UNIT I
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
Most native English speakers know the standard verb-subject combinations by ear.
Examples of these combinations are he talks, not he talk and she has, not she have.
However, if you don’t trust your ear or you find simple sentence formations confusing,
just follow these simple rules and you will be ready to write flawless sentences in no
time!
In the present tense, verbs agree with their subjects in NUMBER (singular/plural)
and in PERSON (first, second, or third). The present tense ending –s (or –es) is
used on a verb if the subject is THIRD PERSON SINGULAR. Otherwise, the verb
takes NO ENDING.
SINGULAR PLURAL
First Person I love We love
Second Person You love you love
Third Person He/she/it loves They love
If the concept still confuses you, try answering the following questions to
understand when to use the –s (or –es) form of a present tense verb.
Is the verb’s subject he, she, it or YES Use –s form
one? (loves, tries, has)
NO
Is the subject a singular noun YES
Use –s form
(such as parent)?
NO
Is the subject a singular indefinite noun
– anybody, anyone, each, either, YES
Use –s form
everybody, everyone, everything,
neither, no one, someone, or
something?
NO
Use the base form of the verb (love, try, have)
After learning the basic fundamentals of subject-verb agreement, read and
understand these special rules and after some practice, forming correct
sentences will be easy!
1. Make the verb agree with its subject, not with the word in between High
levels of pollution cause damage to the respiratory tract The subject is
levels, NOT pollution
2. With subjects joined with or, nor, either…or, or neither… nor, make the verb
agree with the part of the subject NEARER to the verb
A driver’s license or credit card is required
See, the term “driver’s license” was not used in making the verb agree the
sentence. Instead it was the term “credit card”
Neither the lab assistant nor the students were able to download the
information
3. Treat most indefinite pronouns as SINGULAR
Anybody Each Everyone Nobody Somebody
Anyone Either Everything No one Someone
Anything Everybody Neither Nothing Something
Everybody who signed up for the snowboarding trip was taking lessons
Everyone on the team supports the coach
4. However, a few indefinite nouns such as ALL, ANY, NONE and SOME may be
singular or plural DEPENDING on the noun or pronoun they refer to.
Some of our luggage was lost None of
his advice makes sense
5. Make the verb agree with its subject even when the subject follows the verb
There are surprisingly few children in our neighborhood
There were a social worker and a crew of twenty volunteers at the scene of the
accident
6. Words such as athletics, economics, measles and news are usually SINGULAR,
despite their plural form
Statistics is among the most difficult courses in our program
7. Titles of works, company names, words mentioned as words, and gerund
phrases are SINGULAR
Lost Cities describes the discoveries of many ancient civilizations
Delmonico Brothers specializes in organic produce and additive-free
meats.
8. Treat collective nouns (e.g. team, audience, crowd, class, family) as
SINGULAR unless the meaning is clearly plural
1. SINGULAR
Collective nouns nearly always emphasize a group as a UNIT The
class respects the teacher
The board of trustees meets in Denver twice a year
2. PLURAL
Occasionally, a collective noun is treated as plural to draw attention to the
INDIVIDUAL members of the group
The class are debating amongst
If that is the case, it is better to change it to:
The class members are debating amongst themselves themselves
Now try answering these exercises to measure how much you learned!
EXERCISE 1
Underline the subject (or compound subject) and then identify the verb that
agrees with it.
Everyone in the telecom focus group (has/have) experienced problems with cell
phones
1. Your friendship over the years and your support (has/have) meant a great
deal to us.
2. Hamilton Family Center, a shelter for teenage runaways in San Francisco,
(offers/offer) a wide variety of services.
3. The main source of income for Trinidad (is/are) oil and pitch.
4. The chances of your being promoted (is/are) excellent.
5. There (was/were) a Pokémon card stuck to the refrigerator.
6. Neither the professor nor his assistants (was/were) able to solve the mystery of
the eerie glow in the laboratory.
7. Many hours at the driving range (has/have) led us to design golf balls with
GPS locators in them.
8. Discovered in the soil of our city garden (was/were) a button dating from the
Civil War dating from the turn of the century.
9. Every year, during the midsummer festival, the smoke of village bonfires
(fills/fill) the sky.
10. The story performers (was/were) surrounded by children and adults eager to
see magical tales.
EXERCISE 2
Edit the following sentences to eliminate problems with subject-verb agreement
and write the edited sentence. If a sentence is correct, write “correct.”
Jack’s first days in the infantry was grueling
Jack’s first days in the infantry were grueling
1. One of the main reasons for elephant poaching are the profits received from
selling the ivory tusks.
2. Not until my interview with Dr. Chang were other possibilities opened to me.
3. Batik cloth from Bali, blue and white ceramics from Cambodia, and a bocce
ball from Turin has made Hannah’s room the talk of the dorm.
4. The board of directors, ignoring the wishes of the neighbourhood, has voted to
allow further development.
5. Measles is a contagious childhood disease.
6. The presence of certain bacteria in our bodies are one of the factors that
determines our overall health.
7. Leah is the only one of the many applicants who has the ability to step into this
job.
8. Neither the explorer nor his companions was ever seen again.
EXERCISE 3
1. Benito (doesn't, don't) know the answer.
2. Annie and her brothers (is, are) at school.
3. George and Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that movie.
4. Your pants (is, are) at the cleaner's.
5. (Is, Are) the tweezers in this drawer?
6. The committee (debates, debate) these questions carefully.
7. The members of the committee (leads, lead) very different lives in private
8. (Is, Are) the news on at five or six?
9. Mathematics (is, are) John's favourite subject, while Civics (is, are) Andrea's favourite
subject
10. Statistics (is, are) not a piece of cake to learn.
11. Unfortunately, dishonest politics (was, were) used to win the election.
12. Athletics (provides, provide) important opportunities for physical development.
13. Good news usually (travels, travel) fast.
14. Ceramics (take, takes) a great deal of practice for proficiency.
15. The projected statistics (compares, compare) the budgets of the first 3 quarters.
16. The dog or the cats (is, are) outside.
17. The players, as well as the captain, (want, wants) to win.
18. Either my shoes or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.
19. The movie, including all the previews, (take, takes) about two hours to watch.
20. The Prime Minister, together with his wife, (greets, greet) the press cordially.
21. The man with all the birds (live, lives) on my street.
22. One of my sisters (is, are) going on a trip to France.
23. Either my mother or my father (is, are) coming to the meeting.
24. 50% of the work (is, are) complete.
25. Either answer (is, are) acceptable.
26. Every one of those books (is, are) fiction.
27. Nobody (know, knows) the trouble I've seen.
28. All of the CDs, even the scratched one, (is, are) in this case.
29. Among the animals, turtles cling to their basic structural design, while many others
(is,are) experimenting their way to extinction.
30. Turtles are unique; each (has, have) eight cervical vertebrae, compared with seven of
most mammals.
EXERCISE 4
Underline the subject (or compound subject) and then identify the verb that agrees with it:-
1. Your friendship over the years and your support (has/have) meant a great deal to us.
2. Hamilton Family Center, a shelter for teenage runaways in San Francisco, (offers/offer)
a wide variety of services.
3. The main source of income for Trinidad (is/are) oil and pitch.
4. The chances of your being promoted (is/are) excellent.
5. There (was/were) a Pokémon card stuck to the refrigerator.
6. Neither the professor nor his assistants (was/were) able to solve the mystery of the
eerie glow in the laboratory.
7. Many hours at the driving range (has/have) led us to design golf balls with GPS locators in
them.
8. Discovered in the soil of our city garden (was/were) a button dating from the Civil War dating from the turn of
the century.
9. Every year, during the midsummer festival, the smoke of village bonfires (fills/fill) the sky.
10. The story performers (was/were) surrounded by children and adults eager to see magical tale
Exercise 5
When a verb agrees with its subject in number:-
Direction: Select the correct verb in each of the sentences below.
1. Your friend (talk-talks) too much.
2. The man with the roses (look-looks) like your brother.
3. The women in the pool (swim-swims) well.
4. Bill (drive-drives) a cab.
5. The football players (run-runs) five miles every day.
6. That red-haired lady in the fur hat (live-lives) across the street.
7. He (cook-cooks) dinner for his family.
8. The boys (walk-walks) to school every day.
9. The weather on the coast (appear-appears) to be good this weekend.
10. The centre on the basketball team (bounce-bounces) the ball too high.
Exercise 6
When a subject is singular or plural depending on its usage and some seem to be plural but
always take singular verb.
Direction: Select the correct verb in each of the sentences below.
1. Each of the girls (look-looks) good on skis.
2. Everybody (was-were) asked to remain quiet.
3. Neither of the men (is-are) here yet.
4. (Is-Are) each of the girls ready to leave?
5. Several of the sheep (is-are) sick.
6. Some members of the faculty (is-are) present.
7. Nobody in the class (has-have) the answer.
8. Each of the girls (observe-observes) all the regulations.
9. All of the milk (is-are) gone.
10. Most of the seats (was-were) taken.
11. At the end of the fall (comes/come) the hard tests.
12. The slaughter of animals for their fur (has/have) caused controversy.
13. The student, as well as his teacher, (was/were) going on the field trip.
14. The hard tests (comes/come) at the end of the fall.
15. Both of my roommates (has/have) decided to live in the dorms.
Exercise 7
When a subject is a collective noun or joined by and, or, nor.
Direction: Select the correct verb in each of the sentences below.
1. Margo and her parents (visit-visits) each other often.
2. Either the cups or the glasses (are-is) in the dishwasher.
3. Vern and Fred (need-needs) a ride to work.
4. There (is-are) a dog, a cat, and a bird in the garage.
5. Neither Matt nor his brothers (was-were) at the party.
6. Here into the main ring of the circus (come-comes) the trained elephants.
7. Either the workers or the boss (deliver-delivers) the merchandise.
8. The committee (work-works) hard for better schools.
9. There (is-are) many things to do before the holidays.
10. The jury (was-were) polled for their verdicts.
11. Here (is-are) the nails you need for the projects.
12. Either Joyce or Ellen (was-were) here.
13. The United States (is-are) a country of contrast.
14. A magazine and a book (was-were) lying on the floor.
15. The family (is-are) occupied with their individual problems.
Exercise 8
DIRECTION for the questions 1 to 20: In each of the following sentences supply a verb in agreement
with its subject:
1. To take pay and then not to do work dishonest.
2. The cost of all these articles risen.
3. The jury divided in their opinions
4. That night every one of the boat's crew down with fever.
5. One or the other of those fellows stolen the watch.
6. The strain of all the difficulties and vexations and anxieties more than he could bear.
7. No news good news.
8. The accountant and the cashier absconded.
9. A good man and useful citizen passed away.
10. The famous juggler and conjurer too unwell to perform.
11. The Three Musketeers written by Dumas.
12. Each of the suspected men arrested.
13. The ebb and flow of the tides explained by Newton.
14. Ninety rupees too much for this bag.
15. The cow as well as the horse on grass.
16. Neither his father nor his mother alive.
17. There many objections to the plan.
18. Two-thirds of the city in ruins
19. The formation of paragraphs very important.
20. Man's happiness or misery in a great measure in his own ha
