Study materials
Two sentences describe the same documents, and the verb form differs.
The list of approved suppliers is attached.
The suppliers on the list are approved.
In a long noun phrase it is easy to lose track of which word is the head. And it is the head that governs agreement, the article and everything attached further on.
The head noun governs everything
Every long phrase has one word that decides the number, the article and the form of the verb. Finding it is easy: it is what remains once you strip away the modifiers.
The list of new suppliers approved last month is attached.
The suppliers on the approved list are listed below.
The same suppliers, the same list, and a different verb form. It is set not by the meaning but by which word is the head.
The order of modifiers before the noun
Modifiers do not queue up at random. The order is nearly fixed, and native speakers hear every breach of it.
| Slot | What goes there | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | determiner | the, my, three |
| 2 | opinion | excellent, useful |
| 3 | size, age, shape | large, old, round |
| 4 | colour | black |
| 5 | origin, material | Italian, leather |
| 6 | purpose | writing, running |
a lovely large old round black Italian leather writing desk
The practical rule: the closer a word sits to the noun, the more tightly it belongs to it. Leather desk is nearly one concept; lovely is only your opinion.
A noun used as a modifier
Another noun can stand before the head. It is then always singular, even where the meaning is plural.
a three-year contract
a shoe shop
The exception is small: sales, savings and a few similar words stay plural, because in the singular they would mean something else.
The mistakes everyone makes
The first is agreeing the verb with the nearest word instead of the head.
The list of suppliers are attached. → The list of suppliers is attached.
The second is putting modifiers in the wrong order.
a leather black bag → a black leather bag
The third is making a modifier noun plural.
a five-days course → a five-day course
All three are caught by one test. Strip away every modifier and see which word is left. That is the head.
Try it right now
Describe three things on your desk in English, giving each of them two modifiers.
Then build one long sentence with a five-word phrase and check that the verb agrees correctly.