Correct Agreement of Subject and Verb
Verbal Skills
Ms. B.
A verb must agree with its subject in number.
A word that refers to one person or thing is singular in number.
The man runs across the street. (Man is singular)
*Careful—Runs is the singular form. Don’t let the “s” throw you. Test
the verb
with the pronoun “he” if you are unsure. If the verb works with he, the
verb is singular. If the verb works with they, the verb is plural.
A word that refers to more than one person or thing is plural in number.
The men drive to south Georgia to hunt every Saturday.
REMINDER * REMINDER * REMINDER * REMINDER * REMINDER
The following indefinite pronouns are singular: each, either, neither, one,
everyone, every one, no one, one, someone, anyone, nobody, anybody,
somebody, everybody, something, nothing, anything, everything, much
 Neither parent is there.
 Neither is there.
 Everyone on both teams has to follow the rules.
 Each of the boys does his own dishes.
The following pronouns are plural: both, few, many, several, others
 Both of the cars start readily in cold weather.
 Few of the members were at the meeting.
 Others besides Ann admire Rita’s courage.
The pronouns some, any, all, more, most and none may be either singular or
plural, depending on the meaning of the sentence.
 Some of the money was saved.
 Some of the tickets were sold.
 Most of the country is the in the temperature zone.
 Most of the countries are in the Temperate Zone.
 All of the food tastes delicious.
 All of the meals taste delicious.
Some Rules to live by when making subjects and verbs agree
1. The number of the subject is not changed by a phrase or clause following
the subject.

High levels of air pollution damage the respiratory tract.

The slaughter of pandas for their pelts has caused the panda population to
decline.

Our English class, accompanied by Mrs. Strauss, attends several plays each
year.

All English classes, other than the freshman class, attend Romeo and Juliet
every
year.
Toast, as well as a variety of pastries, was on the breakfast menu.

*Phrases beginning with the prepositions such as in addition to, as well as,
accompanied by, together with, and along with do not make a singular subject
plural.
2. Compound subjects joined by and nearly always take a plural verb.
 A hot dog and mustard seem to belong together.
 Aries and Cancer are signs of the zodiac.
*When the parts of a compound subject are considered as a unit or when they
refer to the same thing, use a singular verb.
 Bread and butter comes with the meal.
 Fruit and cheese is my favorite dessert.
 Joe’s brother and best friend left for college yesterday.
3.


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Singular subjects joined by or or nor take a singular verb.
Has your mother or your father given permission to use the car?
Neither snow nor ice keeps the mail carrier away.
Either Alice or Felicia plans to attend the performance.
4. With compound subjects joined by or or nor, make the verb agree with
the part
of the subject nearer the verb.
 Neither the students nor their teacher regrets the approach of summer.
 Jill’s natural ability and her desire to help others have led her to a career in the
ministry.
5. Collective nouns may be either singular or plural. If the collective noun
suggests members of a group acting as individuals, use a plural verb.
Examples: jury, committee, club, audience, crowd, class, troop, family, couple
In American English, collective nouns are usually treated as singular.




The football team practices everyday.
The football team buy their own uniforms.
The audience was one of the most appreciative ever.
The committee were selling tickets to the barbecue.
Common Collective Nouns
Army
herd
Audience
jury
Class
orchestra
Club
public
Committee
swarm
Crowd
team
Flock
troop
Group
6. Expressions stating amount (time, money, measurement, weight, volume,
fractions) are usually singular when the amount is considered as a unit.
 Four score and seven years equals eighty-seven years.
 Twenty-three inches is a tiny waist measurement.
*When the amount is considered as a number of separate units, use a plural.
 The last six miles were the most difficult.
 There are thirteen days left in the month.
7. When the subject follows the verb, as in questions and sentences
beginning with there and here, be careful to determine the subject and make
sure that the verb agrees with it.
 Here are two letters for you.
 Where are the hammer and nails?
 Of particular concern are penicillin and tetracycline, antibiotics used to make
animals more resistant to disease.
8. Relative pronouns (who, which, that) refer to their antecedents (the nouns
or pronouns to which they refer.
 Pick a stock that pays good dividends.
Some constructions demand that you consider the logic of the sentence in order to
determine the number of the relative pronoun.
 Our ability to use language is one of the things that set us apart from animals.
*The antecedent of “that” is things, not one. Several things set us apart from
animals.
 SEACON is the only one of our war games that emphasizes scientific and
technical issues.
*When the word “only” comes before “one,” you are safe in assuming that one is
the antecedent of the relative pronoun.
9. A few nouns, such as athletics, statistics, mumps, measles, civics,
economics, mathematics, physics and news, although seemingly plural in
form, take a singular verb.
 The mumps usually lasts three days.
 Nuclear physics is a controversial branch of science.
 The news was good.
10. The title of a book or the name of an organization or country, even when
plural in form, usually takes a singular verb.
 Lillies of the Field is on the late show tonight.
 Friends of the Earth has held a membership drive.
11. Every or many a before a subject is followed by a singular verb.
 Many a person chooses security over adventure.
 Every car and truck was stopped at the roadblock.
*Some names of organizations (Veterans of Foreign Wars, New York Yankees,
Chicago Bear, etc.) customarily take a plural verb when you are thinking of the
members and a singular verb when you mean the organization)
 The Veterans of Foreign Wars attend this meeting
 The Veterans of Foreign Wars is a large organization.
12. When the subject and the predicate nominative are different in number,
the verb agrees with the subject, not with the predicate nominative.
The last act featured was the singers and dancers.
Better—The singers and dancers were the last act featured.
Whenever possible, avoid writing sentences in which the subject and predicate
nominative are different in number.
13. The word number, when followed by the word of, is singular when
preceded by the; it is plural when preceded by a.
 The number of volunteers is surprising.
 A number of volunteers are signing up right now.