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Subject-Verb Agreement Rules Explained

The document discusses subject-verb agreement rules, providing examples of how: 1) Singular subjects require singular verbs and plural subjects require plural verbs. 2) Compound subjects connected with "and" require plural verbs, while those with "or" or "nor" can be singular or plural depending on the number of the closest subject. 3) Collective nouns and indefinite pronouns are usually singular, while plural forms as titles are often singular.

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13 views2 pages

Subject-Verb Agreement Rules Explained

The document discusses subject-verb agreement rules, providing examples of how: 1) Singular subjects require singular verbs and plural subjects require plural verbs. 2) Compound subjects connected with "and" require plural verbs, while those with "or" or "nor" can be singular or plural depending on the number of the closest subject. 3) Collective nouns and indefinite pronouns are usually singular, while plural forms as titles are often singular.

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© All Rights Reserved
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1.

the subject-verb agreement rules require that you match both the
number and the person
2. 1. Singular subjects require singular verbs. For example, in the sentence, “The train runs from
Phoenix to El Paso,” “the train” is the singular subject taking on the singular verb “runs.”
3. 2. Plural subjects require plural verbs. In the sentence, “The trains run all night long,” the plural
“trains” necessitates the plural verb “run.”
4. 3. Compound subjects with the word “and” require plural verbs. In the sentence, “Pizza and
cauliflower taste great together,” “pizza” and “cauliflower” are grouped together to create a
compound subject.
5. 4. Compound subjects with the word “or” or “nor” can take either a singular verb or a plural
verb. If the number of the subject closest to the verb is singular, use a singular verb. For
example, “Either Jeff or Jane knows the answer.” If the number of the subject closest to the verb
is plural, use a plural verb. For example, “Either Jeff or his sisters know the answer.”
6. 5. Collective nouns can be singular or plural. Collective nouns like “team,” “company,” “city,”
“state,” “government,” “committee,” and “store” are singular nouns and thus take singular verbs.
Collective nouns like “team members,” “company leaders,” and “city officials” are plural and thus
take plural verbs.
7. 6. Indefinite pronouns are singular and take singular verbs. The indefinite pronouns “anything,”
“anywhere,” “anybody,” “anyone,” “each,” “each one,” “either,” “neither,” “everyone,”
“everybody,” “nobody,” “somebody,” “someone,” and “no one” are singular. They take the
singular form of verbs. For example, “Nobody likes fondue anymore.”
8. 7. A pair is a singular noun and takes a singular verb. For example, “pair” is the singular subject
in “That old pair of jeans has treated me well.”
9. 8. Plural-form subjects are often singular when presented as a title. For example, “Physics is an
essential subject.”
10. 9. Gerunds often function as singular nouns, and they take singular verbs. For example,
“Swimming was the sport that taught me how to win.”
11. 10. The phrase “one of the [plural noun] who/that” requires a singular verb. Although the phrase
will contain a plural noun, it should receive a singular verb to agree with the noun phrase “one of
the [plural noun],” which functions as the subject. Despite the sentence referencing a group of
people or things, the noun phrase is focusing on just one of them. For example, “Mr. Lee is one
of the teachers who coaches sports after school.” Another example is: “One of the dogs is
wagging its tail.”
12. 11. “They” is a third-person pronoun that can be both singular and plural. “They” can refer to a
group of people or to one individual. Corresponding verbs should be singular or plural according
to the context.
13. 1. Singular subjects joined by the word and are generally plural.
14. Both the Art teacher and the students (They) enjoy a student-centered
approach.
15. 2. Indefinite pronouns (someone, anyone, no one, anybody, somebody, nobody,
one, either, neither) usually take a singular verb.
16. No one likes to fail at university.
17. 3. Nouns used with a quantifier (some, any, all, most) can be singular or plural.
This depends on whether the noun is countable or uncountable.
18. Some of the policies (They) were rejected whilst others were
approved. (policies = plural countable noun)
19. Some of the research (It) was conducted at the University of
Melbourne. (research = uncountable noun)
20. 4. After a subject joined by either … or, neither … nor, or not only … but also, the
verb agrees with the subject nearest to it.
21. Neither the lecturer nor the students want to reschedule the
class. (want agrees with students)
22. 5. There is and there are agree with the noun that follows.
23. There is flexibility in this kind of management structure.
24. There are many advantages to this kind of management structure.
25.

Common questions

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With compound subjects connected by 'or' or 'nor,' the verb agrees with the subject nearest to it. If the closest subject is singular, a singular verb is used as in 'Either Jeff or Jane knows the answer.' If the nearest subject is plural, a plural verb is used, as in 'Either Jeff or his sisters know the answer' .

Singular subjects joined by the word 'and' generally require plural verbs. For example, 'Both the art teacher and the students enjoy a student-centered approach' uses 'enjoy,' a plural verb, because the subjects are combined into a compound subject .

'They' can function as both singular and plural, so it may take singular or plural verbs depending on the context. In referring to a group, it uses a plural verb, e.g., 'They are going to the store.' For singular, as in referring to a non-binary individual, it might use a verb like 'is,' although usage can be context-dependent and nuanced .

Indefinite pronouns like 'anyone,' 'nobody,' and 'each' are considered singular and take singular verbs. For example, 'Nobody likes fondue anymore' uses 'likes' as singular . However, pronouns used with quantifiers depend on the noun's countability. For instance, 'Some of the policies were rejected' uses a plural verb because 'policies' is plural .

Singular subjects require singular verbs, such as in the sentence 'The train runs from Phoenix to El Paso,' where 'the train' is singular and uses the verb 'runs' . Conversely, plural subjects necessitate plural verbs, demonstrated in 'The trains run all night long,' where 'trains' is plural and uses the verb 'run' .

'There is' and 'There are' agree with the noun following them. 'There is' is used with singular nouns, as in 'There is flexibility in this kind of management structure.' Conversely, 'There are' is used with plural nouns, such as 'There are many advantages to this management structure' .

Collective nouns can take singular or plural verbs depending on their form. Singular collective nouns like 'team,' 'company,' or 'committee' require singular verbs as in 'The team wins the game.' Plural collective nouns like 'team members' need plural verbs, e.g., 'The team members win the games' .

Verbs in the phrase 'one of the [plural noun] who/that' agree with the singular noun 'one,' hence they are singular. For instance, 'Mr. Lee is one of the teachers who coaches sports after school,' where 'one' is emphasized, takes the singular verb 'coaches' .

Compound subjects connected by 'and' require plural verbs. For example, in 'Pizza and cauliflower taste great together,' both 'pizza' and 'cauliflower' form a compound subject, leading to the plural verb 'taste' .

Gerunds function as singular nouns and thus take singular verbs. For example, in 'Swimming was the sport that taught me how to win,' 'Swimming' acts as the singular subject, calling for the singular verb 'was' .

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