Examine the sentences given below :
1. John live in France. 1. The arguments is sound and
well supported.
2. John lives in France.
2. The arguments are sound
and well supported.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
SUBJECT - VERB
AGREEMENT
BY:- Ms. SAHIBA KALYAN
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
At the end of the lesson, students are expected to :
To know and understand what is Subject – Verb Agreement
Apply the rules of Subject – Verb Agreement
Create sentences using rules of Subject – Verb Agreement
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
What is Subject – Verb Agreement ?
The Subject and Verb in a sentence must agree in number. This means both
need to be Singular or both need to be Plural.
The verb chosen must agree with its subject in form and meaning.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
RULE - 1
When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more
nouns or pronouns connected by ‘AND’, use a plural verb.
Examples
1. She and her friend are at the fair.
2. Sugar and flour are needed for the recipe.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
RULE - 2
When two or more Singular Nouns or Pronouns are connected by ‘OR’
or ‘NOR’, use a Singular Verb.
Examples
1. The book or the pen is in the drawer.
2. My mom or dad is coming to the meeting.
3. Neither black nor white is my favorite color.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
RULE - 3
When the compound subject of a sentence contains both a singular and a
plural noun or pronoun joined by ‘OR’ or ‘NOR’, the verb should agree
with the part of the subject that is nearer to the verb.
Examples
1. The boy or his friends run everyday.
2. His friends or the boy runs everyday.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
RULE - 4
Doesn’t is a contraction of does not and should be used only with the
Singular subject. Don’t is the contraction of do not and should be used
only with a Plural subject. The exception to this rule appears in the case
of the first person and second person pronouns i.e. I and You. With these
pronouns, the contraction don’t should be used.
Examples
1. He doesn’t like it.
2. They don’t like it.
3. Peter doesn’t like vegetables.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
RULE - 5
Don’t be mislead by a phrase that comes between the subject and the
verb. The verb agrees with the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the
phrase.
Examples
1. One of the boxes is open.
2. The people who listen to that music are few.
3. The woman, with all the dogs, walks down my street.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
RULE - 6
The words each one either, neither, everyone, everybody, anybody,
anyone, nobody, someday, someone and no-one are singular and require
a singular verb.
Examples
1. Each of these mangoes is juicy.
2. Everybody knows Mr. Jones.
3. Somebody is knocking the door.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
RULE - 7
Nouns such as civics, mathematics, dollars, news, diabetes etc. require
singular verb.
Examples
1. The news is on at six.
2. Five dollars is a lot of money.
BUT the word dollars is a special case. When talking about an amount of money, use a
singular verb, but when referring to the dollars themselves, use a plural verb.
Dollars are often used instead of rubles in Russia.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
RULE - 8
Nouns such as scissors, tweezers, trousers and shears require plural verbs
(there are two parts of these things)
Examples
1. These scissors are dull.
2. Those trousers are made of wool.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
RULE - 9
In sentences, beginning with there is or there are the subject follows the
verb since ‘THERE’ is not the subject, the verb agrees with what
follows.
Examples
1. There are many questions.
2. There is a question.
3. There is a problem with the balance sheet.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
RULE - 10
Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person, but those
are considered singular and take a singular verb such as group, team,
committee, class and family.
Examples
1. The team runs during practice.
2. The committee decides how to proceed.
3. The family has a long history.
4. The group meets every week.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
RULE - 11
Expressions such as with, together with, including, accompanied by, in
addition to, as well as etc. do not change the number of the subject. If the
subject is singular, the verb is singular too.
Examples
1. The President, accompanied by his wife, is travelling to India.
2. All of the books, including yours, are in the box.
3. The students as well as their teacher are visiting the museum.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
Final Tips
Practice identifying the subject and verb of a sentence
If the subject is a singular or uncountable noun, then the verb must be
singular. If the subject is plural, then the verb must be plural, too.
Most subject-verb agreement mistakes can be detected and fixed if
you spend some time editing your writing with this focus in mind.
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
Queries Please !
By – Ms. Sahiba Kaur
