subject-verb agreement

AGREEMENT EXERCISE AFor each pair of sentences below, write out the correct form of the verb in parentheses.. College basketball live for a game scheduled on CBS or ESPN highly recruite

AGREEMENT EXERCISE A

For each pair of sentences below, write out the correct form of the verb in parentheses Keep to the present tense , and be guided by our four tips for agreement and our three special cases

1 Do you know how to play bocce? The game (do) not require any special athletic abilities.

2 There is a new bocce league at the recreational center There (be) several teams in the league.

3 I have a new set of bocce balls My friend (have) a new pallino ball.

4 Bocce is a game for people of all ages I (be) going to show you how to play.

5 The players take turns rolling a ball down the court Each of the players [take] one ball and aims for the pallino.

6 We try to get our balls as close to the pallino as possible Rick often (try) to bounce his ball off the side of the court.

7 Nobody enjoys playing bocce more than I do Everybody who plays bocce (enjoy) the game.

8 There are four players on each team There (be) a tournament at the end of the season.

9 The winners of the tournament carry home a trophy Everyone (carry) home good memories.

10 I am ready to play a game now You and your friends (be) welcome to join us.

2 Not one of these cell phones belongs to me One of the phones (belong) to Merdine.

3 Most students take all of their classes in the morning Nobody (take) classes after 2:00.

4 One of my hobbies is collecting shopping bags My hobbies (be) unusual.

5 Gus and Merdine want a trial separation Neither one (want) to move out of the apartment.

6 Neither of the players admits that he made an error Both players (admit) that somebody made a mistake.

7 Both the manager and her assistant have been fired Neither the manager nor her assistant (have) been notified.

8 Where is your little brother? Several pages from my journal (be) missing.

9 Professor Legree often goes for long walks in the rain The lights in his house (go) on at midnight.

10 The students in the back of the room play poker during breaks The student who sits next to the refreshments (play) solitaire.

AGREEMENT EXERCISE C

The following paragraph contains six errors in subject-verb agreement Find and correct each of the six verb errors Remember to stay in the present tense, and be guided by our four tips for agreement and our three special cases

Santa

According to legend, Santa Claus is a fat old man who visits every house on our planet in about eight hours on one of the coldest nights of the year Santa, as everybody knows, stop for a glass

of milk and a cookie at each house along the route He prefer to work unnoticed, so he wears luminous red suit and travels with a pack of bell-jangling reindeer For reasons that most people does not understand, this jolly old man enters each house not by the front door but through the chimney (whether you has a chimney or not) He customarily gives generously to children in wealthy families, and he usually remind poorer children that it's the thought that counts Santa Claus is one of the earliest beliefs that parents try to instill in their children After this absurdity, it's a wonder that any child ever believe in anything again.

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT: Additional Practice 1

1 There several reasons why you should reconsider your decision

4 The fishing boat that has been tied up at the pier for three days finally on its way this morning

Remember that a subject and its verb are not always together

ARE

Quiz on Subject-Verb Agreement PRACTICE II

Select one answer from the choices provided after each sentence The word you choose should fit the blank in the sentence Don't use the HINT buttons unless you really need them.

1 Either the physicians in this hospital or the chief administrator going to have to make a decision

11 Three-quarters of the student body against the tuition hike

A Second Quiz on Subject-Verb Agreement PRACTICE III

1 Carlos is the only one of those students who lived up to the potential described

8 Rice and beans, my favorite dish, me of my native Puerto Rico.

this.

Recently the New England Revolution beat the Tampa Bay

Mutiny in a game played during a horrid rainstorm Nearly

5000 fans showed up, which (show) that soccer is,

indeed, popular in the United States However, the story of

the game (was/ were) buried near the back of the

newspaper's sports section, and there (was/ were)

certainly no television coverage In fact, the biggest reason

be

be

do

(

for soccer's failure as a mass appeal sport in the United States is that it doesn't conform easily to the demands of television Basketball succeeds enormously in America because it regularly

( schedule)what it calls "television time-outs" as well as the time-outs that the teams themselves call to re-group, not to mention half-times and, on the professional level, quarter breaks Those time-outs in the action ideally made for television commercials And television coverage is the lifeblood of American sports College basketball ( live) for a game scheduled on CBS or ESPN (highly recruited high school players are more likely to go to a team that regularly gets national television exposure), and we could even say that television coverage ( have) dictated the pace and feel of American football Anyone who ( have) attended a live football game knows how commercial time-outs ( slow)the game and sometimes, at its most exciting moments,

( disrupt) the flow of events There is no serious objection, however, because without television, football knows that it simply wouldn't remain in the homes and hearts of Americans Also, without those advertising dollars, the teams couldn't afford the sky-high salaries of their high-priced superstars.

Soccer, on the other hand, except for its half-time break, has no time-outs; except for half-time, it

is constant run, run, run, run, back and forth, back and forth, relentlessly, with only a few seconds

of relaxation when a goal is scored, and that can happen seldom, sometimes never The best that commercial television coverage can hope for is an injury time-out, and in soccer that

( happen) only with decapitation or disembowelment

Second, Americans love their violence, and soccer doesn't deliver on this score the way that American football and hockey ( do ) There are brief moments, spurts of violence, yes, but fans can't expect the full-time menu of bone-crushing carnage that American football and hockey can deliver minute after minute, game after game In soccer, players are actually singled out and warned — shamed, with embarrassingly silly "yellow cards," for acts of violence and duplicity that would be smiled at in most American sports other than tennis and golf

Third, it is just too difficult to score in soccer America ( love) its football games with scores like 49 to 35 and a professional basketball game with scores below 100 regarded as a

defensive bore In soccer, on the other hand, scores like 2 to 1, even 1 to 0, commonplace and apparently desirable; games scoreless at the end of regulation time happen all the time (In the

515 games played in the final phase in the history of the World Cup games through 1994, only

1584 goals ( was/ were) scored That's three a game!) And if there no resolution at the end of overtime, the teams resort to a shoot-out that (have) more to do with luck than with real soccer skills Worse yet, it is possible for a team to dominate in terms of sheer talent and

"shots-on-goal" and still lose the game by virtue of a momentary lapse in defensive attention, a stroke of bad luck, and the opponent's break-away goal Things like that can happen, too, in baseball, but the problem somehow ( even) out over baseball's very long season of daily games In soccer, it just isn't fair Soccer authorities should consider making the goal smaller and doing away with the goalie to make scoring easier And the business of starting over after each

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be

goal, in the middle of the field, ( have ) yesteryear.

It ( seem )unlikely that Americans will ever fully comprehend or appreciate a sport in which players are not allowed to use their arms and hands Although the footwork of soccer players

a magnificent skill to behold, most American fans are perplexed by straitjacketed soccer players' inability and unwillingness to "pick up the darn ball and run with it!" The inability to use

substitutes (unless the players to be substituted for are lying dead or maimed on the field of play) also bewildering to Americans, who glorify the "sixth man" in basketball and a baseball game

in which virtually the entire roster (including an otherwise unemployable old man called "the designated hitter") deployed on the field at one time or another.

Finally, the field in soccer is enormous Considerably larger than the American football field, the soccer field could contain at least a dozen basketball courts Americans like their action

condensed, in a small field of vision — ten enormous sweaty people bouncing off one another and moving rapidly through a space the size of a medium-sized bedroom, twenty-two even larger people in bulky uniforms converging on a small, oddly shaped ball In soccer, on the other hand, there a premium on "spreading out," not infringing upon the force field occupied by a team- mate, so that fancy foot-passing is possible This spreading out across the vast meadow of the soccer playing field not lend itself, again, to close get-down-and-dirty television scrutiny Soccer is a great sport and it certainly ( deserve) the increased attention and popularity it is getting on all levels But — primarily, again, because it does not lend itself to television — it will never make it big in the United States the way these other sports , ( have) not until it

(change)some of its fundamental strategies

Subject and verb agreement PRACTICE V

Exercise I Choose the correct form of the verb in parentheses in the

following sentences.

John, along with twenty friends, (is/are) planning to have a party

The picture of the soldiers (brings/bring) back many memories

The quality of these recordings (is/are) not very good

If the duties of these officers (isn’t/aren’t) reduced, there will not be enough time to finish the project The effects of cigarette smoking (have/has) been proven to be extremely harmful

The use of credit cards in place of cash (have/has) increased rapidly in recent years

Advertisements on television (is/are) becoming more competitive than ever before

Living expenses in this country, as well as in many others, (is/are) at an all-time high

Mr Jones, accompanied by several members of the committee, (have/has) proposed some changes of the rules

The levels of intoxication(vary/varies) from subject to subject

Exercise II Choose the correct form of the verb in parentheses in the

following sentences.

Neither Bill nor Mary (is/are) going to the play tonight

Anything (is/are) better than going to another movie tonight

Skating (is/are) becoming more popular every day

A number of reporters (was/were) at the conference yesterday.

Everybody who (has/have) a fever must go home immediately

Your glasses (was/were) on the bureau last night

There (was/were) some people at the meeting last night

The committee (has/have) already reached a decision

A pair of jeans (was/were) in the washing machine this morning

Either John or his wife (make/makes) breakfast each morning

After she had perused the material, the secretary decided that everything (was/were) in order

The crowd at the basketball game (was/were) wild with excitement

Each student (has/have) answered the first three question

A pack of wild dogs (has/have) frightened all the ducks away

The jury (is/are) trying to reach a decision

The army (has/have) eliminated this section of the training test

The number of students who have withdrawn from class this quarter (is/are) appalling

There(has/have) been too many interruptions in this class

Every elementary school teacher (has/have) to take this examination

Neither Jill nor her parents (has/have) seen this movie before

1 The price of these jeans( be) reasonable 2 The books(be) borrowed from the library on my desk 3 The boy who won the two medals(be) a friend of mine 4 Bread and butter( be ) our daily food 5 The famous singer and composer( have) arrived 6 Collecting match-boxes( BE) one of his favourite pastimes 7 The quality of the candies(be) poor 8 Neither his father nor his mother ( be) mahjong 9 Neither parent ( be) fond of playing mahjong 10 None of my friends (be) there 11 Many a student ( have ) made the same mistake 12 Gold, as well as platinum, recently ( have) risen in price 13 The boss, as well as his colleagues,( have) been robbed by the robber 14 Ten tons( be) a heavy load 15 Fifty miles( be ) a long distance 16 Thirty years ( be) a long time 17 One of the books( have) been missing 18 The poor( be) suffering 19 You should decide which one of the three choices A, B, or C best ( answer) the question 20 One of the most intelligent students who ( score ) full marks( be) John

21 The only one of these most intelligent students who( be) under 18 ( be) Peter 22 One of these most intelligent students whose example ( is/are being) followed( be) John

Subject-Verb Agreement - Exercise 2 PRACTICE VI

1 Mumps ( is, are) not common among adults.

2 Viruses from third world countries ( is, are) a major concern.

3 Most of the sand ( is, are) wet from the high tide.

4 Either the two kittens or the puppy ( sits, sit) in my lap while I watch television.

5 A subject of great interest ( is, are) rainforests.

6 Hansel and Gretel ( is, are) a famous children's story.

7 The team members ( is, are) arguing over the defense tactics.

8 The economics of the trip ( was, were) pleasing.

9 Why ( is, are) your parents going to Africa for a vacation?

10 The mayor and the governor ( hopes, hope) that the bill will soon become a law Subject-Verb Agreement - Exercise 1

Choose the correct verb in each sentence below Then click the "Check My Work" button to view the correct answers

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1 Emily and Greg ( comes, come) to my house every Friday for lunch

2 There ( is, are) time to watch the movie

3 My friends who are in the band ( wants, want) me to play a musical instrument

4 My father or my brothers ( is, are) coming with me to the ball game

5 Everyone ( needs, need) time to relax

6 That bag of oranges ( looks, look) fresh

7 The lacrosse team ( hopes, hope) to win the tournament next week

8 Your trousers ( needs, need) to be cleaned

9 Some of the books on the shelf ( is, are) dusty

10 Even though the students like the class, a few ( thinks, think) that it is too complicated.PRACTICE VII

1) The United Nations in 1945.

1 Some people is/are/am very good at math.

2 Somebody have/has the winning lottery ticket

3 The doctor who has visited dozens of countries and has helped thousands of patients all around the world is/are/am over there

4 There is/are/am two sides to every argument

5 5,280 feet is/are/am a mile

6 Jill as well as Jack is/are/am up the hill

7 Either Heather or I go/goes

8 A: There is/are/am a lot of people here

B: Yeah Everybody is/are/am here for you All of them is/are/am waiting to listen to your speech.

9 Ten dollars is/are/am a nice raise I need the extra money

10 Rice is/are/am a common food all over the world It is/are/am very cheap Two bags of rice cost/costs only £7

11 Either the bus driver or the motorcycle rider is/are/am responsible for the accident

12 Neither the 23 children in the class nor Tony seem/seems to be upset about failing the spelling bee

13 A large number of countries is/are/am members of the United Nations

14 Not only the fans but also the team's head coach was/were shocked to be in the championship game

15 The number of computer advances is/are/am increasing every year

PRACTICE IX

The use of vitamin supplements and herbs (be) _ becoming increasingly popular among Americans.While many studies claim that vitamins and herbs can improve health, there (be) _ a lot of

controversy about their safety

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (do) _ not regulate vitamins and herbs

Most experts (believe) _ that herbal supplements are mild and somewhat harmless

Still, anyone who (take) _ too much of a vitamin or herb could suffer negative side effects

For example, some medical problems (have) _ been linked to overuse of ephedra, an herb taken by people to lose weight

Some research (suggest) _ that Vitamin C may help prevent cancer

People who (take) _ more than 1,000 miligrams of vitamin C daily may experience diarrhea or kidney stones

Advertisers say that the herb "kava kava" (reduce) _ anxiety and insomnia

Using large amounts of kava kava (be) _ not wise as muscle, eye or skin problems could result The danger of long-term use of vitamins and herbs (be) _ still unknown

There (be) _ a lot of evidence that vitamin-rich foods are beneficial

However, whether the use of supplements (be) _ helpful or not is still being debated

Most people (be) _ able to get all the vitamins they need in the foods they eat

A daily diet that (contain) _ foods from the 4 groups should supply all the nutrients a person needs.Eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily (be) _ said to provide all the essential vitamins we require

The best way to get the necessary vitamins and minerals (be) _ naturally, through a healthy diet

PRACTICE XI

1 The laws in the state of Michigan are different from the laws in the state of New York

2 The trees over the hill is green

3 China, a country with many people, grow a lot of rice

4 The computer lab, with its many computers, is moving into the new building soon

5 The shoes I bought last month, while comfortable, is out of style

6 The US, contrary to many people's opinions, welcomes individuality

7 All wild animals on this planet, though possibly violent in their natural habitat, are valuable and precious because they are here for a reason.

8 My neighbor's friends often sits around the pool partying and drinking too much

9 Someone we all know quite well are very sick

10 My cats, all wet and furry, has to get their nails clipped tomorrow

11.Talking to your doctor before taking supplements (be) _ advisable

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SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT: Additional Practice 1

1 The piano as well as the pipe organ to be tuned for the big concert

9 Hartford is one of those cities that working hard to reclaim a riverfront

HINT: Try starting the sentence with "Of those cities that "

Subject-verb agreement exercise 03

This exercise consists of 10 sentences For each sentence you should decide if the subject agrees with the verb If so, type the word "Correct" in the space below the sentence; if not, write the sentence correctly in the box below it Follow the directions of your instructor in completing this exercise A link appears at the end of the sentences that gives an explanation for each sentence

1 Laughter and joy always punctuate the child's shrieks

2 Neither the team nor the coach was satisfied with the victory

3 Marching and singing were two of the staple activities of the civil rights movement in the 1960s

4 The Surpreme Court close its session today

5 There was loud noise and music coming from inside the house

6 Politics is what he enjoys the most

7 The data do not support his conclusions

8 Large amounts of free time was one of the difficulties with the job

9 Intercollegiate athletics has a large budget at this university

10 "Silver Bells" are among my favorite Christmas songs