 Although you are probably already familiar with basic
subject-verb agreement, this lesson begins with a
quick review of basic agreement rules.
 In the present tense, nouns and verbs form plurals in
opposite ways: nouns ADD an s to the singular form;
verbs REMOVE the s from the singular form.
 Examples:
 Singular: The dog chases the cat.
 Plural: The dogs chase the cat.
 These agreement rules do not apply to verbs used in
the simple past tense without any helping verbs.
 Examples:
The girl talked to me.
Singular
The girls talked to me.
plural
continued
The agreement rules do, however, apply to the following
helping verbs when they are used with a main verb: is-are,
was-were, has-have, does-do.

example:
 The girl has talked to me.
 Singular
 The girls have talked to me.
 Plural
 The girl has been talking to me.
 The girls have been talking to me.

 The agreement rules do not apply to has-have when
used as the SECOND helping verb in a pair.
 Example
 Second helping verb in pair:
 The girl could have talked to me.
 The girls could have talked to me.
 They do NOT apply to any other helping verbs, such as
can, could, shall, should, may, might, will, would, must.
 Example
 The girl could talk to me.
 The girls could talk to me.
 The subject-verb agreement rules apply to all personal
pronouns except I and you, which, although
SINGULAR, require PLURAL forms of verbs.
 Example
 He talks to the girl. (sing. sing.)
 I talk to the girl.(sing. pl)
 We talk to the girl.(pl. pl)
 John, you talk to the girl. (sing. pl)
 1. At Yellowstone Park grizzly bears (doesn’t, don’t)
have names; they have numbers.
 2.In the meeting between human and bear, a wild-card
factor (throws, throw) all calculations and studies to
the wind.
 3.The Yellowstone authorities should (has, have) kept
thorough records on each bear.
 4.Behind an experimental fenced yard protecting
campers in Glacier National Park, six visitors has been
fatally mauled by grizzlies in the past 19 years.
5. Meandering downriver toward a deer, three grizzly
cubs comes within 15 yards of it.
6.Female grizzlies mates every third year in summer,
without their fertilized eggs implanting in the womb
until fall.
7.To a grizzly almost anything are food except rocks.
8. Lingering snow patches often become playgrounds for
grizzlies observed making snowballs.
 Compound Subject
 The word “compound” means “made up of two or
more parts.” Two or more words can be compounded
or linked by joining them with any of three word
 and, or, and nor
 apples and oranges
 dog, cat, or bird
 Compound nouns can function as a “compound
subject.” In some instances, a compound subject poses
special problems for the subject-verb agreement rule
(+s, -s).
 Example
 The ranger sees the bear.
 The camper sees the bear.
 This two sentences can become
Compound subject
 The ranger and the camper see the bear.
 SUBJECT-VERB RULE #1 – Two or more singular (or
plural) subjects joined by and act as a plural
compound subject and take a plural verb (singular +
singular = plural).
 You can check the verb by substituting the pronoun
they for the compound subject.
 They see the bear.
 Or and nor as joiners word somewhat differently from
and. While the word and seems to ADD things together,
or and nor do not. They suggest a CHOICE.
 Look at this sentence:
 The ranger or the camper sees the bear.
 This sentence makes use of a compound subject (two
subject nouns joined together by or). Each part of the
compound subject (ranger, camper) is singular. Even
though both words function together as subject (joined by
or), the subject still remains SINGULAR (ranger or
camper) since a CHOICE is implied.
 This compound subject, therefore, requires a singular
verb to agree with it.
 What if one part of the compound subject is singular and
the other part is plural?
 If the individual parts of the compound subject are joined
by and, always use a plural verb.
 Example
 The rangers and the camper see the bear.
 The camper and the rangers see the bear.
 If the individual parts of the compound subject are joined
by or or nor, use the verb form (singular or plural) which
will agree with the subject closer to the verb.
Continued
 The ranger or the campers see the bear.
 The campers or the ranger sees the bear.
 Practice
Neither threats nor hostile action (scares, scare) the
enemy.
2. The actors and the director (understands,
understand) the lighting problems.
3. The surfer or the swimmers (is, are) responsible for
the littered beach.
1.
4. A good diet and a realistic exercise plan (combines,
combine) to help one lose weight.
5. A sweet potato and some carrots provides Vitamin A,
important for healthy eyes.
6. Neither bleach nor dyes really helps unhealthy hair
look better.
7. Ripe tomatoes, leafy Brussels sprouts, and a handy
orange is rich in Vitamin C.
8. Unfortunately for the sedentary, neither diet nor
vitamins alone provide sufficient fuel for good health.