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The first problem occurs when words come between the subject and the verb:
Syrup is closest to the verb, but the subject is actually pancakes. Since pancakes is plural, it
requires the plural form of the verb. Therefore, the sentence should be:
The indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody, neither, either are
singular and always require singular verbs.
Everyone has to take the driving test. No one is allowed to skip it.
Each is also singular and is particularly troublesome because a prepositional phrase can
follow it.
While and joins two words, nor and or do not combine. When using or and nor, the word
closest to the subject determines whether or not the verb is singular or plural.
Neither Sam nor his friends take geometry. Either my sisters or my dad is picking me
up.
Collective nouns like group, committee, and team, which imply more than one person, are
singular.
There are several other exceptions to the rules for subject-verb agreement, but these are
the most common problems you will encounter.
There are many, many rules and exceptions to subject-verb agreement, and students can
easily become confused when the study of grammar becomes a lengthy list of items to
memorize. Teachers are encouraged to study their students’ writing to find the most
common examples and focus on those. The examples highlighted in the worksheet cover the
most likely errors, but a more thorough approach may require additional rules, such as
those that cover subjects in school (Mathematics is singular, for instance.)
The subject and the verb below are in bold in the answers.
1. The girls who left the classroom are headed to the gym.
4. The runner, who spent the entire summer training for races, is going to win first place.
5. Neither potato chips nor ice cream sounds good for a snack. (Neither potato chips nor ice
cream is the complete subject, but ice cream is closest to the verb.)
6. Either your parents or I need to go to the store for groceries. (Either your parents or I is
the complete subject, but I is closest to the verb.)
7. Anyone who wants to play football with the rest of us needs to meet by the flagpole.
9. The monkeys who live in the zoo enjoy the daily visitors.
10. The problems on that assignment require a great deal of time to complete.