ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Grammar Notes
Subject-Verb Agreement
FORM ONE
Mr. Justice Agbodjan
Table of contents
01 SV Agreement: Definitions 04 More examples
Terms in Subject-Verb How to form and identify
Agreements explained adverbs
Subjects and Verbs 05 Exercises
02 What does it mean for a subject or Test your understanding
verb to be singular or plural?
Rules of Concord
03 Rules we must obey to form
correct sentences.
REF: GRAMMAR TO 14, pages 16-17
Subject-Verbs Agreement: Definitions
Subject-verb agreement (Concord) is the grammatical rule which states
that the verb in a sentence must match the number, person, and gender of
the subject. Subject-Verb agreement matters the most when using verbs in
their present tense. This involves the simple present, present continuous,
present perfect tenses, present perfect continuous, and past continuous tenses
[see notes on Verb Tenses]. Knowing and following the rules of subject-verb
agreement will help you write error-free sentences.
Subjects
The subject is the noun or pronoun performing the action (verb) described in a
sentence, or the person/thing the sentence is about. For example, “Ellen likes
doughnuts.” Ellen is the subject, which carries out the action of ‘liking’
doughnuts, the verb is ‘like’.
In sentence formation, the choice of what becomes the subject affects the form
of verb to be used. Subjects and verbs can be singular or plural.
Subjects and Verbs: Singular & Plural
Singular subjects
A singular subject is made up of only one entity: a person or a thing carrying out a
particular action in a sentence. A singular subject may be identified by:
✔ the name of one person or one thing: Papa sings like a pro. The dog
barked desperately. Happiness is what we all need.
✔ singular pronouns: He, she, it, you, I, everything, someone, something,
somebody, that, this, either, neither, etc.
He forgets to bring his homework to class everyday.
Everything is stable now. Someone comes here everyday.
✔ collective nouns: The bouquet of lilies, a herd of sheep, an army of
soldiers, etc.
✔ uncountable nouns: sugar, love, happiness, sand, information, luggage,
etc.
Subjects and Verbs: Singular & Plural
Plural subjects
A plural subject is made up of two or more entities (people or things) carrying out
a particular action in a sentence.
They can be identified by
✔ plural nouns: Doughnuts are Papa’s favourite. The new laptops are very
fast.
✔ a list of names of people or things: Jude and Sena are very good friends. My
desk, my computer, and my headphones are all missing.
✔ plural pronouns: They, we, you, these, and those.
Singular Verbs
Verbs are described as singular if they must go with a singular subject according
to the rules of concord. They include:
✔ Verbs in their present tense: Formed by adding the suffixes –s, –es, or –ies
to the basic verb form. E.g., talk → talks, preach → preaches, try → tries.
✔ Auxiliary verbs including is, was, has, does, and am.
Subjects and Verbs: Singular & Plural
Plural Verbs
Verbs are described as plural if they must take a plural subject according to the
rules of concord. They include:
✔ Verbs in their basic simple present form: No –s, –es, or –ies added. For
example, talk, preach, try, come, eat, seem, look, etc.
✔ Auxiliary verbs including are, were, have, and do.
Rule 1: Basic rule
⮚ A singular subject must take a singular verb, and a plural subject verb must take
a plural verb.
✔ Jonathan wishes to go to France this holidays | Mary and Jonathan wish to
go to France this holidays
✔ The building has collapsed. | The buildings have all collapsed
✔ Someone was calling. | You were calling.
✔ She calls me twice every week. | They call me twice every week
✔ I am having a good time. | We are having a god time
The Rules of Concord
✔ China, Russia and The United States have many cities | China has many
cities.
Exceptions
✔ ‘You’ can be both singular and plural, but it takes a plural verb always.
✔ ‘I’ is singular, and it takes the following auxiliary verbs am, was, have, and do.
It also takes plural verbs like any plural subject.
Rule 2: Always-Plural nouns
⮚ Some nouns always exist as plural; always treat them as singular and use them
with a singular verb. Examples are news, politics, mathematics, gymnastics,
trousers, etc.
✔ The news has been depressing lately.
✔ Politics is getting too combative.
✔ Mathematics was my favourite subject in school.
The Rules of Concord
Rule 3: Collective nouns
⮚ Collective nouns can be treated as either singular or plural, depending on
whether they act together or separately. For example:
[Together as one unit, singular so it takes a singular verb]
✔ The team goes to practice at 4:00
✔ The chamber orchestra often plays at the Art Centre.
✔ The cast is celebrating the success of the play.
✔ A wolf pack hunts as a group. NOTE: a pair of scissors, a
✔ The fleet was anchored in the channel. pair of trousers, a bunch of
[Separately, plural so it takes a plural verb] keys, stack of books, etc, are
✔ The team go to their own homes after practice.
treated singular.
For example:
✔ The orchestra are tuning their instruments.
✓ The stack of books on the
✔ The cast have been practising their lines.
chair needs cleaning.
✔ The flock were running off in every direction. ✓ There was a bunch of
✔ The staff disagree on the proposal. keys on this table.
The Rules of Concord
Rule 4: Subjects with ‘or’
a. If the subject consists of two singular nouns joined by or, treat the subject as
singular and use a singular verb.
✔ Johnson or Rex is playing today.
✔ Your mom or dad has to be here in an hour.
b. However, if the subject consists of multiple plural nouns joined by or, treat the
subject as plural and use a plural verb.
✔ Cats or dogs make good friends.
c. If there’s a combination of singular and plural nouns joined by or, the verb
follows the number of the final one listed.
✔ The teacher or the students have to inform the principal.
✔ The students or the teacher has to inform the principal.
The Rules of Concord
Rule 5: Subjects representing portions
⮚ Similarly, words that indicate a portion, including percentages, use the number
of the noun they describe to decide their verb form. The Subject normally
contains “of… ”
✔ All of the book is ruined! | All of the books are ruined!
✔ Some of the film is funny. | Some of the films are funny.
✔ Fifty percent of our house is made of wood. | Fifty percent of our houses
are made of wood. Two-thirds of the cake has been eaten.
Rule 6: Subjects with ‘Either or’, ‘neither nor’
⮚ For subjects that have two nouns or pronouns joined with ‘either…or’, or
‘neither…nor’, the verb should agree with the second noun or pronoun.
✔ Neither Ricky nor Gina is here yet.
✔ Either the teacher or the students have to take an initiative to keep the
classroom clean.
✔ Neither the children nor their parents are aware of the consequences.
The Rules of Concord
Rule 7: Subjects representing quantities
⮚ When the subject refers to a period of time, distance, a sum of money, or any
quantity, treat it as singular and use a singular verb.
✔ 1,267 kilometres is too long for us to travel in half a day.
✔ Five years is required to complete the project.
✔ Don’t you think thousand Ghana cedis is a little too much for a portrait?
✔ Fifty million dollars was spent on the small bridge project.
Exercises
Go through the following sentences, analyse if the underlined verb agrees
with its subject and make changes if necessary.
1. One of the plates are broken.
2. The seven children from Chennai has been selected for the final round
of the quiz.
3. Neither the children nor the teacher has reached yet.
4. Sheena and her sister is here to see you.
5. A lot of food choices was given.
6. My parents lives in New Zealand.
7. Don’t you think four days are a little too long?
8. Do anyone know where the lift is?
9. The little girl do not like mangoes for some reason.
10. You has brought all that I had asked for.
See page 11, 13 and 15 of Grammar to 14 for more exercises
