Subject-Verb

Agreement

Subject-Verb
Agreement

Subject-verb
agreement is the
correspondence in
number between the
subject and the verb of a
sentence.

The General Rule

Plural subjects
take plural verbs,
and singular
subjects take
singular verbs.

Subject-Verb
Agreement
Mistakes in SV agreement are
sometimes made in the following
situations:
When words come between the
subject and the verb
When a verb comes before the
subject
With compound subjects (two
subjects separated by a joining word
such as and; generally take a plural
verb)

Words between Subject

and Verb
Words that come between the
subject and the verb do not change
SV agreement.
EXAMPLES:
The lumpy salt in the shakers needs
to be changed.
An old chair with broken legs has sat
in our basement for years.
The sharp fangs in the dogs mouth
look scary.

Verb before Subject

A verb agrees with its subject even
when the verb comes before the
subject.
EXAMPLES:
There are wild dogs in our
neighborhood.
In the distance was a billow of black
smoke.
Here is the newspaper.
Where are the childrens coats?

Compound Subjects
A compound subject is two
subjects separated by a joining
word.
EXAMPLES:
A patchwork quilt and a
sleeping bag cover my bed in
the winter.
Clark and Lois are a contented
couple.

Compound Subjects
When subjects are joined by
eitheror, neithernor, not
onlybut also, the verb agrees
with the subject closer to the
verb.
EXAMPLES:
Neither the negotiator nor the
union leaders want the strike to
continue.
Neither the director nor the writers
of this film have ever received an

Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns always take singular
verbs.
-ONE
-BODY
-THING
one
anyone
everyone
someone

nobody
anybody
everybody
somebody

nothing
anything
everything
something
each
either, neither

BOTH and FEW take a

plural verb.

Exercise on
Subject-Verb
Agreement

Instruction
Choose the correct form
of the verb shown in the
parentheses.

1) Yellowstone National Park, located in

Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, (are,
is) home to Old faithful, the worlds
most famous geyser.
2) Each of their children (was, were)
given a name picked at random from
a page of the Bible.
3) Near the top of the companys
organizational chart (was, were) the
vice president for sales and the
director of personnel.
4) Envelopes, file folders, and a
telephone book (is, are) jammed into
Lupes kitchen drawers.

6) A drop in the price of gasoline and

other fuels (decrease, decreases) the
chances that bus fares will go up
soon.
7) Many people in my neighborhood
(appear, appears) to be recycling
paper, cans, glass, and plastic.
8) A good grounding in mathematics
(make, makes) it easier to learn
Physics.
9) In exchange for reduced rent, Karla
and James (clean, cleans) the
dentists office beneath their secondfloor apartment.