Download SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT General Rule: Make subjects and

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
General Rule: Make subjects and
verbs agree. Singular subjects agree
with singular verbs; plural subjects agree
with plural verbs.
For example:
The girl (singular subject) laughs (singular
verb).
The girls (plural subject) laugh (plural verb).
TEST YOUR SKILLS!!
Circle the correct answer.
1. The blue stain on the sheets (comes, come) from
the blue jeans I washed with them.
2. There (was, were) many applicants for the
position.
3. None of the suspects (have, has) confessed.
4. Everyone (need, needs) to turn in papers by
Friday.
5. The dog and the cats (beg, begs) to go outside.
6. The dog, together with the cats, (begs, beg) to go
outside.
7. The nurses or Dr. Brown usually (takes, take) the
night shift.
8. Neither Mrs. Simpson nor her students (agree,
agrees) with the decision.
Answers:
1. comes. (Ignore words and phrases that intervene
between the subject and the verb.)
2. were. (The verb agrees only with the subject, even if
the subject follows the verb.)
3. has. (Indefinite pronouns always take a singular verb.)
***Indefinite pronouns***
each, either, and neither,--one words (no one, anyone,
none, everyone, someone), ---body words (nobody,
somebody, everybody, anybody), --thing words
(nothing, something, anything).
4. needs. (“Everyone” is an indefinite pronoun. It takes a
singular verb.)
5. beg. (Compound subjects joined by and take plural
verbs.)
6. begs. (Phrases like “together with,” “as well as,” and
“along with” are not the same as and. They do not
make a compound subject requiring a plural verb.)
7. takes. (If compound subjects are joined by or or nor,
the verb agrees with the subject closer to it.)
8. agree. (If the compound subjects are joined by or or
nor, the verb agrees with the subject closer to it.)
Write Place
University of Dayton
http://learningsupport.udayton.edu/writeplace/index.htm