SubjectVerb Agreement

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Subject-Verb Agreement
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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

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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

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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)

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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 oclock
  classes
• Neither the instructor nor the students has /
  have any control over the number of 8 oclock
  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)

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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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