Subject-Verb Agreement Overview

Subject-Verb Agreement Overview

• Subject-verb agreement is a fundamental grammatical rule in English.
• It dictates that the verb in a sentence must agree in number (singular or plural) with its subject.
• A singular subject requires a singular verb, and a plural subject requires a plural verb.

Identifying the Subject

• The subject of a sentence is the noun or pronoun that performs the action or is the focus of the sentence.
• Locate the subject to determine if it is singular or plural to ensure the correct verb form.

Singular Subjects

• Singular subjects generally end in a singular noun or pronoun; for example, he, she, it, and the name of a person, place, thing or idea.
• Singular subjects often require singular verbs like is, are, was, were, etc.

Plural Subjects

• Plural subjects generally contain a plural noun or pronoun; for example, they, we, you and plural nouns.
• Plural subjects often require plural verbs like are, were, have, etc.

Compound Subjects

• A compound subject consists of two or more subjects joined by and.
• If the subjects are joined by and, treat the subject as plural.
• Examples: The dog and the cat (plural) are enjoying.

Compound Subjects Joined by 'or' or 'nor'

• If the subjects joined by or or nor are different numbers (one singular and one plural), the verb agrees with the subject that is closest to the verb.
• Example: The dog or the cats is barking. (cats is closer to the verb, therefore the verb is plural.)

Subjects with intervening phrases or clauses

• Phrases or clauses between the subject and verb do not change the number of the subject.
• The verb in the sentence must still agree in number with the subject.

Indefinite Pronouns

• Some indefinite pronouns are singular, while others are plural.
• You must ensure that the indefinite pronoun agrees with the verb.

Singular Indefinite Pronouns

• Singular indefinite pronouns include: anyone, anything, each, either, neither, nobody, no one, one, somebody, someone, something.
• These singular indefinite pronouns call for singular verbs.

Plural Indefinite Pronouns

• Plural indefinite pronouns include: both, few, many, several.
• These plural indefinite pronouns call for plural verbs.

Collective Nouns

• Collective nouns (like team, committee, family, etc.) can be singular or plural depending on the context in the sentence.
• Treat the collective noun as singular if it refers to the group as a whole.
• Treat the collective noun as plural if it refers to the individual members of the group.

Exceptions and Special Cases

• There/here as subjects. Example: There is no answer. Here are some solutions. There are several.
• Other exceptions include The news and the kind of (plural).