SubjectVerb Agreement

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Subject-Verb Agreement

• A mark of educated English

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Whats Subject-Verb Agreement?

• We match the subject to the verb.
• What does that mean? It means that
• Singular subjects use singular verbs.
• Mona writes great paragraphs.
• Plural subjects use plural verbs.
• Students write_ great paragraphs.

Is bad spelling worse than subject-verb mix ups?
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Why Subject-Verb Agreement?

• Educated native speakers match subject to verb
  with little effort.
• Uneducated speakers do not match subjects and
  verbs.
• Unmatched subjects and verbs make writers look
  uneducated!

How differently do the poor live from rich ones?
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It is hard to match verbs to subjects that are

• Separated from the verb.
• Made with the word or.
• Indefinite pronouns.
• Collective, group nouns.
• 5. With here, there, or it.
• 6. Singular but end in s.
• 7. In money or measures.
• 8. Plural-looking titles.

Do the guys clothes match the girls?
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Match even distantsubjects to their verbs.

• Ignore words between the subject and verb.
• Reduce sentences to their simplest form.
• A good set of skis costs /cost hundreds of
  dollars.
• A good set of skis costs hundreds of dollars
• My boss, as well as her staff, leave/leaves early
  everyday.
• My boss, as well as her staff, leaves early
  everyday.

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2. Match subjects with and

• Most compound subjects with and are plural
• Bert and Ernie is / are special friends.
• Bert and Ernie are special friends.
• But when words joined by and refer to a single
  thing, the subject is also singular
• War and Peace is a very thick book. (singular)
• My friend and co-worker is waiting to see you.
  (singular)

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2. Match subjects with or

• When the subject uses or/nor, the verb agrees
  with the closest word to the verb
• Neither the instructor nor the students has /
  have any control over the number of 8 oclock
  classes.
• Either two credit cards or a membership is / are
  needed before you can rent movies.

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3. Match indefinite pronouns

• Indefinite pronouns feel plural, but act
  singular.
• Indefinite pronouns include every, everyone,
  everybody, each, neither, either, none, one, no
  one.
• Every student has/have a unique student number.
• None of us admit/admits to sending the e-mail.
• Ignore prepositions between the subject and verb
• Each school is/are hiring new instructors.

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4. Match collective nouns

• Words like jury, committee, herd are singular
  when everyone in the group is acting together
• The jury is/are deciding the mans future.
• Collective nouns will be plural when the members
  of the group are not acting together
• The jury is/are undecided on the guilt of the
  accused.

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5. Match here, there, it

• When the sentence begins with Here or There, the
  subject follows the verb and controls whether the
  verb is plural
• Here are my reasons for quitting (plural)
• There is no need to pay me next week (singular)
• It is always singular
• It was the long hours that bothered me (singular)

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6. Match words ending in -s

• Words such as economics, AIDS, physics and news
  are singular
• Economics is fun and exciting
• The news is usually broadcast live
• Words such as scissors, eyeglasses and pants that
  name things with two parts are plural
• My glasses were broken when I did a face plant

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7. Match money and measurements

• Units of time, money, distance, and weight use
  singular verbs
• Twenty miles is a long way to drive to work.
• Eight dollars an hour is a high rate of pay.
• The expression the number is singular
• The number of failures is decreasing.
• The expression a number is plural
• A number of people are leaving.

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8. Match titles

• The title of a movie, book or magazine requires a
  singular verb, even when it looks plural
• Lost Horizons is a book about a utopia.
• The Simpsons is not the best TV show.

Do titles matter?
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Be careful to match verbs to subjects that are

• Separated from the verb.
• Made with the word or.
• Indefinite pronouns.
• Collective, group nouns.
• 5. With here, there or it.
• 6. Singular but end in s.
• 7. In money or measures.
• 8. Plural-looking titles.

Do the guys interests match the girls?
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Can you match subjects to verbs?

• Add verbs in their correct forms
• Ninety miles ___ a long way to drive.
• A number of people ___ sitting down.
• Each of the workers ___ given equipment.
• Neither of us ___ what to do with it.
• My friend, in addition to yours, ___ help.
• There __ several miles between us and that.
• Economics __ studying marketplace finance.
• A number of students __ leaving after class.
• Ed and Zoe __ how to drive very fast.
• The team __ when they play very well.

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Can you match subjects to verbs?

• 11. The cracked windshield, in addition to the
  rusted body, has/have made the old Honda Civic
  difficult to sell.
• 12. At McDonald's work/works friends who will
  stuff in extra Chicken McNuggets.
• 13. Two cups of chocolate milk make/makes Henri
  feel pretty good.
• 14. The pair of jeans hug/hugs the curves of your
  body like paper on a Tootsie Pop.
• 15. Neither of those students has/have a clue
  about subject-verb agreement.

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Can you match subjects to verbs?

• 16. Although Juan has seen it ten times, Star
  Wars keep/keeps his interest.
• 17. After considering evidence, the jury
  disagree/disagrees about the case.
• 18. Physics give/gives Philip many headaches
  because he has to solve long word problems.
• 19. Neither of the surfers see/sees the sharks
  that want to get them.
• 20. Jim, together with his dog Pooh, walk/walks
  on the golf course everyday.
• 21. Either history or statistics make/makes
  Julias head hurt the most.

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Can you match subjects to verbs?

• 22. That pair of pants has/have a big rip in the
  back that shows your shorts.
• 23. One thousand pounds of jelly beans fill/fills
  the bottom of the red van.
• 24. From the cafeteria come/comes the sweetest
  tomatoes that you will ever taste.
• 25. The scissors is/are so dull that I'm not sure
  you could slice butter with them!
• 26. All of the dryers take/takes six quarters
  before spinning wet clothes dry.

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Can you match subjects to verbs?

• 27. There (is, are) an empty cup and a paper bag
  on the floor.
• 28. My sister as well as two of my brothers
  (lives, live) in Florida.
• 29. The professor, together with twenty-five
  students, (is, are) happy that the term was
  almost over.
• 30. My grandmother and grandfather (look, looks)
  alike.
• 31. Either my brothers or my younger sister (is,
  are) owed my thanks.

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Can you match subjects to verbs?

• 32. One of her six children (run, runs) five
  miles every day.
• 33. Each of the students (spend, spends) six
  hours studying for classes every day of the week.
• 34. Neither of the boys (is, are) willing to
  study during the weekends.
• 35. As a result of the conflict, there (is, are)
  bloodshed and chaos.
• 36. Do you think that the manager and our
  supervisor (understands, understand) the problem?

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Can you match subjects to verbs?

• 37. Neither my sister nor my brothers (is, are)
  planning to drive down from New York for my
  seventh marriage.
• 38. One of my shoes (is, are) missing.
• 39. Christopher or Laura (email, emails) me
  almost every day.
• 40. Maria's regular salary together with tips
  (are, is) just enough for her to survive.