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Agreement
Subject and Verb
A verb agrees with its subject in
number
 Singular subjects take singular verbs
 Plural subjects take plural verbs
 Singular verbs have an “S” on the end and plural
verbs do NOT have an “S” on the end.
 Singular verb: runs
 Plural verb: run
 Think about a football game. Only one side has the
ball at one time. The ball represents an “s”. If the
offense (subject) has an “s” on it or if it is plural, then
the defense (verb) will NOT have an “s” on it. Only
one side can have the ball (the “s”).
Examples:
 The car comes to a sudden stop.
 Car (offense) does not have the ball (“s”)
 Comes (defense) has to have the ball (“s”)
 Many senators oppose the new tax bill.
 Senators (offense) has the ball (“s”)
 Oppose (defense) cannot have the ball (“s”)
Prepositional phrases between subjects
and verbs
 The number of a subject (singular or plural) is
not changed by a prepositional phrase
following the subject.
 In other words, the object (noun) in a
prepositional phrase can NEVER be the
subject of a sentence.
Examples:
 The lights on the Christmas tree create a
festive atmosphere.
 On the Christmas tree is a prepositional
phrase, so tree cannot be the subject
 Lights (offense) is the PLURAL subject
 Create (defense) is the PLURAL verb
Indefinite Pronouns
 The following indefinite pronouns are
SINGULAR:
 Anybody, anyone, each, either, everybody,
everyone, neither, nobody, no one, one,
somebody, someone
 These indefinite pronouns (offense) do NOT
have the ball (“S”), so the verb (defense)
MUST have the ball (“S”)
Examples
 Everyone was invited to the party.
 Everyone (offense)-no ball
 Was (defense)-has the ball
 Either of the answers is correct.
 Either (offense)
 Is (defense)
 Of the answers-prepositional phrase
Indefinite pronouns
 The following indefinite pronouns are plural:
 Both, few, many, several
 This means these pronouns (offense) have
the ball (“s”), so the verb (defense) will NOT
have the ball (“s”).
Examples:
 Both of the apples are good.
 Both (offense) has the ball
 Are (defense) does not have the ball
 Few of the guests know about the surprise.
 Few (offense) has the ball
 Know (defense) does not have the ball
Indefinite pronouns
 The following indefinite pronouns may be
either singular or plural depending on the
number of the object of the prepositional
phrase following the subject (offense):
 All, any, most, none, some
 This means that for the first and ONLY time
will you use the object of the preposition to
determine if the verb should be singular or
plural
Examples:




All of the fruit looks ripe.
Fruit (object of preposition) is singular, so
All (offense) does not have the ball
Looks (defense) has to have the ball




All of the pears look ripe.
Pears (OP) is plural, so
All (offense) has the ball
Look (defense) cannot have the ball
Compound subjects
 Subjects (offense) joined by “and” usually
take a plural verb (defense)
 This means the subject will have the ball if it
is two singular subjects joined by “AND” and
the verb will not have the ball
Examples
 Last year a library and a museum were built
in our town.
 Library/museum are joined by “and” which
makes the offense have the ball
 Were built is the verb and it does not have the
ball (“s”)
Compound subjects
 Subjects joined by “or” / “nor”:
 You must look at the second subject in order to see
if the verb (defense) has the ball (“S”) or not.
 A pen or pencil is fine.
 Pencil follows “or”, so it does not have the ball
 Our dog or her cats drink all the water.
 Cats follow “or”, so the offense has the ball
Collective nouns
 Collective nouns may be either singular or plural
according to what is taking place
 Army, club, fleet, public, swarm, flock, committee,
family, etc.
 This means if the collective noun (offense) is acting
together as ONE group, then it is singular.
 If the collective noun (offense) is acting separately,
then it is plural.
Examples:
 The science class is taking a field trip.
 Class is acting as ONE (no ball)
 The science class are working on their
astronomy projects.
 Class is not acting as ONE (has the ball)