Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject-Verb Agreement
Agreement
Present tense verbs in English should agree with the subject of the sentence
Singular subjects use singular verbs
–Jack robs liquor stores (s on the verb)
Plural subjects use plural verbs
–Bonnie and Clyde rob banks (no s on the verb)
Most native speaker do this instinctively
More complex problems require you to learn a few rules
Identify the Subject
Ignore words that come between the subject and the verb
Reduce sentences to their simplest form
–A good set of skis costs / cost hundreds of dollars
–A good set of skis costs / cost hundreds of dollars
–A good set of skis costs hundreds of dollars
–My boss, as well as her staff, leave / leaves early every Friday
–My boss, as well as her staff, leave / leaves early every Friday
–My boss, as well as her staff, leaves early every Friday
Compound Subjects using “And”
Most compound subjects joined by “and” are plural
–Bert and Ernie is / are special friends
–Bert and Ernie is / are special friends (plural verb)
Exception: If the words joined by “and” refer to a single thing, the subject is also singular
–War and Peace is a very thick book (singular)
–My friend and co-worker is waiting to see you (singular)
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Subject-Verb Agreement
Compound Subjects using “Or”
the subject is joined with “or” or “nor” the verb agrees with the words
closest to the verb
When
–Neither the instructor nor the students has / have any control over the number of 8 o’clock
classes
–Neither the instructor nor the students has / have any control over the number of 8 o’clock
classes (plural verb)
–Either two credit cards or a membership is / are needed before you can rent movies
–Either two credit cards or a membership is / are needed before you can rent movies
(singular verb)
–Note: While the above example is correct, it is usually better to place the plural word closer to the
verb
–Either a membership or two credit cards are needed before you can rent movies (plural
verb)
Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns are singular
–every, everyone, everybody, each, neither, either, none, one, no one
–Every student has / have a unique student number
–Every student has / have a unique student number
–None of the us admit / admits to sending the e-mail message
–None of the us admit / admits to sending the e-mail message
Ignore prepositional phrases coming between the subject and the verb
–Each of the five departments is / are hiring new instructors
–Each of the five departments is / are hiring new instructors
Collective Nouns
Words such as jury, committee, or herd will be singular when everyone in the group is acting
together
–The jury is / are deciding the fate of the accused
–The jury is / are deciding the fate of the accused
Collective nouns will be plural when the members of the group are not acting together
– The jury is / are undecided on the guilt of the accused
–The jury is / are undecided on the guilt of the accused
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Subject-Verb Agreement
Here, There, and It
When the sentence begins with Here or There, the subject follows the verb and controls
whether the verb is plural
–Here are my reasons for quitting (plural)
–There is no need to pay me next week (singular)
It
is always singular
–It was the long hours that bothered me (singular)
Words Ending in S
Words such as economics, AIDS, physics and news are singular
–Economics is fun and exciting
–The news is usually broadcast live
Words such as scissors, eyeglasses and pants that name things with two parts are plural
–My glasses were broken when I did a face plant
Money and Measurement
Units of time, money, distance, and weight use singular verbs
–Twenty kilometres is a long distance to skate to work each day
–Eight dollars an hour is a poor rate
The expression the number is singular
–The number of failures is decreasing
The expression a number is plural
– A number of people are leaving
Titles
The title of a movie, book or magazine requires a singular verb
Lost Horizons is a book about a utopia
–The Simpsons is my favourite TV show
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