Subject-Verb Agreement

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What is Subject-Verb Agreement?

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Subject-Verb Agreement is the grammatical rule that the subject and verb in a sentence must agree in number (singular or plural).

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When should a singular verb be used?

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A singular verb should be used when the subject is singular (e.g., 'The cat runs').

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When should a plural verb be used?

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A plural verb should be used when the subject is plural (e.g., 'The cats run').

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What is a compound subject?

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A compound subject consists of two or more subjects joined by a conjunction (e.g., 'Tom and Jerry').

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How do you determine the verb for a compound subject joined by 'and'?

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When subjects are joined by 'and', use a plural verb (e.g., 'The dog and the cat are playing').

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How do you determine the verb for a compound subject joined by 'or' or 'nor'?

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When subjects are joined by 'or' or 'nor', the verb agrees with the subject closest to it (e.g., 'Neither the teacher nor the students are ready').

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What is an example of a problem subject?

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An example of a problem subject is a collective noun, like 'team', which can be singular or plural depending on context (e.g., 'The team is winning' vs. 'The team are arguing').

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What is the rule for using 'none' with verbs?

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The word 'none' can be singular or plural; use a singular verb if it refers to a single item and a plural verb if it refers to multiple items (e.g., 'None of the cake is left' vs. 'None of the cookies are left').

Front

What is the correct verb form for 'Three hours ____ a long time'?

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The correct verb form is 'is' because 'three hours' is treated as a single unit of time.

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What is the correct verb form for 'Neither Jerold nor his sisters ____ their lost dog yet'?

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The correct verb form is 'have found' because 'sisters' is plural.