Subject-verb agreement

Mini-Lesson 1
Exercise 1
Mini-Lesson 2
Exercise 2
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SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

The most important thing to remember with subject-verb agreement is that:

		Singular subjects need singular verbs.
		Plural subjects need plural verbs.
		Uncountable nouns take singular verbs

Here is some further information. Read through it before trying the task.

Anyone/anybody, everyone/everybody, someone/somebody, no-one/nobody
are singular pronouns and require singular verbs.


e.g.		Everyone has to carry an I.D. card.
		Somebody has left a mobile phone in the lecture hall.
		No-one have ever seen her again.

All, some, none can be both singular and plural, depending on what they are referring to.

e.g.

Countable noun:

Some of the assignments are missing.

The Company is involved in other lawsuits, but none are considered valid.

Some of the money is missing

No-one have ever seen her again.

e.g.	Uncountable noun:
		All the wine has been drunk.
		During fiscal 2001, all outstanding debt was cleared.
		None of the petrol were spilled.

Each is often followed by a phrase ending in a plural word (e.g. each of the students…), but 'each' is always singular and requires a singular verb.


e.g.		Each of the students is responsible for submitting work punctually.
		Each preferred share was converted into 1.1273 common shares.
		Each Committee is directed by an appointed board.
		The Principal asks that each are considered equally.

There and here: In sentence constructions starting with 'there' or 'here', the subject determines whether the verb is singular or plural.


e.g.		There are two reasons for this.
		There is no reason for this.
		Here come the police. (uncountable noun)
		Here comes a policewoman.
		There is a number of different possibilities.

Exercise 1

Read the following passage and select the correct option.

Further Information on Subject-Verb Agreement

Neither, either: Strictly speaking, these pronouns are singular and require singular verbs even though they can seem to be referring to two things.


e.g.		Neither of the books is useful.
		Either is fine with me.
		Neither the skirt nor the trousers are suitable.

Plural nouns: Some nouns are always plural and require plural verbs. These include glasses, trousers, scissors, remains etc. However, if they are preceded by 'a pair of', the verb is singular because the word pair becomes the subject.


e.g.		The goods were found to be faulty.
		His remains were buried in the jungle.
		My trousers are too long.
		That pair of trousers is too long.
		My glasses is broken.

Singular nouns ending in 's' :Conversely, some words end in -s and appear to be plural but are really singular and require singular verbs.


e.g.		The news is bad.
		Measles 痲疹 is a dangerous disease for pregnant women.
		Mumps 腮腺炎 aren't pleasant either.

Expressions such as together with, as well as, and along with do not function like and. Unlike and (which compounds two subjects) they only modify the earlier word.


e.g.		Hong Kong, together with Macau, is an autonomous region.
		Hong Kong and Macau are autonomous regions.
		Lady Gaga, along with Madonna, are female role models.

When all, any, more, most and some act as subjects, the verb can be singular or plural, depending on the meaning. Fractional expressions such as half of, a part of, a percentage of, a majority of are also sometimes singular and sometimes plural. The expression "more than one" takes a singular verb.


e.g.	Singular verb:
		More than one student has tried this.
		50% of the university was destroyed by fire.
		A large percentage of the police is in favour of carrying guns.
		Some girls likes to drive motor bikes, but not many.


e.g.	Plural verb:
		Some of the members are still waiting.
		50% of the parents were at the school Governors' meeting.
		More than one person have drowned there.

Exercise 2

Based on the above information, select the options below.