Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb agrees with its subject in number and person.
1. Find the real subject
- Ignore words between the subject and the verb: The quality of the mangoes was poor.
- with, along with, together with, as well as, in addition to → verb agrees with the first subject: The teacher, with his students, has gone.
- There/Here + verb + subject: There are many people; There is a book.
2. Joined subjects
- A and B → plural: Ram and Shyam are friends.
- One idea or one person → singular: Bread and butter is…; My friend and guide has come. (But: The secretary and the treasurer are absent = two persons.)
- each/every … and each/every → singular.
- either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also, or, nor → verb agrees with the nearer subject: Neither he nor I am ready.
3. Always singular
- each, every, either, neither, everyone, somebody, nobody, one of + plural noun, many a, more than one + singular noun.
- news, mathematics, physics, economics; furniture, information, advice.
- Amounts as one whole: Fifty rupees is…; Ten kilometres is…; Five years is….
- Titles and names: The Arabian Nights is…; The United States is….
- Clause, infinitive or gerund as subject: What he says is true; To err is human; Walking is good.
- a pair of + noun; the number of + noun.
4. Always plural
- cattle, police, people; trousers, scissors, spectacles.
- the + adjective: the rich, the poor.
- a number of (= many).
5. Depends on the noun after "of"
- some / all / half / most / a fraction of + uncountable or singular noun → singular; + plural noun → plural.
6. Collective nouns
- Acting as one unit → singular (The jury has given its verdict). Members acting separately → plural (The jury are divided in their opinions).
7. Relative pronoun
- The verb after who/that agrees with its antecedent: one of those men who are; the only one who has; It is I who am.