisan skrispi. Dalam mata kuliah Grammar yang kadangkala dipecah menjadi Grammar I, Grammar II, Grammar III dan bahkan mata kuliah Models of Grammar, selain memahami penggunaan tenses, peran verb agreement juga penting.
Banyak skripsi dalam berbahasa Inggris yang dibuat mahasiswa mengalami kesalahan dalam pemakaian verb agreement. Berikut saya mencoba mengulas sedikit kajian verb agreement.
1. Basic Principle: Singular subjects membutuhkan singular verbs; plural subjects membutuhkan plural verbs.
My brother is a nutritionist.
My sisters are mathematicians.
2. Indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody selalu singular dan oleh karena itu membutuhkan singular verbs.
Everyone has done his or her homework.
Somebody has left her purse.
3. Beberapa indefinite pronouns seperti all, some — bisa menjadi singular atau plural tergantung pada benda yang dirujuk (apakah bendanya countable atau uncountable?).
Some of the beads are missing.
Some of the water is gone.
4.Kasus yang hampir sama juga berlaku pada indefinite pronoun, none. None of you claims responsibility for this incident?
None of you claim responsibility for this incident?
None of the students have done their homework.
5. Beberapa indefinite pronouns khususnya Everyone, everybody dan Each umumnya membutuhkan singular verb.
Everyone has finished his or her homework.
Each of the students is responsible for doing his or her work in the library.
6. Phrases seperti together with, as well as, dan along with tidaklah sama dengan and. Phrase ini mengikuti pada kata benda yang dirujuk.
The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison.
The mayor and his brothers are going to jail.
7. Pronouns neither dan either selalu singular dan membutuhkan singular verbs.
Neither of the two traffic lights is working.
Which shirt do you want for Christmas?
Either is fine with me.
8. Conjunction or tergantung pada kata benda yang dirujuk dan yang terdekat dengannya.
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?
9. Kata there dan here tidak pernah menjadi subject.
There are two reasons [plural subject] for this.
There is no reason for this.
Here are two apples.
10. Verbs dalam present tense untuk third-person, singular subjects (he, she, it dan semua subject singular) memiliki s-endings.
He loves and she loves and they love_ and . . . .
11.Kadangkala modifiers terletak di tengah-tengah antara subject dan verb, tapi modifiers ini tidak mempengaruhi agreement antara subject dan 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.
12.Kadangkala nouns yang berbentuk unik yang disangka singular namun sebenarnya plural.
My glasses were on the bed.
My pants were torn.
A pair of plaid trousers is in the closet.
13. Beberapa kata berakhiran -s yang disangka plural namun sebenarnya singular.
The news from the front is bad.
Measles is a dangerous disease for pregnant women.
14. Nama klub olah raga yang umumnya tidak berakhiran s membutuhkan verb plural.
The Miami Heat have been looking
The Connecticut Sun are hoping that new talent
15. Fractional expressions seperti half of, a part of, a percentage of, a majority of kadangkala singular dan plural, tergantung pada maknanya.
Some of the voters are still angry.
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.
Two and two is four.
Four times four divided by two is eight.
16. Jika kalimatnya terdiri dari subject positive dan negative dan satu berbentuk plural, sedangkan satunya singular, maka verb nya harus 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.
Demikianlah pembahasan kita kali ini. Semoga bermanfaat. Amin.
