Download Agreements * subject verb agreement

The verb of a sentence must agree with its subject in
number. The number is that form of a word which
indicates weather one (singular) or more than one
(plural) is meant.
 Singular subject takes singular verbs. Nouns
ending ‘s’ are usually plural; verbs ending in ‘s’
are usually singular. For instance;
 The boy works hard.
 The boys work hard.
The number of a subject is not affected by the
phrases between the subject and the verb.
For instance;
The row of bushes was planted to form privacy
screen.(singular)
The boats by the dock need repair.(plural)
Coach Brock, together with his players, is
leaving for the tournament.(singular)
The stereo, including headphones and speakers
was on sale.(singular)
The verb agrees with the subject not the
predicate nominative.
For instance;
One of his favourite snacks is peanuts.(
the predicate nominative peanuts is plural,
but that has no effect on the subject-verb
agreement)
It is often better to avoid this agreement
problem by rewording the sentence. E.g.
Peanuts is his favourite snack.
If a sentence asks a question or begins with
there or here, you must be careful to locate
the subject and make the verb agree with it.
For instance;
What is the title of your project work?
There are thirty-five pages in this chapter.
Here are the ingredients for the recipe.
Titles of literary works, works of art,
organizations, cities and countries are
usually singular even if they are plural.
Pickwick Papers is a novel written by
Charles Dickens.
General motors is a huge corporation.
Grand Rapids is located in Western
Michigan.
The following words are usually singular
although plural in form: mumps, measles,
rickets, news.
Measles was one deadly disease.
Rickets is caused by lack of vitamin D.
The news keeps us informed of world
events.
Collective nouns may either be singular
or plural
The jury has been dismissed.
The jury were unable to agree among
themselves.
Note// A collective noun may take a plural
form to refer to more than one group of the
same kind. (juries, teams, classes, families)
Expressions stating amounts(fractions
,measurement, money, time)may either be singular
or plural.
Two thirds of the peanuts were
gone.(plural)
Hundred dollars for a bicycle is
reasonable(singular)
Fifty dollars were placed in separate
envelopes.
Words that end in –ics may be singular or
plural depending on their meaning.
Civics was his best subject in high school.
Ethics is the science of human conduct.
Mathematics is a pure science.
Gymnastics are performed before large audience.
His ethics are not what they should be.
Compound subjects joined by and take a
plural verb
Jeff and Prince were here.
Note//:
where the two are joined by and but refer
to one thing, use a singular verb.
e.g. spaghetti and meatballs is very
delicious.
When a compound subject is joined by or, nor,
either-or, neither- nor, the verb agrees with the
nearest subject.
Either her helpers or the Liberian is there to
assist. ( the subject closer to the verb is
singular therefore, the verb is singular)
Either the Liberian or her helpers are there
to assist.( the subject closer to the verb is
plural so the verb is plural)