SOMETHING | NOBODY + singular verb – English Grammar Profiler

Here’s an example of indefinite pronouns as subjects in two clauses with singular verbs:

Nobody wants to help when something goes wrong.

Point 39 in the category of PRONOUNS/indefinite is defined as:

increasing range of indefinite pronouns (‘something’, ‘nobody’) as subjects, with a singular verb.

*Remember the inflectional -s at the end of a verb indicates that the verb is the third person singular.  However, a much rarer structure using the third person imperative is possible:

Nobody say anything.  (Grammarly is wrong!) 

An iWeb search for:

something|nobody _VVZ

1 NOBODY WANTS 19942 2 NOBODY KNOWS 18838

3 SOMETHING GOES 18724

4 SOMETHING HAPPENS 15446

That’s because if something happens just once or twice,

that’s really not enough to find any patterns.

5 NOBODY LIKES 8255 6 SOMETHING NEEDS 6347

7 NOBODY CARES 5885

8 SOMETHING TELLS 5387 9 NOBODY SEEMS 4570 10 SOMETHING COMES 3651 11 NOBODY GETS 2989 12 SOMETHING SEEMS 2961 13 SOMETHING WORKS 2529 14 SOMETHING CHANGES 2394 15 NOBODY NEEDS 1941 16 SOMETHING GETS 1896 17 SOMETHING BREAKS 1859 18 SOMETHING LOOKS 1651 19 NOBODY GIVES 1322 20 NOBODY THINKS 1270 21 SOMETHING MAKES 1205 22 NOBODY SAYS 1157 23 SOMETHING FEELS 1156 24 NOBODY BELIEVES 1155 25 NOBODY USES 1147 26 NOBODY UNDERSTANDS 1086 27 NOBODY EXPECTS 1031 28 NOBODY TALKS 1024 29 NOBODY GOES 1012 30 NOBODY MAKES 956 31 SOMETHING SOUNDS 914 32 NOBODY SEES 876 33 NOBODY TAKES 805 34 NOBODY COMES 766 35 SOMETHING MEANS 741 36 NOBODY NOTICES 736 37 NOBODY TELLS 711 38 SOMETHING BECOMES 685 39 NOBODY READS 660 40 NOBODY PAYS 634 41 NOBODY DESERVES 611 42 NOBODY WINS 599 43 SOMETHING APPEARS 595 44 NOBODY REMEMBERS 594 45 SOMETHING CATCHES 591 46 NOBODY LOVES 585 47 NOBODY BUYS 576 48 SOMETHING EXISTS 554 49 SOMETHING SMELLS 520 50 SOMETHING TAKES 503 51 SOMETHING FAILS 491 52 NOBODY LOOKS 456 53 SOMETHING OCCURS 439 54 NOBODY PUTS 435 55 NOBODY FEELS 428 56 SOMETHING STARTS 428 57 NOBODY ASKS 408 58 SOMETHING FALLS 404 59 NOBODY CALLS 392 60 NOBODY LIVES 389 61 SOMETHING MOVES 388

62 NOBODY BOTHERS 384

63 NOBODY ENJOYS 383 64 NOBODY LISTENS 377 65 SOMETHING POPS 370 66 NOBODY PLAYS 360 67 NOBODY DIES 346 68 NOBODY OWNS 329 69 SOMETHING COSTS 325 70 SOMETHING CAUSES 319 71 SOMETHING HITS 318 72 NOBODY SPEAKS 296 73 SOMETHING STOPS 295 74 NOBODY COMPLAINS 288 75 SOMETHING GIVES 288 76 SOMETHING TURNS 286 77 SOMETHING STICKS 280 78 SOMETHING TRIGGERS 270 79 SOMETHING HURTS 266 80 NOBODY WORKS 261 81 NOBODY DOUBTS 258 82 NOBODY ANSWERS 237 83 NOBODY BEATS 236 84 SOMETHING REQUIRES 230 85 SOMETHING KEEPS 217 86 NOBODY ELSES 213 87 NOBODY LEAVES 196 88 NOBODY DENIES 194 89 NOBODY MENTIONS 191 90 SOMETHING STINKS 190 91 NOBODY WRITES 189 92 NOBODY QUESTIONS 188 93 NOBODY DARES 187 94 SOMETHING SHOWS 187 95 NOBODY MINDS 186

96 SOMETHING BOTHERS 184

97 SOMETHING FANS 183 98 NOBODY FORCES 182 99 NOBODY HEARS 181

100 NOBODY OWES 180

A2:
becomes, believes, bothers, breaks, calls, cares, costs, fails, falls, fans, happens, hurts, keeps, means, minds, moves, nobody, notices, pops, sounds, turns, wins

B1:
appears, beats, complains, deserves, doubts, exists, expects, hits, mentions, owes, owns, requires, seems, smells, sticks

EXPERT EXAMPLE:

When people say they don’t know why something is right or wrong,

but they just know it’s right or wrong, they’re doing grammar right.

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