Subject Verb Agreement
Nouns name people, places and things.
Pronouns replace nouns.
Agreement: Singular nouns should have singular
pronouns and singular subjects should have
singular verbs. Likewise, plural nouns need
plural pronouns and plural subjects need plural
verbs.
• The Acme Chemical Corp. announced that it
lost more than $2 million last year. or
• Acme Chemical Corp. officials announced that
their company lost more than $2 million last
year. (Make the noun plural to agree with
plural pronoun)
Two or more nouns can be the subject of a
sentence. In those cases, we use plural verbs to
agree with the subject.
• –The five Republicans and Johnson have
objected.
BUT ….
When the parts of a compound subject are
joined by or, but, either ... or, neither ... nor, not
only ... but, also the verb must agree with the
subject nearest to the verb.
• Neither the Oregon players nor the coach was
overconfident.
• Neither the Oregon coach nor the players
were intimidated by Arizona.
Collective nouns, such as jury, group,
committee, team, are singular even though they
represent lots of people.
• The jury announced its verdict.
• Each is singular, in most cases.
• None usually means no single one. When used
in this sense, it always takes singular verbs and
pronouns.
• When used as subject or adjective, one is
always singular.
BUT ….
When each comes after a plural subject, it
doesn’t govern the verb.
Jim, Bob and Frank each want a new house.
BUT …. Only one vs. one
There is a difference:
• *He is the only one of the teachers who cares.
• *He is one of the teachers who care.
• It’s all about who the “who” refers to
Words between subjects and verbs (non
essential phrases or modifying phrases) usually
make no difference, with a few exceptions.
• Johnson, along with five Republicans, has
objected.
• The discovery of three more victims has
stunned police
BUT!!!! ….
The exceptions: Whether percentages and
fractions are singular or plural depends on the
words that follow them. If the word after of is
plural, the verb is plural, and vice versa.
• Eight percent of the students have the flu.
• A quarter of the faculty favors a strike.
More exceptions
Number is singular when used with “the,” but
plural with the article “a.”
• A number of people have been killed by the
storm.
• The number of deaths has been difficult to
determine.
Still more …
Majority, plural and minority can be singular or
plural. When used alone they are singular.
• The majority has decided not to announce its
decision
Most of the time, these words are plural when
they are followed by a prepositional phrase.
• The majority of houses were destroyed by the
storm.
Logical agreement
What’s wrong here?
• Larry Bird gave the children an autographed
picture of himself.
• The deputy admitted to the sheriff that he had
crashed his car.
Finally, Where
Where refers to a place
• He wants to live in Boulder, where he can go
skiing regularly.
• The company has a rule in place where
employees can’t wear jeans to work.