Subject Verb Agreement

What is subject? subject is the person/people/things that do the activity.

What is verb? verb is a word used to describe an action and forming the main part of the predicate of the sentence.

kind of verb:

action verb: is a verb for expressed subject doing an action or to declare that something happens.

linking verb: is the work that connect subject with the information or a description of the subject.

to be: is, am, are, was, were

example: i am happy

we were there

helpng verb: is the verb that appears before main verbs in a sentence for modification of verb.

example: tejo is (helpng verb) going (main verb) to florida

main rule of "subject verb agreement"

1. Subjects and verbs must agree in number.

2. Don’t get confused by the words that come between the subject and verb

3. Prepositional phrases between the subject and verb usually do not affect

agreement.

4. When sentences start with “there” or “here,” the subject will always be placed

after the verb, so care needs to be taken to identify it correctly.

5. If two subjects are joined by and, they typically require a plural verb form.

6. The verb is singular if the two subjects separated by and refer to the same

person or thing.

7. If one of the words each, every, or no comes before the subject, the verb is

singular.

8. If the subjects are both singular and are connected by the words or, nor,

neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also the verb is singular.

9. The only time when the object of the preposition decides plural or singular verb forms is when noun and pronoun subjects like some, half, none, more, all, etc. are followed by a prepositional phrase. In these sentences, the object of the preposition determines the form of the verb.

10. The singular verb form is usually used for units of measurement or time.

11. If the subjects are both plural and are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, the verb is plural.

12. If one subject is singular and one plural and the words are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, you use the verb form of the subject that is nearest the verb.

13. Indefinite pronouns (everything, anything, everyone, someone, somebody, nothing, etc) typically take singular verbs.

14. Except for the pronouns (few, many, several, both, all, some) that always take the plural form.

15. If two infinitives are separated by and they take the plural form of the verb.

16. When gerunds are used as the subject of a sentence, they take the singular verb

form of the verb; but, when they are linked by and, they take the plural form.

17. Collective nouns like family, committee, herd, senate, class, crowd, etc. usually take a singular verb form.

18. Titles of books, movies, novels, etc. are treated as singular and take a singular

verb.

Exercise : Subject and Verb Agreement Exercise
Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject.
1. Annie and her brothers (is, are) at school.
2. Either my mother or my father (is, are) coming to the meeting.
3. The dog or the cats (is, are) outside.
4. Either my shoes or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.
5. George and Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that movie.
6. Benito (doesn't, don't) know the answer.
7. One of my sisters (is, are) going on a trip to France.
8. The man with all the birds (live, lives) on my street.
9. The movie, including all the previews, (take, takes) about two hours to watch.
10. The players, as well as the captain, (want, wants) to win.
11. Either answer (is, are) acceptable.
12. Every one of those books (is, are) fiction.
13. Nobody (know, knows) the trouble I've seen.
14. (Is, Are) the news on at five or six?
15. Mathematics (is, are) John's favorite subject, while Civics (is, are) Andrea's favorite subject.
16. Eight dollars (is, are) the price of a movie these days.
17. (Is, Are) the tweezers in this drawer?
18. Your pants (is, are) at the cleaner's.
19. There (was, were) fifteen candies in that bag. Now there (is, are) only one left!
20. The committee (debates, debate) these questions carefully.
21. The committee (leads, lead) very different lives in private.
22. The Prime Minister, together with his wife, (greets, greet) the press cordially.
23. All of the CDs, even the scratched one, (is, are) in this case.