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Subject Verb
Agreement
Mr. McNealey
Subject Verb Agreement
• Subjects must agree with their verbs
in number and gender
• Singular subjects take singular verbs
• Plural subjects take plural verbs
• Ex. Bill (is, are) going to the game.
• Ex. The boats (is, are) leaving the
dock.
Indefinite Pronouns
• The following indefinite pronouns are
singular: each, either, neither, one,
everyone, everybody, no one, nobody,
anyone, anybody, someone, and
somebody
Examples
• No one leaves early.
• Neither of them knew the answer
• Everybody likes my uncle.
Indefinite Pronouns
• The following indefinite pronouns are
plural: several, few, both, and many
Examples
• Several of the women are pilots.
• A few in the crowd were rowdy.
• Have both tried harder?
Indefinite Pronouns
• The indefinite pronouns some, all,
any, most, and none may be either
singular or plural, depending on the
word that they refer to.
Examples
• Most of the steers were grazing.
• None of the damage was serious.
• None of the students have finished.
Agreement with
Compound Subjects
• Some sentences have more than one
subject. A compound subject that is
joined by and or both and is usually
plural. However, some compound
subjects have two parts that make up
one unit. These take a singular verb.
Agreement with
Compound Subjects
• Singular: Bacon and eggs is my
favorite breakfast.
• Plural: The dog and cat are playing.
• Plural: Both Anna and Mindy work at
the hospital.
Agreement with
Compound Subjects
• Compound subjects joined by or, nor,
either…or, or neither….nor always
have a verb that agrees with the
closer subject.
• Singular: Either Carlo or Max has the
book.
• Plural: Neither the garden nor the
lilacs are in bloom.
Agreement with
Compound Subjects
• When a compound subject is
preceded by many a, every, or each,
the subject takes a singular verb.
• Many a hiker and climber has gotten
lost in these mountains.
• Every door and window has been
locked.
Agreement with Special
Subjects
• A collective noun names a group. In a
sentence, a collective noun is singular
when it names the group as a whole.
• Ex. His family arrives. ( group as a
whole)
• Ex. His family are well. ( individually)
Special Subjects
Some nouns ending in s, such as mumps,
measles, and mathematics, take
singular verbs. Other nouns ending in
s, such as scissors, pants, binoculars,
and eyeglasses, take plural verbs.
Many nouns that end in ics are either
singular or plural, depending on the
context.
Examples
• Mathematics is my favorite subject.
• Politics is that professor’s area of
expertise.
Special Subjects
• A noun of amount can refer to a
single unit, in which case it is
singular. It can also refer to several
individual units, in which case it is
plural.
Nouns of amount
• Examples
• Ten weeks is the period of the first
term. ( considered single unit)
• Ten weeks are needed to complete
that research. ( Not single unit ten
weeks out of how many?)