Agreement (Again!)--Today's "Gotcha" Grammar Glitch

Here we go with agreement again:

There is a longstanding rule in English grammar: SUBJECT MUST AGREE WITH VERB. Or, stated another way, IF THE SUBJECT IS SINGULAR, THE VERB SHOULD BE SINGULAR. IF THE SUBJECT IS PLURAL, THE VERB SHOULD BE PLURAL.

The following sentence appeared in an article on November 13 about school pride at the University of Georgia:

Diehard college football fans may soon have the option of meeting the hereafter in school-themed caskets if members of the Board of Regents gives its blessing.

Whew! "Members" is plural. "Board of Regents" is singular. What to do? There are two acceptable options. The sentence could be corrected in one of these two ways:

Diehard college football fans may soon have the option of meeting the hereafter in school-themed caskets if members of the Board of Regents give their blessing.

Diehard college football fans may soon have the option of meeting the hereafter in school-themed caskets if the Board of Regents gives its blessing.

Members can give their blessing, or the Board of Regents can give its blessing.

I hope this example helps you keep agreement straight. Readers will have to make their own decisions on the casket issue. Any graduate who wishes to be buried in a school-themed casket should check with his or her alma mater to see if the practice is legal.