Subject Verb Agreement
Subject verb agreement (Part-1)
The
subject and verb used should agree in number. The basic principle which
monitors sentences formation is ‘singular subjects need singular verbs;
plural subjects need plural verbs’.
Rules
for subject verb agreement
Rule
1 - A verb agrees with its subject in number
- The car is
in the garage.
- The
flower smells good.
To pluralize
a noun, we usually add ‘s’ e.g. Trees
To pluralize
a verb, we need to drop the ‘s’ e.g. He walks. They walk.
You
might guess that ‘stays’ and ‘smells’ are plural verbs because they end in ‘s’.
They aren't. Both ‘stays’ and ‘smells’ are singular verbs.
Rule
2 - Some subjects always take a singular verb even though the meaning may
seem plural.
These
subjects always take singular verb:
Each,
someone, either, anyone, neither, nobody, one, somebody, no one, anybody,
everyone, everybody
- Someone in
the game was (not were) hurt.
- Neither of
the men is (not are) working.
Rule-3
- ‘Some’, ‘any’, ‘all’, ‘most’, may be singular or plural, depending upon the
noun in a sentence.
- Most of
the news is good.
(singular subject ‘news’ -
singular verb ‘is’)
- Most of
the flowers were yellow.
(plural subject ‘flowers’ -
plural verb ‘were’)
- All of
the pizza was gone.
(singular subject ‘pizza’ -
singular verb ‘was’)
- All
students were late today.
(plural subject ‘students’
- plural verb ‘were’)
Rule-4
Subjects joined by ‘and’ are plural. Subjects joined by ‘or’ or ‘not’ take a
verb that agrees with the last subject.
- Rahul and
Ajay are leaving.
- Neither
Bob nor George is leaving.
- Neither
Bob nor his friends are leaving.
Rule-5
‘There’ and ‘here’ are never subjects. In the sentences that begin with these
words, the subject is usually found later on in the sentence.
- There were
five books on the shelf. (‘were’ agrees with the subject book)
- Here is
the report you wanted. (‘is’ agrees with subject ‘report’)
Rule-6
Collective nouns may be singular or plural, depending on their use in the
sentence. A collective noun is a noun used to name a whole group.
- The
orchestra is playing a hit song.
(Orchestra is considered as
one unit- singular)
- The
orchestra were asked to give their musical backgrounds.
(Orchestra is considered as
separate individual- plural)
Rule-7
Expressions of time, money, measurement and weight are usually singular when
the amount is considered one unit.
- Five
hundred is (not are) too much to ask for.
- Ten days
is (not are) not nearly enough time.
On
occasion, however these terms are used in the plural sense:
- There were
thirty minutes to countdown.
Rule-8
Some nouns, while plural in form, are actually singular in meaning.
- Mathematics
is (not are) an easy subject for some people.
Economics, social studies,
statistics, civics, physics, gymnastics, phonics, news, acrobatics, measles are
such examples.
Rule-9
Don’t and Doesn’t must agree with the subject. Use ‘doesn,t’ after he, she, it
and ‘don’t’ with they.
- Doesn’t he
(not don’t) know how to sail?
- They don’t
(no doesn’t) make movies like that anymore.
- He didn’t
go (not went) to school today.
Exercises
Rewrite these sentences
using the correct alternative.
1. There (is/are) twenty students in the room.
There are twenty students in the room.
2.
Neither my brothers nor my father (has/have) attended the concert.
Neither my brothers nor my father has attended the concert.
3.
Book in the study room (belong/belongs) to Jessica.
Book in the study room belongs to Jessica.
4. (Doesn't/don't she know how to paint?
Doesn't she know how to paint?
5. The committee is/are meeting today.
The committee is meeting today.
6. A number of students (was/were) absent today.
A number of students were absent today.
7. Mathematics (is/are) an interesting subject for many.
Mathematics is an interesting subject for many.
8. Manoj and his brother (go/goes) to practice football every day.
Manoj and his brother go to practice football every day.
9. Either my hard drive or one of my programs (is/are) not working right.
Either my hard drive or one of my programs is not working right.
10. Each of my sons (wear/wears) a headgear while skating.
Each of my sons wears a headgear while skating.
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