St.
Thomas Aquinas School, BTM Layout
English Worksheet
10th std
I. Subject-Verb Agreement: Choose the correct form of the verb.
1. The rhythm of the pounding waves is / are calming. (Clue: Make the subject and verb
agree when words intervene between them.) is ... CORRECT
2. All of the dogs in the neighborhood were / was barking. (Clue: Make the subject and
verb agree when words intervene between them.) were ... CORRECT
3. A high tax, not to mention unemployment, influence / influences votes. (Clue: The
grammatical number of the subject does not change with the addition of
expressions beginning with such words as the following: accompanied by, along
with, as well as, in addition to, including, no less than, not to mention, together
with.)
influences ... CORRECT
4. My friends and my mother like / likes each other. (Clue: Subjects joined by and are
usually plural.)
like ... CORRECT
5. The team and the band was / were on the field. (Clue: Subjects joined by and are
usually plural.)
were ... CORRECT
6. Building a good marriage and building a good log fire is / are similar in many ways. Clue:
Subjects joined by and are usually plural.) are ... CORRECT
7. John or Doris write / writes to us regularly. . (Clue: Singular subjects joined by or,
either . . . or, neither . . . nor take a singular verb.) writes ... CORRECT
8. Neither Carol nor Ted is / are excluded from the meeting. (Clue: Singular subjects
joined by or, either . . . or, neither . . . nor take a singular verb.) is ... CORRECT
9. Either Patty or Tom was / were asked to lead the meeting. (Clue: Singular subjects
joined by or, either . . . or, neither . . . nor take a singular verb.)
was ... CORRECT
10. Neither the basket nor the apples was / were expensive. . (Clue: If one subject is
singular and one is plural, the verb agrees with the nearer subject.)
were ... CORRECT
11. Neither the apples nor the basket was / were expensive. . (Clue: If one subject is
singular and one is plural, the verb agrees with the nearer subject.)
12. Either Maria or you was / were late for class. (Clue: The verb also agrees with the
nearer subject in person.)
were ... CORRECT
13. Either you or Maria was / were late for class. . (Clue: The verb also agrees with the
nearer subject in person.)
was ... CORRECT
14. Hardest hit by the high temperatures and the drought was / were the farmers. . (Clue: Do
not let inverted word order cause you to make a mistake in agreement.) were ...
CORRECT
15. Neither of them like / likes going to the show. (Clue: When used as subjects, such
words as each, either, one, everybody, and anyone regularly take singular verbs.)
likes ... CORRECT
16. Each of them has / have a good seat. (Clue: When used as subjects, such words as
each, either, one, everybody, and anyone regularly take singular verbs.)
has ... CORRECT
17. Everybody in the class has / have tickets. . (Clue: When used as subjects, such words
as each, either, one, everybody, and anyone regularly take singular verbs.)
has ... CORRECT
18. Every silver knife, fork, and spoon has / have to be counted. (Clue: Every or each
preceding singular subjects joined by and calls for a singular verb.)
has ... CORRECT
19. Each cat and each dog has / have its own toy. . (Clue: Every or each preceding singular
subjects joined by and calls for a singular verb.)
has ... CORRECT
20. The committee is / are meeting today. . (Clue: Collective nouns take a singular verb
when they refer to the group as a unit.)
is ... CORRECT
21. Ten million gallons of oil is / are a lot of oil. (Clue: Collective nouns take a singular
verb when they refer to the group as a unit.)
is ... CORRECT
22. The jury vote / votes today. (Clue: Collective nouns take a singular verb when they
refer to the group as a unit.)
votes ... CORRECT
23. The number is / are very small. . (Clue: Collective nouns take a singular verb when
they refer to the group as a unit.)
is ... CORRECT
24. A number of students was / were absent. (Clue: Collective nouns take a plural verb
when they refer to individuals or parts of the group.)
were ... CORRECT
25. Ten million gallons of oil was / were spilled. (Clue: Collective nouns take a plural verb
when they refer to individuals or parts of the group.)
