Subject-Verb
Agreement
Requires Balance
Created by Georgia Clarkson Smith
UWF Writing Lab Assistant 2009
Revised June 14, 2010, by
Mamie Hixon, Writing Lab Director
Making Subjects and Verbs
Agree
Tip:
Plural Verbs look singular (they
have NO “s”).
Singular Verbs look plural (they
DO have an “s”).
• Singular Subject = Singular Verb
• Plural Subject = Plural Verb
Balance Your Singulars and
Plurals
The film about the forties is . . .
The films of the forties are . . .
Singular Subject
 verb with an s.
Plural Subject
 verb with No s.
Balanced Sentences
• “This presentation is
boring”…Singular subject = Singular
Verb
• “Perhaps, not all of the presentations
are boring”…
Plural Subject = Plural Verb
•Sounds Easy…
Right?
Well, it gets a little complicated…
Key Rules to
Subject-Verb
Agreement
Look Out For…
1.
2.
3.
4.
“And”
“Or” and “Nor”
“Doesn‘t” and “Don’t”
Prepositional Phrases and
“Disruptive” Word Groups
5. Indefinite Pronouns
6. Singular Nouns That “Look”
Plural
7. Time, weight, distance, and
Money
8. Pairs
9. “Here” and “There”
10. “It”
11. Collective Nouns
“AND”
• When several subjects
are connected by
AND, use a PLURAL
verb.
• The complaints and
questions are
frustrating.
“Or” & “Nor”
• When singular nouns or
pronouns are connected
by OR or NOR, use a
SINGULAR verb.
• Morgan or Jeni is
scheduled to tutor today.
“Either . . . Or”
and
“Neither . . . Nor”
• When singular nouns or
pronouns are connected by
EITHER…OR or
NEITHER…NOR, use a
SINGULAR verb.
• Neither the airline nor the
flight attendant is happy.
The rules get weirder…
• When a compound
subject contains both a
singular AND a plural
noun or pronoun joined
by OR or NOR, the verb
should agree with the
subject that is CLOSER to
the verb.
• The host or her guests are
expected to leave the tip.
• The guests or the host is
expected to leave the tip.
Tip:
Just cover the “confusing”
part of the sentence with
your hand to simplify.
“Doesn’t” & “Don’t”
• Doesn’t = Does not
 this is a singular verb
form.
• Don’t = Do not
 this is a plural verb form.
• The employee does not
(doesn’t) agree with the
decision.
Exceptions to this rule
occur with “I” and
“you.” With these
pronouns, “do,” “do
not,” OR “don’t”
should be used.
• The employees do not (don’t)
agree with the decision.
Tip:
Remember that though your verb phrase is
“do like” OR “does like,” make your subject
agree with the first verb in the phrase: “do”
OR “does.” This helping verb is where we add
or remove the “s” for balance.
So why all the Confusion?...
• Words between the subject and the verb
are what trip up many people.
• Physics, along with calculus and
chemistry, make up the “Monster
Trio” of the sciences.
• “Along with calculus and chemistry”
is a prepositional phrase between the
subject “Physics” and the verb
“make.”
• Ignore the prepositional phrase…
“Physics makes up the ‘Monster
Trio.’”
Disruptive Word Groups
The people who listen to that music are
few.
• The team captain, as well as his players,
is anxious.
• The book, including all the chapters in
the first section, is boring.
• Every resident in three counties was
affected by the storm.
Indefinite Pronouns…
Oh
MY!
Any
No
body
one
thing
One
Each
Some
body
one
body
thing
body
one
thing
Every
one
thing
Either
Neither
• Each of these students is
receiving a trophy.
• Everybody loves a winner.
• Neither of the teams has ever
won a championship game.
• Either answer is correct.
• Someone appreciates your
efforts.
Tip:
All of these indefinite pronouns are in fact
referring to a SINGLE (or potentially single) body
or item. This is why they require a singular verb.
• Nouns like civics, economics, AIDS,
and news require singular verbs
though the nouns themselves end in
“s” and look plural.
Tip:
These words imply a unified
group, body or collection of
information or study…this is
why they are singular
• The news is on at six.
• Home economics involves more
than sewing and cooking.
• AIDS is an epidemic.
DOLLARS $$$
• When referring to an amount of
money, use a singular verb.
• When referring to physical dollars
themselves, use a plural verb.
• One hundred dollars is, unfortunately,
not a lot of money.
• Dollars are the national currency.
Time, Distance & Weight.
-Twenty miles is quite a distance to run
daily.
-Kilometers are a part of the metric system.
-Five hundred pounds is heavy.
-Pounds are an accurate measurement of
weight.
Things With 2 Parts
• Like scissors, pants, eye glasses,
tweezers…
• Plural Verbs.
• The safety scissors are ironically razor
sharp.
• Her pants are outrageously tight.
“Here” & “There”
• There’s several brush fires in
California.
• There are several brush fires in
California.
• Here’s my reasons for quitting.
• Here are my reasons for quitting.
Neither “there” nor “here” can serve as the
subject of a sentence. When these words open a
sentence, look for the subject to follow the verb.
Collective Nouns
• Nouns that include or imply more
than one person but act as a unified
group.
• group, team, class, family,
committee, herd, jury, faculty
• If the persons in this collective noun
are working together, or are being
referred to as a whole, they take a
singular verb.
• The team runs during practice.
• My family goes to church.
• Collective nouns call for plural verbs
when the group members are not
acting together, or when you are
referring to individual effort within
the group.
• The jury has reached a verdict.
• The jury have left the courthouse in separate cars.
• The crew is making its plans.
• The crew are preparing the ship.
(This sentence refers to the individual efforts of each member)
Gerunds as Subjects
• Regretting your mistakes is often
useless.
• Finding honest people seems difficult.
• Ignore the object of the gerund
and make your verb agree with
the singular gerunds
“regretting” and “finding.”
Inclusion/Exclusion Rule
• EXCLUSION – use a singular verb:
He is the only one of his classmates
who drinks or smokes.
• INCLUSION – use a plural verb:
He is one of the millions
of Americans who drink.
A number of/A percentage of
• Subjects preceded by “a number of” or
“a percentage of” always require a
plural verb.
• A number of Florida vacationers are
young people.
• However, a large percentage of the
vacationers are senior citizens.
The number of/The percentage of
• Subjects preceded by “the number of” or
“the percentage of” always require a
singular verb.
• The percentage of female college students
has exceeded the percentage of male
college students since the late 1970s.
• However, the number of women entering
higher education is still rising.
Foreign Subjects
SINGULAR
• Criterion
• Medium
• Datum
Plural
• Criteria
• Media • The media are not invited.
• No new data are available.
• Data