Subject-Verb Agreement

Agreement
 Present tense verbs in English should agree with
the subject of the sentence
 Singular subjects use singular verbs
Jack robs liquor stores (s on the verb)
 Plural subjects use plural verbs
Bonnie and Clyde rob banks (no s on the verb)
 Most native speaker do this instinctively
 More complex problems require you to learn a few
rules
Identify the Subject
 Ignore words that come between the subject and
the verb
 Reduce sentences to their simplest form
A good set of skis costs / cost hundreds of dollars
A good set of skis costs / cost hundreds of dollars
A good set of skis costs hundreds of dollars
My boss, as well as her staff, leave / leaves early every
Friday
My boss, as well as her staff, leave / leaves early every
Friday
My boss, as well as her staff, leaves early every Friday
Compound Subjects using “And”
 Most compound subjects joined by “and” are plural
Bert and Ernie is / are special friends
Bert and Ernie is / are special friends (plural verb)
 Exception: If the words joined by “and” refer to a
single thing, the subject is also singular
War and Peace is a very thick book (singular)
My friend and co-worker is waiting to see you
(singular)
Compound Subjects using “Or”
 When the subject is joined with “or” or “nor” the verb
agrees with the words closest to the verb
Neither the instructor nor the students has / have any control
over the number of 8 o’clock classes
Neither the instructor nor the students has / have any control
over the number of 8 o’clock classes (plural verb)
Either two credit cards or a membership is / are needed before
you can rent movies
Either two credit cards or a membership is / are needed before
you can rent movies (singular verb)
– Note: While the above example is correct, it is usually better to place the
plural word closer to the verb
Either a membership or two credit cards are needed before you
can rent movies (plural verb)
Indefinite Pronouns
 Indefinite pronouns are singular
every, everyone, everybody, each, neither, either,
none, one, no one
– Every student has / have a unique student number
– Every student has / have a unique student number
– None of us admit / admits to sending the e-mail message
– None of us admit / admits to sending the e-mail message
 Ignore prepositional phrases coming between the
subject and the verb
– Each of the five departments is / are hiring new instructors
– Each of the five departments is / are hiring new instructors
Collective Nouns
 Words such as jury, committee, or herd will be
singular when everyone in the group is acting
together
The jury is / are deciding the fate of the accused
The jury is / are deciding the fate of the accused
 Collective nouns will be plural when the members
of the group are not acting together
The jury is / are undecided on the guilt of the accused
The jury is / are undecided on the guilt of the accused
Here, There, and It
 When the sentence begins with Here or There, the
subject follows the verb and controls whether the
verb is plural
Here are my reasons for quitting (plural)
There is no need to pay me next week (singular)
 It is always singular
It was the long hours that bothered me (singular)
Words Ending in S
 Words such as economics, AIDS, physics and
news are singular
Economics is fun and exciting
The news is usually broadcast live
 Words such as scissors, eyeglasses and pants
that name things with two parts are plural
My glasses were broken when I did a face plant
Money and Measurement
 Units of time, money, distance, and weight use
singular verbs
Twenty kilometres is a long distance to skate to work
each day
Eight dollars an hour is a poor rate
 The expression the number is singular
The number of failures is decreasing
 The expression a number is plural
A number of people are leaving
Titles
 The title of a movie, book or magazine requires a
singular verb
Lost Horizons is a book about a utopia
The Simpsons is my favourite TV show
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