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SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
A subject is a noun or pronoun. A verb is the action performed by the subject.
Matching Subjects with Verbs
Verbs must agree with subjects in number and in person (1st/2nd/3rd).
EXAMPLE: The dog drinks his water every day.
“Dog” is a singular subject; “drinks” is a singular present tense verb. A common mistake in S-V Agreement is to assume that present tense verbs ending in “s” (ex: drinks, runs, dances) are plural. They are in fact singular. Be careful!
Singular Plural The girl dances. The girls dance. (No “s” on end of a plural verb!) The dog drinks. The dogs drink. The boy runs. The boys run. She plays. Mary and Laura play. She plays. They play.
Reminder: Singular present tense verbs end in “s” (Ex: The dog walks). Plural present tense verbs do not end in “s,” but plural subjects do (Ex: The dogs walk.).
Prepositional Phrases and Why They Matter
Look at the sentence below.
EXAMPLE : The boxes of cake mix are on the shelf.
The verb is “are,” but what is the subject? Is it “boxes” or “cake mix”? In order to figure out the subject, we must eliminate the prepositional phrase which is often times in- between the subject and the verb.
A prepositional phrase is a two - to four - word phrase (sometimes more) that begins with a preposition ( above, among, at, below, beneath, between, in, of, over, to, under ). A verb must agree with its subject, not with the object of a prepositional phrase, which often comes between the subject and the verb.
EXAMPLE: The boxes of cake mix are on the shelf. Since “of” is a preposition, we ignore the prepositional phrase “of cake mix.” Therefore, “boxes” is the plural subject, which matches perfectly with the plural verb “are.”
Tutoring and Testing Center
Below are some samples of prepositional phrases:
Preposition Object of Prepositional Phrase above in the trees the lab among of the flowers the school at on the movies the bridge below over the trees the store beneath to the trees the table under
EXAMPLE: The teachers in the classroom is/are very experienced.
Since we know that “in” is a preposition, then it makes sense that “in the classroom” is a prepositional phrase. Cross out “in the classroom.” You are left with “The teachers... (is/are) very experienced.”
“Teachers” is a plural subject, so it must take the plural verb “are.”
However, what if we have an inverted sentence?
EXAMPLE: Under the tree is/are several flowers.
In this case, the verb must be plural (“are”) because the subject (“flowers”) is plural.
Pronouns and Indefinite Pronouns
Simple pronouns and their numbers (singular/plural) are as follows:
Singular Plural 1st person I dance. We dance 2nd person You dance. You dance. 3rd person He/she/it dances They dance. Robert dances. Robert and Linda dance.
Singular indefinite pronouns take the singular verb.
EXAMPLE: Everyone in the class supports the teacher.
“Everyone” is a singular subject. “In the class” is the prepositional phrase. “Supports” is the singular present tense verb (notice the “s” on the end).
Other singular indefinite pronouns are anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, every, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, somebody, someone, something.
EXAMPLE : Every man, woman, and child was/were given a book. (“was”) Each student is/are required to pass the final exam. (“is”)
Since “Every” and “Each” are both indefinite pronouns, they take singular verbs.
Subject-Verb Agreement Practice Exercises
- Everyone (has/have) done his or her homework.
- Each of the students (is/are) responsible for doing his or her work.
- Either my father or my brothers (is/are) going to sell the car.
- Neither my sisters nor my mother (is/are) going to sell the house.
- The samples on the tray in the lab (need/needs) testing.
- Mary and John usually (plays/play) together.
- Both of the dogs (has/have) collars.
- Neither the dogs nor the cat (is/are) very hungry.
- Either the girls or the boy (walk/walks) in the evening.
- Either the boy or the girls (walk/walks) in the evening.
- At the end of the fall (comes/come) the hard tests.
- The slaughter of animals for their fur (has/have) caused controversy.
- The student, as well as his teacher, (was/were) going on the field trip.
- The hard tests (comes/come) at the end of the fall.
- Both of my roommates (has/have) decided to live in the dorms.
Subject-Verb Agreement Answers
- Everyone has done his or her homework.
- Each of the students is responsible for doing his or her work.
- Either my father or my brothers are going to sell the car.
- Neither my sisters nor my mother is going to sell the house.
- The samples on the tray in the lab need testing.
- Mary and John usually play together.
- Both of the dogs have collars.
- Neither the dogs nor the cat is very hungry.
- Either the girls or the boy walks in the evening.
- Either the boy or the girls walk in the evening.
- At the end of the fall come the hard tests.
- The slaughter of animals for their fur has caused controversy.
- The student, as well as his teacher, was going on the field trip.
- The hard tests come at the end of the fall.
- Both of my roommates have decided to live in the dorms.
