Honors 9th Literature
Daily Grammar / PSAT Practice # 19
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
 A singular subject must have a singular verb.
 A plural subject must have a plural verb.
Hint: A singular subject does not end in s; a singular verb does end in s. (An actor performs alone.)
A plural subject ends in s; a plural verb does not end in s. (Actors perform daily.)
Rules
Compound Subjects
 Compound subjects joined by and are generally plural and
need a plural verb; whereas, compound subjects acting as a
single unit require singular verbs.
 Two or more singular subjects joined by or or nor require a
singular verb.
 Two or more plural subjects joined by or or nor require a
plural verb.
 If singular subjects are joined by or or nor to plural subjects,
the subject closest to the verb determines agreement.
Confusing Subjects
 Sometimes a subject can follow a verb or be separated from
it. Verbs must agree with subjects even when words come
between them.
 Some subjects (such as length or distance) are usually
singular even though they may sound plural.
Collective Nouns
 Collective nouns require a singular verb when the group
named acts as a single unit.
 Collective nouns need a plural verb when the group acts as
individuals.
Indefinite Pronouns
 Indefinite pronouns such as each, anyone, and everybody are
always singular.
 Both, many, few, and several are always plural.
 All, any, some, enough, most, and none can be singular or
plural depending on the words to which they refer.
Amounts
 Percentages or fractions are singular when they act as a unit
and plural when they act as many parts.
Examples
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Cowboys and miners sit side-by-side at the performances.
Fish and chips is served in the hotel restaurant.
Either Hamlet or Macbeth is being performed tonight.
Tents or hotel hallways take the place of theaters from time
to time.
Neither drought not storms keep audiences from the
performances.
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There is a new name for Ralston, New Mexico.
The reviews of the play are positive.
Ten miles is not far to travel to see a play.
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The cast appreciates the gold dust tossed onto the stage.
Statistics is not a required course for theater majors.
The audience arrive at the theater at different times.
These statistics show that people prefer musicals to dramas.
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Everybody in Shakespearean plays finds relief from hard
work in the mines.
Several of those towns name streets after actors.
Most of the town shows up each night
Most of the towns welcome the performers.
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Two-thirds of the seats are in the mezzanine.
Try it: Choose the verb that agrees with the subject
1. An opera house, like those in Tombstone, Leadville, and other towns, still (stand, stands) today.
2. Pool tables or even tree stumps (make, makes) serviceable stages.
3. Several (play, plays) a role in determining where to stage a play.
4. (Do, Does) the arrival of the troupe cause excitement in the town?
5. Five years (is, are) a long time to be on the road.
Identify the sentence error. If an underlined word or phrase contains a grammatical error, choose the part that must be
changed to correct the sentence.
All of the members of the cast has to put on their own costumes.
Improve the sentence. Select the answer choice that best expresses the meaning of the underlined portion of the original
sentence.
The town council have decided to build a school house in town.
a. The town council have decided to build a school house in town.
b. The town council has decided to build a school house in town.
c. The town council have not decided to build a school house in town.
d. The town councils has decided to build a school house in town.
e. The town’s council have decided to build a school house in town.
Choose the correct verb:
Those (is, are) the other childrens’ toys but yours (is, are) in your room.
Identify parts of speech: noun, pronoun (type and case), verb (type and tense), adverb, adjective, preposition,
conjunction (type), gerund, participle, infinitive, article
those are the other childrens
toys but yours are in your room
Identify sentence parts: subject, verb (transitive or intransitive), direct object, indirect object, predicate
nominative, predicate adjective, appositive or appositive phrase, prepositional phrase (adjective or adverb), gerund
phrase, infinitive phrase, participial phrase, object of preposition, object of infinitive, object of gerund, object of
participle, objective complement, subject of infinitive
those are the other childrens
toys but yours are in your room
Identify clauses and sentence type: independent, adverb, dependent, adjective dependent, noun dependent;
simple, compound, complex, compound complex
those are the other childrens
toys but yours are in your room
Add punctuation and capitalization: end punctuation, commas, semicolons, apostrophes, underlining, quotation
marks
those are the other childrens
toys but yours are in your room
Make a practice sentence that mimics this week’s sentence. Be sure to use the same parts of speech and
parts of the sentence.