Subject And Verb Agreement

Subject and verb agreement Subject and verb agreement Definition The subject of a sentence must agree with the verb of the sentence in number A singular subject takes a singular verb A plural subject[.]

Subject and verb agreement

Definition

The subject of a sentence must agree with the verb of the sentence

in number A singular subject takes a singular verb A plural subject takes a plural vers This is the simple principle behind subject and verb agreement

Examples:

John lives in the next door

The subject: John (singular )

The verb : lives (singular )

They want to finish the class early

The subject : They (plural)

The verb : want (plural)

However, the problems in subject and verb agreement are not

simple like that The followings are some rules to help us avoid

subject and verb agreement problems in our writing

1 Indefinite pronouns as Subject

a Singular indefinite pronouns, such as someone/body/thing,

anyone/body/thing, everyone/body/thing, each, one, either, neither take singular verbs

Examples:

Each does his own cooking

Everyone enjoys the summertime

Someone has to be responsible

Each of the boys gets good marks

Neither of the book is mine

b Plural indefinite pronouns, such as both, few, many, several take plural verbs

Examples:

Several of the students were invited to the party

Both of the teams play very well

Many were impressed by the guess speaker

Few of the committee attend meetings

c All, any, most, some, and none can go with either singular or

plural verbs depending on the grammatical number of the noun they

refer to

Examples:

Some of the show was interesting

(Some is singular because it refers to show (performance), which is singular)

Some of the actors were humourous

(Some is plural because it refers to actors, which is plural)

None of the representatives has indecated how he or she will vote None of the representatives have indecated how they will vote

2 Compound subjects

a When the subjects are joined by and, the verb will be plural in most situations

Tom and Mary are good friends

England, Scotland and Wales form Great Britain

Exceptions:

-When the noun phrases are preceded by each, every,or no, they

use a singular verb

Example:

Each boy and each girl has a book

-When the noun phrases denote the same things or persons, they use a singular verb

Example:

My best friend and my adviser, Tom, is coming tonight

b When the subjects are joined by nor, or, or not only …but also,

the verb agrees with the closer subject

Examples:

Neither Anna’s neighbours nor her husband agrees with her decision Either he or his friends were at school yesterday

Not only a dog but also two cats at at home in his garage

3 Collective nouns as Subject

Normally, these are the nouns that are singular in form but plural in

meaning, so they use a plural verb : Audience, team, family,

minority, majority, band, class, club, group, committee, crew, etc.

Examples:

The audience were entering the theatre

John has just arrived and now the team are all here

( Audience and team here refer to individuals or members)

Notes:

When the nouns act as a whole single unit, they use a singular verb Examples:

The audience was one of the best

The team has won the semifinal

4 Nouns with a plural form as Subject

The following nouns, plural in form but singular in meaning, are always followed by a singular verb:

-The noun news:

The news on T.Vis always depressing

-games, such as billiads, bowls, dominoes, darts

Billiards is becoming more and more popular

-Names of the cities, countries, such as Athens, Brussels, Naples, wales,etc.

Athens has grown rapidly in the past decade

Diseases/ illnesses, such as mealse, mumps

-Subjects, such as mathematics, linguistics, physics, economics, etc Statistics is a subject at university

Acoustics is a branch of physics

Mathematics is a compulsory suject at school

Exception:

Some words ending in _ics, such as acoustics, politics, economics, ethics, phonetics, statistics, take a plural verb when the reference is

specific For example:

The statistics show that out of 20,000 accidental deaths, 7000

occurred in the home

(Statistics ~ collected numbers)

The acoustics in the Festival Hall are extremely good

(Acoustics ~ sound quality)

5 When the subject in a sentence is a gerund, an infinitive verb, or

a That- clause, the verb must be singular

Examples:

Swimming is a good sport

To learn a foreign language is very necessary

That she told me yesterday was just a joke

6 Expressions of fractions and percentages as Subject

With words that indicate fractions and percentages in of phrase

(object of the preposition), the verb will be determined by the object

of the preposition:

If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb

If the object of the preposition is plural, use a plural verb

Examples:

Two-thirds of the money is mine

One half of the workers have arrived

Fifty percent of the pie has disappeared

7 When measurements of money, time, and distance are the

subject of a sentence, they usually require a singular verb

Examples:

One hundred dollars is a lot of money for a bottle of wine

Five kilometres is too much to run in one day

Twenty minutes is not enough to solve this problem

Two hours is a long time to wait to see a doctor

8 When the subjects are joined by the following phrases, the verb agrees with the first subject:

Together with, along with, as well as, in addition to, accompanied by

Examples:

The singer, as well as the musicians, was pleased with the recording

S1 S2

Mr John, accompanied by his wife and childen, is arriving tonight

S1 S2

9 Sometimes, the pronouns who/that /which are the Subject of a verb in the middle of a sentence, the pronouns who/that /which

become singular or plural depending on the noun directly in front of them Thus, if that noun is singular, use asingular verb; if that noun

is plural, use a plural verb

Examples:

Salma is the scientist who writes the reports

He is one of the men who do the work

It is the boys who have broken the window

10 In sentences beginning with here or there, the subject follows the verb

Here comes the teacher

There are many books to read

11 When the titles of books, plays, poems,etc are used as the

Subject in a sentence, they take a singular verb

“Sleepless Nights” is a detective novel