Grammatical Concordance: Laws of Concordance and Examples

The grammatical match is the relationship between two grammatical units: one shows a particular characteristic (such as gender) that agrees with one characteristic of the other. In Spanish, this conformity requires that the modifiers agree with the nouns that modify in number and gender (example: the cat, the cats, the cats).

However, not all languages ​​have this matching rule. For example, in English only Este Y that ("This"and"that") change their form to estos Y those to show the substantive-determining concordance. On the other hand, grammatical concordance in highly synthetic languages ​​is usually very high.

Such is the case of Latin, where adjectives agree in number, gender and case with the nouns they modify. This can be evidenced in bonus vir Y viris bonis ("Good man"and"good men", singular and plural number), bona femina ("Good woman", female gender) and bonae feminae ("Of a good woman", genitive case).

Agreement laws

In the Spanish language the grammatical accidents of number, gender and person must necessarily coincide between certain variable elements of the sentences.

Two types of grammatical agreement are distinguished. One of these is the nominal one (coincidence of gender and number); the second is verbal (coincidence of number and person).

Thus, the noun must agree with the article (and other determinants) or adjectives that accompany it:"l to girl alt to "(Feminine, singular) or"aquell" you past tense you "(Masculine, plural).

Also, the pronoun must agree with its antecedent or its consequent:"to my brothers ace the I see little"(female gender, plural number) or"l and I sent a gift to the novi or "(Masculine gender, singular number).

There is grammatical agreement between the subject and the attribute, the subject and the predicative or subject and the participle of the verb of the periphrastic passive:"Juan is a teacher","ell ace They seemed exhausted ace "Or"is ace they were divided ace "

Regarding verbal agreement, the subject must agree with his verb both in number and in person:" He I played to "(Third person, singular)," they I played an "(Third person, plural) or" US jug masters "(First person, plural).

In addition to these rules for nominal and verbal agreement, there are general laws that govern their use and will be explained below.

Coordination of two or more nouns in the singular

When two or more nouns in the singular are coordinated and represent different entities, they will be considered as a plural number both in the nominal and in the verbal agreement. This also applies in the case of pronouns.

Examples

- It is very difficult to keep the dog and the cat still s .

- This shirt and this trousers s I bought there.

- Oil and vinegar do not mix n .

- He and she is n separated s .

Coordination of two or more nouns of different grammatical gender

In case the coordinated nouns (or pronouns) combine male and female genders, the masculine form will be taken for the grammatical concordance.

Examples

- The man and the woman walked together or s (compare"the woman and the girl walked together to s)

- He took a potato, a carrot and a radish, and l or s put in a bag.

Elements coordinated with a second person pronoun

When one or more elements are coordinated and one of these is a second person pronoun, for the agreement the second person is taken from the plural (you) or the third person from the plural (you).

Examples

- I am convinced that the baby and you are yeah good (you)

- I am convinced that the baby and you are An well you).

However, if one of the coordinated elements is a first person pronoun (even if there is a second person pronoun), the first person in the plural is taken for agreement.

Examples

- The dean and I continue masters up to seven spelling errors.

- María, you and I know emos very well what happened.

Examples of grammatical agreement

Below are some fragments of the work The little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry (1943). In these the grammatical agreement will be analyzed: first the nominal one and then the verbal one.

Nominal agreement

Fragment 1

"[You, roses] You are bell ace but you are empty ace - them he said still. You can not die for you. No doubt that a common passer-by will believe that my rose HE you It seems".

In this first fragment we can see the concordance of gender and number between the subject ("you","roses") and the predicative ("beautiful","empty"), and also between nouns and determinants ("a passerby"," my rose").

In addition, you can see the agreement in the case of pronouns. "Les"has as its antecedent"roses", while the antecedent of"os"is"you"

Fragment 2

"But she Sun to it is more important and that all ace vosotr ace , since it's her the Rose whom I have watered. Since it's her the Rose whom I put under a balloon . Since it's her the Rose whom I sheltered with the screen "

When comparing the first sentence with"But he Sun or it is more important and that all you vosotr you "You can clearly see the concordance. It should be noted that the adjective"important"does not change for male or female.

Fragment 3

"Since it's her the rose whose caterpillars I killed (except the two or three that were made butterflies ). Since it's her the Rose whom I heard complaining, or praising, or even, sometimes , shut up."

Likewise, if alternative versions are used, the grammatical agreement is evidenced:"the tree whose trunk (...)","the [caterpillar] that became a butterfly","the roses"and"sometime".

Verbal agreement

Fragment 4

"As the planet d to Now one full turn every minute, I I did not have or a second of rest... This I do not have and nothing funny -dij or the lamplighter - . It's been a month since you and I its T masters speaking".

In this last fragment it is observed how the subjects agree in person and number with their verbs. Likewise, it is appreciated that the coordinated pronouns"you and me"take the first plural person in the conjugation.

In this way, changes in the number or person will imply changes in the conjugation:" the planets d an "," US do not have emos ","Dij and I "Y" you and him its T An speaking".

References

1. Quirk, R.; Greenbaum, S.; Leech, G. and Svartvik, J. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman.
2. Algeo, J. and Acevedo Butcher, C. (2010). The Origins, and Development of the English Language. Boston: Wadsworth.
3. Royal Spanish Academy. (2005). Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts. Taken from lema.rae.es.
4. Alvar Ezquerra, M.; Castillo Carballo M. A.; García Platero, J. M. and Medina Guerra, A. M. (1999). Writing and style manual. Madrid: Ediciones Istmo.
5. Rodríguez Guzmán, J. P. (2005) Grammar graphic to the Juampedrino mode. Barcelona: Carena Editions.