SUBJECT-VERB

AGREEMENT

NEC FACET Center

Remember this rule,

The subject and verb should always agree

Im Sally
Subject.

We
ALWAY
S agree

Im Vernon Verb.

And these 6 sub-rules!

1. If a subject ends in an s, the verb will not.

If a subject does not end in an s, the verb will.
2. Even when words come in between the subject and verb, they
should
both agree.
3. When joining two or more subjects with and, use a plural verb.
4. When joining two or more subjects with neither/nor, either/or,
or,
and nor, use a verb that agrees with the nearer or nearest
subject.
5. Collective nouns (a group of individuals or things) use either
singular
or plural verbs depending upon the context.
6. Even if a sentence is inverted, the subject should agree with the
verb.

Definitions

Subject The

word/s that name the topic of the sentence

The word/s that the sentence is about

Verb The

word that states the action or state of the

subject

Subject-Verb Agreement The

appropriate pairing of subject and verb based

on whether the subject and verb are plural or
singular and whether the person is first, second,
or third.

How to check S-V agreement

1.

2.

3.

4.

Identify the verb (action or state of being

word)
Identify the subject (who or what the
sentence is about)
Check whether the subject is plural or
singular or special. Then check whether is it
first, second, or third person.
Based on your findings about the subject,
make sure the verb fits.

Identifying the Verb

Ask which word shows action or relationship to

the verb.
The

dog jumps over the fence.

Stephanie and Bethany have names that rhyme.
Everybody came to JoAnns party.
Did you see the shirt she wore?
That house is so dilapidated.

Conjugating a verb

For present tense, generally add an s or es

for third person singular. Otherwise, add
nothing to the verb.
Singular

Plural

First Person

I eat.

We eat.

Second Person

You eat.

You eat.

Third person

S/he eats.

They eat.

Singular

Plural

First Person

I talk.

We talk

Second Person

You talk.

You talk.

Third person

S/he talks.

They talk.

Special verbs
BE

Singular

Plural

First person

I am

We are

Second Person

You are

You are

Third Person

S/he is

They are

HAVE

Singular

Plural

First person

I have

We have

Second Person

You have

You have

Third Person

S/he has

They have

DO

Singular

Plural

First person

I do

They do

Second Person

You do

You do

Third Person

S/he does

They do

Identifying the Subject

Ask who or what the sentence is about.

The

dog jumps over the fence.

Stephanie and Bethany have names that rhyme.
Everybody came to JoAnns party.
Did you see the shirt she wore?
That house is so dilapidated.

Rule # 1

1. If a subject ends in an s, the verb will not.

If a subject does not end in an s, the verb
will.
Im Sally
Hi Sally. Im
Vernon Verb,
and I am
single.

Subject, and Im
single.

If Im single,
Vernon Verb
better be too.

Rule #1:
Agreement

Singular subjects need singular verbs.

Singular subjects include the following:

I, you, he, she, it, dog, house, etc.

I eat. You eat. She eats.

You have ears. She has ears. The dog has ears.

Plural subjects need plural verbs.

Plural subjects include the following:

We, they, dogs, houses, etc.

We eat. They eat. The dogs eat.

We have ears. They have ears. The houses do not
have ears.

Rule #1
Practice: Singular and Plural
Subjects
1.

My hair suffer/suffers from the terrible humidity.

2.

Their hairstyles look/looks the same.

3.

Jodi is/are my closest confidant.

4.

The FACET Center is/are my favorite place to

be.

5.

Fast food employees smile/smiles when they see

me coming.

Rule #1(some exceptions)

Special Subjects: words that end in
-s

Some words that end in s are singular.

The

news sometimes makes my head hurt.

Mathematics is my favorite subject.

Some words that end in s are plural because

they have more than one part.
The

scissors cut through paper easily.

The pants are brand-spanking-new.

Rule #1 (some exceptions)

Special Subjects: indefinite
pronouns

Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a specific

person or item.

Always singular

Anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody,

everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, none,
nothing, one, somebody, someone, something

Always plural

Ex. Everyone, anyone, each, either, everybody,

someone, nothing, one, nobody, neither, anything

Both, few, many, several

Sometimes singular, sometimes plural

Some, any, all, most

Rule #2

2. Even when words come in between the

subject and verb, they should both agree.
Please
dont
separate
us!

But if you do, well

still agree.

Rule #2
Separated subject and verb

The subject and verb should always agree, no

matter how many words are separating them!
Billy,

the master carpenter, charges exorbitant

prices.
Billy

is the subject. Charges agrees with Billy.

Billy,

along with all of his co-workers, charges

exorbitant prices.
Billy

is still the subject. Charges agrees with Billy.

Did

you know that Billy, my best friend ever of all

of my carpenter friends, doesnt charge me at all?
Billy

is still the subject. Doesnt agrees with Billy.

Rule #3

When joining two or more subjects with and,

use a plural verb.
Hey
Sally!

Meet my
sister,
Stephanie
Subject.

Rule #3
Compound Subjects

A compound subject occurs when two or more

subjects are grouped using a conjunction
(such as and, nor, or).
Usually compound subjects are plural.
Tom

and Sally eat food.

Neither the horse nor the mule want to graze on
muggy days.

Rule #3
Compound Subjects Cont.

Compound subjects are singular when

they refer to the same idea/entity

My most stable friend and my only means to independence

is my car.

*Friend and means to independence are both referring to the

car.

NOT My most stable friend and my only means to

independence are my car.

they are considered one unit

they are preceded by each or every

Each house, trailer, and apartment serves as someones
home.
NOT Each house, trailer, and apartment serve as
someones home.

Rule #4

When joining two or more subjects with

neither/nor, either/or, or, and nor, use a verb
that agrees with the nearer or nearest subject.

But
Vernon

No, Stephanie.
Vernon and I agree.
Heswill
closer to me.
Either Sally or Stephanie
agree with Vernon, whoevers
closest.

Rule #4
Examples: Neither, nor, either, or

Neither the counselor nor the parents know

what to do with Billy Bob.
know

The receptionist or the tutors try to help you.

Try

agrees with parents, not counselor

agrees with tutors, not receptionist

Either the dogs or the cat defend the house

when the humans are away.
Defend

agrees with cat, not dog

Rule #5

Collective nouns (a group of individuals or

things) use either singular or plural verbs
depending upon the context.

Rule #5
Special Subjects: collective nouns

Collective nouns refer to a group.

Ex. team, audience, staff, herd, class, majority

Generally, collective nouns are singular.

Ex. The team wins.
Ex. The class cheers when the teacher announces
no homework.

Collective nouns may be plural when referring to

its members as individuals.
The staff were complaining about the influx of
paperwork.
*To clarify the sentence, you may add a modifier.

Rule #6

Even if a sentence is inverted, the subject

should agree with the verb.

Rule #6
Subjects after the verb

When the subject follows the verb, the two must

still agree.

There is an incredible amount of food under my bed.

There are many food items under my bed.

are agrees with food items

Waiting on the Dr. Phils desk to be graded was a

stack of papers ten feet high.

is agrees with amount

was agrees with stack

Waiting on Dr. Phils desk to be graded were papers

stacked ten feet high.

were agrees with papers

Practice!

The dogs howl/howls at night.

The desk stay/stays messy, despite how much
we hope it will clean itself.
The students who always wear sunglasses in
class smell/smells like sunscreen today.
Melissa and Joan love/loves watching Sabrina,
the Teenage Witch.
The blank worksheets and the teachers
edition remain/remains in my bag at all times.

More Practice!

Neither the math tutor nor the English tutors

want/wants to play in the puddle today.
Either the English tutors or the math tutor
play/plays hopscotch on the weekends.
The team win/wins every game.
The family speak/speaks in turn as each name is
called.
Open the door, say/says Timmy every time he
comes near an automatic door.
Off fly/flies the papers as the door swooshes
open.

Just remember, Sally and Vernon

always agree.
Bye, Vernon!

See you later, Sally!