noun, plural form, individual facts, statistics, or items of information
datum: noun, singular form of data for one number or a single case
elicit/illicit
elicit: verb, to extract, bring out, or evoke
illicit: adjective, unlawful, not legally permitted or authorized
lay/lie
lay: verb, to place or to put an object at rest, or set down
lie: verb, to be in a horizontal position, recline, to rest, remain, to be situated; to spread a falsehood; noun, a false statement made with intention to deceive, a falsehood
passed/past
passed: verb, past tense, to have moved in a specific direction (e.g., “They passed through Tiffin, Ohio, on their way to Beverly, Massachusetts.”)
past: adjective, gone by in time and no longer exists (e.g., “The flight is now past.”); noun, a time prior to the present moment in time (e.g., “They lived in Green Bay, in the past, before moving to Corvallis.”)
personal/personnel
personal: adjective, pertaining to one individual, private
personnel: noun, the collection of individuals employed in an organization
precede/proceed
precede: verb, to go before, to introduce something preliminary
proceed: verb, to move or go forward, to carry on or continue an action; noun, the total amount derived from a sale or transaction
principal/principle
principal: adjective, highest rank of importance or value; noun, a chief or head or director
principle: noun, fundamental or general law or truth from which other truths are derived
respectfully/respectively
respectfully: adverb, showing politeness or deference
respectively: adverb, in the precise order given, sequentially
then/than
then: adverb, at that time, next in order of time, in that case; noun, that time; adjective, existing or acting (e.g., “the then president”)
than: conjunction, used to show unequal comparison (e.g., “colder than yesterday”), used to show difference or diversity; preposition, to connect two nouns (e.g., “this is better than that”)
who/whom
who: pronoun, which person or people; start of a clause to provide information about a person or people (e.g., “who is the captain?”)
whom: pronoun, the object of a verb or preposition (e.g., “whom did she see?”)
Subject–Verb Agreement
The idea of subject–verb agreement may seem simple at first, but the rules get complicated quickly. The subject of a sentence is typically the source of action in a sentence, and often, the subject appears before the verb. The subject of a sentence can be singular or plural, and thus the verb used has to “agree” with the singularity or plurality of the subject (EzineArticles.com, 2009a). Consider the sentence, “I love you.” “I” is the subject, which is to the left of the verb “love.” The object of the sentence (i.e., the one who receives love) is “you” (EzineArticles.com, 2009b).
The most common subject–verb error we come across in our students’ papers involves a sentence about the data collected for an experiment. “Data” is a plural noun and therefore should always be followed by the verb “are” rather than “is” (or “were” rather than “was” for the past tense).
The data were collected after all 20 participants were seated in the laboratory.
Here are some general tips to help you figure out the basic rules of subject–verb agreement (About.com, n.d.; EzineArticles.com, 2009a), followed by some practice sentences to see if you can identify errors. (Not every sample sentence has an error, however.)
1 Add an “s” to the verb if the subject is a singular noun (a word that names one person, place, or thing).A good research idea takes time to develop.
2 Add an “s” to the verb if the subject is any one of the third-person singular pronouns: “he,” “she,” “it,” “this,” “that.”She writes well and should have her work published.
3 Do not add an “s” to the verb if the subject is the pronoun “I”, “you,” “we,” or “they.”You create a new data file for each online survey.
4 Do not add an “s” to the verb if two subjects are joined by “and.”Utah and Idaho compete for similar grant projects.
5 “Everybody” is singular and uses a singular verb (as do “anybody,” “no one,” “somebody,” “nobody,” “each,” “either,” and “neither”).Everybody is invited to the colloquium on Thursday afternoon.
Active Voice Versus Passive Voice in APA Style
For many native English speakers, subject–verb agreement is only an occasional problem, and if we practice and attend to the rules, these types of errors can be minimized or eliminated. However, depending on your prior writing experience, slipping into passive voice can be natural. Additionally, some students think that passive voice is more “scientific sounding” and makes the text seem more detached and objective, as scientific writing often strives to be. Unfortunately, passive voice makes writing more muddled, often placing the subject of the sentence after the verb. We generally prefer—and understand better—when we follow the subject–verb–object pattern in a sentence. Clarity is key, and writing in active voice typically provides the best shot at clear communications.
What is the difference between “active voice” and “passive voice”? The structure of an active-voice sentence tends to follow the pattern, performer (subject) → verb → receiver (object). The active voice indicates stronger writing because the sentence gives credit to who is performing the action; in other words, the active voice focuses on the performer of the action. Active voice is an indicator of clear and vigorous writing and is preferred in most academic writing (BioMedical Editor, 2009; DailyWritingTips.com, n.d.; Knight & Ingersoll, 1996; PlainLanguage.gov, n.d.). Active voice is typically clearer because the person performing the action is made clear.
Using passive voice (in which the pattern is receiver → verb → performer, with the performer often not named) is sometimes a difficult habit to break for some educators, because the tradition at one time preferred a passive-voice–third-person
