UWF Writing Lab Rules of
Thumb for SUBJECT/VERB
AGREEMENT
from
Real Good Grammar, Too
by Mamie Webb Hixon
Created by April Turner Revised
by Savanna Richter (9/29/09)
Revised by Mamie Webb Hixon
June 26, 2010
1
”Grammar operates on the principle that if it
sounds right, it is probably wrong.”
-Author Unknown
• When Jill gets a brilliant idea, she always say something
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
worth hearing.
Do either of you have a pencil?
He is one of the millions of Americans who smokes.
Every man, woman, and child on the cruise ship were
issued a life jacket.
The media is not invited to the Senator’s press
conference.
Each of the applicants have already been notified.
The faculty is still debating the issue among themselves.
Either the class officers or the faculty advisor make the
final decision.
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Rule 1
• Use a verb ending in –s if your subject is a he,
she, or it.
• Singular subjects include, but are not limited to,
these:
– Singular nouns:
• A list of phone numbers is available.
• A major problem is smokers.
– Singular indefinite pronouns such as each, one, either,
neither, and pronouns ending with -one, -body, and
-thing:
• Each of us needs a key.
– Subjects preceded by each, every, or many a:
• Every Tom, Dick, and Harriet has an opinion.
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Singular Subjects, cont.
– Subjects preceded by the number of:
• The number of students attending college is very
high.
– Titles/names of companies, books, plays,
movies, etc.:
• The Centers for Disease Control is in Atlanta, Georgia.
– Gerunds:
• Recycling telephone directories helps save landfill
space each year.
– Relative pronouns referring to singular
antecedents:
• Ora is the only one in the group who smokes.
– Subjects joined by or, nor, either…or, or
neither…nor:
• Either the class officers or the faculty advisor makes
the final decision.
4
Singular Subjects, cont.
Some words ending in –ics
Acoustics requires an understanding of mathematics.
Certain words borrowed from Greek and Latin
criterion
medium
phenomenon
The main criterion for passing this course is attendance.
Fractions are affected by the prepositional phrase: if
the object of the prepositional phrase is singular,
then the fraction is considered singular; if the
object is plural, the fraction is plural.
One half of the computers are not working.
One half of the paper is well written.
5
Singular Subjects, cont.
• Some nouns ending in –s: news, measles,
mumps, hiccoughs, etc.
Measles, best known for its skin rash, is a very rare
contagious disease that usually affects children.
AIDS causes severe damage to the immune system.
 Terms of quantity
The Democratic majority favors the bill.
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Singular Subjects, cont.
In most cases, the easiest and most effective
method for determining the subject and its
corresponding verb is to ignore intervening
words.
The manager, along with her co-workers, usually
submits her timesheet on time.
Samantha, together with her sorority sisters, raises
funds for charitable events.
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Singular Indefinite Pronouns
each
nobody
something
anybody
no one
somebody
one
everybody
someone
neither
anyone
anything
either
nothing
everyone
everything
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Examples
• Two of my favorite sitcoms are Everybody
Loves Raymond and Everybody Hates
Chris.
• Neither of the passengers was wearing a
seatbelt.
• Each of the restaurants on the boardwalk
serves breakfast.
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Collective Nouns
• Singular when referring to the group as a
unit
• jury
• Choir
• Crew
team
band
cast
committee
faculty
family
The jury has made its decision.
The faculty selects the students who will be
recognized at the Honors Convocation.
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Rule 2
• Use a verb that does not end in –s if your
subject is a they.
• Plural subjects include, but are not limited to, these:
– Subjects joined by or, nor, either . . . or, or
neither . . . nor:
• Either the faculty advisor or the class
officers make the final decision.
– Plural indefinite pronouns: several, few, both,
many
• Both of us have a key.
11
Plural Subjects, cont.
– Plural nouns ending in -s: clothes, sunglasses,
scissors, manners, jeans, jalousies, tights,
Venetian blinds
• The scissors are lying on the desk.
– Subjects preceded by a number of:
• A number of students are majoring in law.
– Relative pronouns referring to plural
antecedents:
• He is one of the millions of people who smoke.
12
Plural Subjects, cont.
Subjects joined by “and” and “both . . . and”
Beach residents and mobile home residents worry about thunderstorms
and greatly fear tornadoes and hurricanes.
Both a teller and a guard operate the drive-in window at the bank.
Some words ending in –ics
Gloria’s politics are left of the center.
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Collective Nouns as Plural
• Collective Nouns
The family have set separate vacation
itineraries.
 Terms of quantity
The majority of Republicans are opposed to
the Health Care Reform Act.
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Rules Continued
• Ignore prepositional phrases:
– A list of phone numbers is available.
• Ignore there and here at the beginning of a
sentence:
– There are three books on the censored list.
• Ignore appositives – renaming pronouns or
nouns:
– They each have a ticket.
• Ignore words synonymous with the subject:
– Clothes are her passion. Her passion is clothes.
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Rules Continued
• Some subjects may be singular or plural depending on
the meaning of the subject.
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Some of the food is cold.
Some of the vegetables are cold.
The cast was congratulated.
The cast were practicing their lines.
Fifteen minutes is a long time.
Fifteen minutes remain.
Statistics is a difficult course.
Divorce statistics are alarmingly high.
Statistics show that college students’ writing skills have
declined.
– Statistics covers a lot of information about qualitative and
quantitative analyses.
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REVIEW
• Unauthorized reproduction or distribution
of copyrighted material is prohibited.
• Unauthorized reproduction and
distribution of copyrighted material are
prohibited.
• Unauthorized reproduction, as well as
distribution of copyrighted material, is
prohibited.
17
CORRECTIONS for Sentences in
Slide #1
• When Jill gets a brilliant idea, she always says something
•
•
•
•
•
•
worth hearing.
Does either of you have a pencil?
He is one of the millions of Americans who smoke.
Every man, woman, and child on the cruise ship was
issued a life jacket.
The media are not invited to the Senator’s press
conference.
Each of the applicants has already been notified.
The faculty are still debating the issue among
themselves.
18
Let’s Practice!!!
• The sheriff, along with two of her deputies,
•
•
•
(were, was) checking licenses at the North Road
exit.
• WAS
Some of the lots in our subdivision (was, were)
not for sale.
• WERE
Here (is, are) the transistors and diodes that you
purchased for your repair shop.
• ARE
Genetics (is, are) very difficult for beginning
students to understand.
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• IS
More Practice!!!
• The number of girls in my football club (was,
were) surprising.
• WAS
• A number of the swimmers (is, are) going to the
state competition.
• ARE
• There (is, are) some error messages showing up
in my program.
• ARE
• Neither Randi nor Pat (type, types) more than
fifty words per minute.
• TYPES
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