Subject-Verb Agreement 9

Front

What is subject-verb agreement?

Back

Subject-verb agreement is the grammatical rule that the subject of a sentence must agree in number with its verb. Singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs.

Front

Identify the error: 'The city park or the one by the lake are good for picnics.'

Back

The sentence is incorrect. It should be 'The city park or the one by the lake is good for picnics.' The subject 'the city park' is singular.

Front

True or False: 'Some men are needed for the battle.' is an example of correct subject-verb agreement.

Back

True. The plural subject 'Some men' correctly uses the plural verb 'are'.

Front

Fill in the blank: 'Those shrubs and this tree __________ grown a lot in the past year.'

Back

have. The correct verb is 'have' because the subject is compound (two subjects: 'those shrubs' and 'this tree').

Front

True or False: 'The tuba players in the band were not happy about the long parade route.' is correct.

Back

True. The subject 'The tuba players' is plural, and the verb 'were' is also plural.

Front

Identify the error: 'Either my father or my younger brothers sort the recycling, but I carry it to the curb.'

Back

The sentence is correct. The verb 'sort' agrees with the nearest subject 'my younger brothers', which is plural.

Front

What is a compound subject?

Back

A compound subject consists of two or more subjects that are joined by a conjunction and share the same verb.

Front

When do you use a singular verb with a compound subject?

Back

A singular verb is used when the compound subject is joined by 'and' but refers to one entity or idea, or when it is preceded by 'either/or' or 'neither/nor'.

Front

What is the rule for subjects joined by 'and'?

Back

When subjects are joined by 'and', they typically take a plural verb.

Front

What is the rule for subjects joined by 'or' or 'nor'?

Back

When subjects are joined by 'or' or 'nor', the verb should agree with the nearest subject.