Subjects and verbsmust AGREE with one another in number (singular or plural). Thus,if a subject is singular, its verb must also be singular; if a subject isplural, its verb must also be plural.
In present tenses, nouns and verbs form pluralsin opposite ways:
nouns ADD an sto the singular form,
BUT
verbs REMOVE an s from the singularform.
Here are nine subject-verb agreement rules.
1.A phrase orclausebetween subject and verb does not change the number of the subject.
Examples:
2.Indefinite pronouns as subjects
- Singularindefinite pronoun subjects take singular verbs.
- Plural indefinitepronoun subjects take plural verbs.
PLURAL:several, few, both, many
- Some indefinitepronouns may be either singular orplural: with uncountable, usesingular; with countable, useplural.
EITHER SINGULAR OR PLURAL: some, any, none, all,most
Sugar is uncountable; therefore, the sentence has a singular verb.
Marbles are countable; therefore, the sentence has a plural verb.
3.Compound subjects joined by and are always plural.
4. With compoundsubjects joined by or/nor, theverb agrees with the subject nearer to it.
In the above example, the plural verb are agrees with the nearer subject actors.
In this example, the singular verb is agrees with the nearer subject director.
5.Inverted Subjects must agree with theverb.
6.Collective Nouns (group,jury, crowd, team, etc.) may be singular or plural, depending on meaning.
Inthis example, the jury is acting as one unit; therefore, the verb is singular.
In this example, the jury members are acting as twelve individuals; therefore,the verb is plural.
7.Titles of single entities (books,organizations, countries, etc.)are always singular.
8.Plural form subjects
- Plural form subjectswith a singular meaning take a singular verb. (e.g. news, measles,mumps, physics, etc.)
- Plural form subjectswith singular or plural meaning take a singular or plural verb, depending on meaning. (e.g. politics, economics, etc.)
Inthis example, politics is a single topic; therefore, the sentence has a singularverb.
In this example, politics refers to the many aspects of the situation;therefore, the sentence has a plural verb.
- Plural form subjectswith a plural meaning take a plural verb. (e.g. scissors, trousers)
Note: In this example, the subject of the sentence is pair;therefore, the verb must agree with it. (Because scissors is theobject of the preposition, scissors doesnot affect the number of the verb.)
9.With subject and subjectivecomplement of different number, the verb alwaysagrees with the subject.
10-A. With one of those ________ who, use a plural verb.
The above example implies that others besides Hannah like to read comic books. Therefore, the plural verb is the correct form to use.
10-B. With the only one of those ________who, use a singular verb.
The above example implies that no one else except for Hannah likes to read comic books. Therefore, the singular verb is the correct for to use.
11-A. With the number of _______, use a singular verb.
11-B. With a number of _______, use a plural verb.
12. With every ______ and many a ________, use a singular verb.
