Download Subject-Verb Agreement

With Indefinite Pronouns and Compound Subjects
Review
 Remember, the subject and the verb of the sentence
must agree.
 Singular subjects must have singular verbs
 Plural subjects must have plural verbs
 Sometimes, the way a sentence is written can make it
tricky to find the subject.
 You have to know what the subject of the sentence is in
order to choose the verb that agrees.
What is an Indefinite Pronoun?
 Pronouns = substitutes for nouns
 Personal pronouns refer to specific people, places,
things, or ideas.
 Example: Anna called. She is on her way.
 However, some pronouns do not refer to a specific or
definite person, place, thing, or idea. These are called
indefinite pronouns.
 Some examples:
Someone
Anybody
Either
One
Nothing
Everything
Everyone
Singular Indefinite Pronouns
 Some indefinite pronouns are singular and thus, have
singular verbs. The following indefinite pronouns are
singular:
Anybody
Anyone
Anything
Each
Either
Everybody
Everyone
Everything
Neither
Nobody
Nothing
No one
One
Somebody
Someone
Something
Plural Indefinite Pronouns
 Some indefinite pronouns are plural, and thus, take
plural verbs. The following indefinite pronouns are
plural:
Both
Few
Many
Several
Other Indefinite Pronouns
 Some indefinite pronouns can be singular or plural,
depending on their meaning in the sentence. The following
indefinite pronouns can be singular or plural:
All
Any
More
Most
None
Some
 To decide if one of these indefinite pronouns is singular or
plural, look at the noun in the prepositional phrase that
follows it.
Ex: All of the geraniums (was / were) in bloom.
Practice
Everyone at the party (likes / like) the hummus dip.
All of my friends (has / have) had the stomach flu.
Several of those colors (does / do) appeal to me.
Nobody in my class (has / have) the notes.
Compound Subjects - and
 Compound subjects = more than one subject joined by
a conjunction (and, or, nor).
Ex: Andy and Ashley are getting married.
 Compound subjects joined by the word and agree with
plural verbs.
 These subject-verb pairs will probably sound correct to
your ear, but if you need to test it, you can always
replace the compound subject with the word they to
see if the subject and verb agree.
Ex: They (is / are) getting married.
Compound Subjects – or, nor
 When compound subjects are joined by the words or
or nor, look at the subjects in order to decide if they
should take a singular or plural verb.
 If both subjects are singular, the verb should be
singular.
 Ex: A pen or a pencil (is / are) needed for the test.
 If both subjects are plural, the verb should be plural.
 Ex: Neither the leopards nor the tigers (was / were)
paying attention to the herd of antelope.
Compound Subjects – or, nor
 What if one subject is singular and the other subject is
plural?
 Make the verb agree with the subject it is closest to in
the sentence.
 Ex: Neither the manager nor the employees (wants /
want) to close the store late.
 Ex: Neither the employees nor the manager (wants /
want) to close the store late.
Practice
The knives and forks (is / are) in the drawer.
Neither the book nor the newspaper (says / says)
anything about the incident in 1954.
Armadillos or anteaters (is / are) going to be on display
at the zoo.
Ali or her parents (is / are) bringing Grandma’s gift.