particularly if phrases or clauses in a di erent number or person come between the subject and verb. WRONG The lion, having eaten many chimpanzees, which are common on the plains of the area and often live in enormous troops in the trees, are hungry There is only one lion, and it is hungry. Positioning of verbs near their subjects and objects helps keep sentences clear and makes it easier to be sure subjects and verbs agree.
F
RAGMENTS
Large, involved collections of words can contain several verbs, subjects, objects, and soon but still not be sentences at all. If the main subject has no verb (or vice versa),
even the longest collection of words remains an incomprehensible fragment: The tiger, having eaten many chimpanzees, which are common on the plains of the area and often live in enormous troops in the trees, deciduous and palmlike depending on the microclimate, which can vary enormously and cause severe uctuations in the tiger population The example is not a sentence, despite all the verbs, subjects, and soon, and even in spite of the double appearance of the tiger. The rst tiger does nothing, so there is no sentence here.
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