Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb Agreement

Agreement of Subjects and Verbs A verb must agree in number (singular or plural) with its subject. The studentwas proud of her grades. NOTE: Do not be confused by words that come between the subject and verb. The manager, as well as the players, is required to display good sportsmanship. (Manager, not players, is the subject.)

Compound Subjects Compound subjects joined by or or nor take a singular verb. Neither Jamelia nor Idais going to the luncheon. NOTE: When one of the subjects joined by or or nor is singular and one is plural, the verb must agree with the subject nearer the verb. Neither Laurie or her friendsare eating in the lunchroom. (The plural subject friends is nearer the verb, so the plural verb are is correct.) Compound subjects connected with and require a plural verb. Strength and balanceare necessary for gymnastics.

Delayed Subjects Delayed subjects occur when the verb comes before the subject in a sentence. In these inverted sentences, the delayed subject must agree with the verb. There are many hardworking students in our schools. There is present among many young people today a will to succeed. (Students and will are the true subjects of these sentences, not there.)

“Be” Verbs When a sentence contains a form of the “be” verb—and a noun comes before and after that verb—the verb must agree with the subject, not the complement (the noun coming after the verb.) The cause of his problem was the bad brakes. The bad brakeswere the cause of his problem.

Special Cases Some nouns that are in plural in form but singular in meaning take a singular verb: mumps, measles, news, mathematics, economics, gallows, shambles. Measles is still considered a serious disease in many parts of the world. Some nouns that are plural in form but singular in meaning take a plural verb: scissors, trousers, tidings. The scissorsare missing again.

Let's Practice Directions: For each sentence on the following slides, write the correct verb from the choice given in parentheses.

Mrs. McCarthy (are, is) planning a quiz for this Friday.

Answeris Mrs. McCarthy (are, is) planning a quiz for this Friday.

There (are, is) rumors that Mr. Childers will give a quiz on Friday.

There (are, is) rumors that Mr. Childers will give a quiz on Friday. Answer are

Either Jordan or Jenna (take, takes) the computers home from Mrs. Brown’s class during holidays.

Answer takes Either Jordan or Jenna (take, takes) the computers home from Mrs. Brown’s class during holidays.

There (are, is) remaining one medium-sized sweatshirt with the NHS softball team logo.

There (are, is) remaining one medium-sized sweatshirt with the NHS softball team logo. Answer is

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kyle Bush (are, is) popular race-car drivers.

Answer are Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kyle Bush (are, is) popular race-car drivers.

(Have, Has) the fireworks started yet?

(Have, Has) the fireworks started yet? Answer Have

Collective Nouns Collective nouns (faculty, committee, team, congress, species, crowd, army, pair, squad) take a singular verb when they refer to a group as a unit; collective nouns take a plural verb when they refer to the individuals within the group. The favored teamis losing, and the crowdis getting ugly. (Both team and crowd are considered units in this sentence, requiring the singular verb is.) The pairwere finally reunited after 20 years apart. (Here, pair refers to two individuals, so the plural verb were is required.)

Indefinite Pronouns Some indefinite pronouns are singular: each, either, neither, one, everybody, another, anybody, everyone, nobody, everything, somebody, and someone. They require a singular verb. Everybody is invited to the cafeteria for refreshments. Some indefinite pronouns are plural: both, few, many, and several. Severallike chocolate cake. Manyask for ice cream, too. NOTE: Do not be confused by words or phrases that come between the indefinite pronoun and the verb. One of the participants is going to have to stay late to clean up.

Indefinite Pronouns Continued Some indefinite pronouns can be either singular or plural: all, any, most, none, and some. These pronouns are singular if the number of the noun in the prepositional phrase is singular; they are plural if the noun is plural. Most of the food complaints are from the seniors. (Complaints is plural, so most is plural.) Most of the tabletop is sticky with melted ice cream. (Tabletop is singular, so most is singular.)

Relative Pronouns When a relative pronoun (who, which, that) is used as the subject of a clause, the number of the verb is determined by the antecedent of the pronoun. (The antecedent is the word to which the pronoun refers.) This is one of the books that are required for geography class. (The relative pronoun that requires the plural verb are because its antecedent, books, is plural.)

Let's Practice Directions: Read the passage on the following slide. For each underlined verb write the reason it does not agree with its subject.

One of Edna Ferber’s most popular works (1) were the novel So Big. (This is one book that (2) are required reading for literature class.) Some students (3) wonders about the author's reasons for writing the book. In one interview, Ferber answered: “I wrote my book because I wanted to write more than anything in the world.” Many readers are aware that So Big won a Pulitzer Prize for literature. The main characters, Selina Peake DeJong and her son Dirk “So Big”DeJong, (4) makes the story memorable. The pair (5)faces many challenges. Selina is a widow who (6) are forced to make her way in a male- dominated world. Dirk experiences many changes as he grows into a young man. The novels Showboat and Giant (7) is other well-known works by Edna Ferber. Some of her fans (8) believes that she was the greatest novelist of her day.

Answers Were is plural, and its subject, one is singular. Are is plural, and its subject, book, is singular. Wonders is singular, and its subject, students, is plural. Makes is singular, and its subject, characters , is plural. Faces is singular, and its subject, pair, is plural. Are is plural, and its subject, who (antecedent, widow), is singular Is is singular, and its subject, novels, is plural. Believes is singular, and its subject, some is plural.

Choose the sentence that is written correctly. • A. Each one of the teachers were given an award. • B. Either my brothers or my sister is driving me to the airport. • C. Few of the students really understands the calculus problem. • D. The decision of the lower courts were reversed by the appeals court.

Choose the sentence that contains an error. • A. One of the ten dollar bills was counterfeit. • B. This collection of stories is not very good. • C. The effects of sunburn is sometimes quite harmful. • D. The ability of these children surprises everyone.

Choose the correct word or words to complete the sentence. • _____ is driving from Huntsville to Mobile. • A. I • B. We • C. Her sister • D. Her sisters

Choose the sentence in which the underlined word is an error. • A. There are twenty-four chapters in the book. • B. He don’t swim well enough to cross the lake. • C. Three fourths of the forest was burned by the fire. • D. The safety factors in a helmet are important in an accident.

Subject-Verb Agreement