Subject-Verb Agreement

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

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

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)

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)

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

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

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)

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

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

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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