The 20 Rules of Subject Verb Agreement

The 20 Rules of Subject Verb Agreement in Standard English 1. Subjects and verbs must agree in number. This is the cornerstone rule that forms the background of the concept. The dog growls when he is angry. The dogs growl when they are angry. 2. Don’t get confused by the words that come between the subject and verb; they do not affect agreement. The dog, who is chewing on my jeans, is usually very good. 3. Prepositional phrases between the subject and verb usually do not affect agreement. The colors of the rainbow are beautiful. 4. When sentences start with “there” or “here,” the subject will always be placed after the verb, so care needs to be taken to identify it correctly. There is a problem with the balance sheet.Here are the papers you requested. 5. Subjects don't always come before verbs in questions. Make sure you accurately identify the subject before deciding on the proper verb form to use. Does Lefty usually eat grass? Where are the pieces of this puzzle. 6. If two subjects are joined by and, they typically require a plural verb form. The cow and the pig are jumping over the moon. 7. The verb is singular if the two subjects separated by and refer to the same person or thing. Red beans and rice is my mom's favorite dish. 8. If the words each, every, or no come before the subject, the verb is singular. No smoking and drinking is allowed.Every man and woman is required to check in. 9. If the subjects are both singular and are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also the verb is singular. Jessica or Christian is to blame for the accident. 10. The only time when the object of the preposition factors into the decision of plural or singular verb forms is when noun and pronoun subjects like some, half, none, more, all, etc. are followed by a prepositional phrase. In these sentences, the object of the preposition determines the form of the verb. All of the chicken is gone.All of the chickens are gone. 11. The singular verb form is usually used for units of measurement. Four quarts of oil was required to get the car running. 12. If the subjects are both plural and are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, the verb is plural. Dogs and cats are both available at the pound.

13. If one subject is singular and one plural and the words are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, you use the verb form of the subject that is nearest the verb. Do your sisters or your girlfriend want any pizza? 14. Indefinite pronouns typically take singular verbs. Everybody wants to be loved. 15. * Except for the pronouns (few, many, several, both) that always take the plural form. Few were left alive after the flood. 16. If two infinitives are separated by and they take the plural form of the verb. To walk and to chew gum require great skill. 17. When gerunds are used as the subject of a sentence they take the singular verb form of the verb, but when they are linked by and they take the plural form. Standing in the water was a bad idea.Swimming in the ocean and playing drums are my hobbies. 18. Collective nouns like herd, senate, class, crowd, etc. usually take a singular verb form. The herd is stampeding. 19. Titles of books, movies, novels, etc. are treated as singular and take a singular verb. The Burbs is a movie starring Tom Hanks. 20. Final Rule – Remember, only the subject affects the verb!

Rules for subject verb agreement 1. When words like the following are used as subjects, they take singular verb. Everybody

Anybody

Somebody

Nobody

Each

Everyone

Anyone

Someone

No one

Either

Everything

Anything

Something

Nothing

Neither

Everybody knows the answer. Nobody speaks German here. Somebody was in the room.

2. When every and each come before a singular subject joined by and, the verb is

singular. Every man and woman has the right to vote. Each student and teacher was aware of the difficulty.

3. Prepositional phrases that come between the subject and the verb do not change the number of the subject. The teacher as well as the students was working on the problem. The mother together with her children is waiting.

Some examples of prepositional phrases that function like that are: As well as In addition to Together with Along with Except

4. When the verb comes before the subject as in there or here sentences, it agrees with

the subject that immediately follows the verb. There is a tree in the garden. There are many trees in the garden. There is a pine tree and some oaks in the garden.

There goes the cat. There seems to be a relationship. There arise problems. There arises a problem.

5. “Introductory it” is always singular. It is my sister who works in the hospital. It is my cats which cause the trouble.

6. Subjects joined by and take a plural verb (except for number 2).

My sister and brother live in Berlin. Both the teacher and the student were surprised.

7. Several, many, both, few are plural words and take a plural verb.

Both are happy with the grades they got. Many were lost on the way. Few have done their homework.

8. Some nouns are always plural and always take a plural verb. • • •

Trousers, pants, slacks, shorts, briefs, jeans Glasses, sunglasses Scissors, pliers, tweezers

My jeans are old. This year shorts are in fashion. Where are my scissors?

9. Some words such as none, any, all, more, most, some, majority, half may take either

singular or plural verbs depending on the meaning. All the money has been spent. All of the students know the answer.

10. When subjects are joined by words such as neither, either, not only the verb must

agree with the closer subject. Either the man or his wife knows the answer. Either the man or his friends know the answer. Either the children or the man knows the answer.

11. Collective nouns are usually singular when regarded as a unit. My family lives in Ankara. Our team has won every game this year.

Sometimes when the members are seen as functioning independently, these collective nouns may be plural.

My family have a lot of money. (members of my family) Our team are working hard to win every game they play. (team members)

•

Some collective nouns in this group are: Family, team, crew, class, government, committee

1. Some nouns have the same singular and plural form. They take singular or plural verb depending on the meaning. This species of monkeys lives only in India. There are many species of monkeys.

•

Some nouns in this group are: Species, series, deer, fish, sheep

1. Expressions stating amount of time, money, weight, volume are plural in form but take a singular verb as in: Three weeks is a long time. Two hundred dollars is a lot of money.

2. Some nouns look plural with –s but they take a singular verb. Sciences

Abstract nouns

Diseases

Physics

News

Measles

Mathematics

Politics

Mumps

Statistics

Ethics

Economics

Maths is found difficult by many students. Statistics requires complicated methods.

3. Generic references with the require plural verb.

The rich are not always happy. The young like to listen to loud music. The old hate loud music. The English are distant and the French are humorous.

4. Note the use of foreign plurals. Singular

Plural

Analysis

Analyses

Thesis

Theses

Crisis

Crises

Basis

Bases

Parenthesis

Parentheses

Curriculum

Curricula

Memorandum

Memoranda

Datum

Data

Bacterium

Bacteria

Medium

Media

Criterion

Criteria

Phenomenon

Phenomena

Stimulus

Stimuli

Radius

Radii

Syllabus

Syllabi

5. Don’t forget that some common English words have irregular plurals. Plural

Singular

Child

Children

Person

People