(Reversed) Mismatch Asymmetry in English Subject-Verb Agreement

Abstract

This paper investigates, in English, the widely reported mismatch asymmetry, or plural attraction in the production of subject-verb agreement and the relatively less observed reversed mismatch asymmetry, or singular attraction in comprehension. Through a self-paced reading experiment, a read-aloud production task and a pen-and-paper questionnaire, we examined whether singular attraction is a genuine effect in comprehension or it could be due to the experimental materials in the few studies that reported it. The results support the view that singular attraction in comprehension is genuine, at least for structures that include three nouns in the subject, and plural attraction extends to sentences with complex subjects that include three nouns when the task is not too demanding. The (reversed) mismatch asymmetry in subject-verb agreement is attributed to the differential mechanisms involved in sentence comprehension and production.