Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb Agreement ACT Prep

Basic Principle: • Singular subjects need singular verbs • My brother is a nutritionist. • Plural subjects need plural verbs. • My sisters are mathematicians.

Most indefinite pronouns are singular anyoneanybody anything everyone everybody everything someone somebody something no one nobody nothing every either neither another each * Everyone has done his or her homework. • * Somebody has left her purse.

Exceptional Indefinite Pronouns: • Some indefinite pronouns are singular or plural depending on what they're referring to. • none, some, more, most, any, and all • Be careful choosing a verb to accompany such pronouns. *Some of the beads are missing. * Some of the water is gone.

Compound Subjects • Compound subjects consist of two or more subjects joined by and. • The professor and I are good friends. • Phrases such as together with, as well as, and along with are not the same as and. • The mayor and his brothers are going to jail. • The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison.

Either and Neither • The pronouns neither and either are singular and require singular verbs even though they seem to be referring, in a sense, to two things. • Neither of the two traffic lights is working. • Which shirt do you want for Christmas? • Either is fine with me.

Or and Nor • When nor or or is used, the subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb. • Whether the subject comes before or after the verb doesn't matter • The proximity determines the number.

For Example: Because a sentence like "Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house" sounds peculiar, it is probably a good idea to put the plural subject closer to the verb whenever that is possible. • Either my father or my brothers are going to sell the house. • Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house. • Are either my brothers or my father responsible? • Is either my father or my brothers responsible?

There and Here • The words there and here are never subjects. • There are two reasons [plural subject] for this. • There is no reason for this. • Here are two apples. • Although the subject follows the verb, it still determines the number of the verb.

Odds and Ends • Fractional expressions are sometimes singular and sometimes plural: • half of, a part of, a percentage of, and a majority of • The same is true when the following act as subjects: • all, any, more, most and some

Sums and products of mathematical processes are expressed as singular and require singular verbs. • The expression "more than one" (oddly enough) takes a singular verb: • More than one student has tried this.

Some of the voters are still angry. • A large percentage of the older population is voting against her. • Two-fifths of the troops were lost in the battle. • Two-fifths of the vineyard was destroyed by fire. • Forty percent of the students are in favor of changing the policy. • Forty percent of the student body is in favor of changing the policy. • Two and two is four. • Four times four divided by two is eight.

Caution! • Sometimes modifiers will get between a subject and its verb, but these modifiers must not confuse the agreement between the subject and its verb. • The mayor, who has been convicted along with his four brothers on four counts of various crimes but who also seems, like a cat, to have several political lives, is finally going to jail.

For the Super Advanced Student: • If your sentence compounds a positive and a negative subject and one is plural, the other singular, the verb should agree with the positive subject. • The department members but not the chair have decided not to teach on Valentine's Day. • It is not the faculty members but the president who decides this issue. • It was the speaker, not his ideas, that has provoked the students to riot.

TIP!! • Sometimes after you know that the subject is singular or plural, you still can’t decide which verb is singular and which is plural. • Substitute “it” for singular • Substitute “they” for plural • The verb immediately become apparent. • Most parents mistakenly think that mumps has/have been eliminated as a childhood disease.

Relative Pronouns: • Who, whom, which, and that are either singular or plural, depending on the words they refer to.

. • The sales manager is a good researcher who spends a great amount of time surfing the Web for information. • Subjects: the sales manager , researcher • Verbs: is, spends • Sales managers are good researchers who spend a great amount of time surfing the Web for information. • Subjects: sales managers, researchers • Verbs: are, spend

Once Again . . . • Sometimes the pronoun who, that, or which is the subject of a verb in the middle of the sentence. • The pronouns who, that, and which become singular or plural according to the noun directly in front of them. • So, if that noun is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb. do.

Examples: • Salmais the scientist who writes/write the reports. • The word in front of who is scientist, which is singular. • Therefore, use the singular verb writes. • He is one of the men who does/do the work. • The word in front of who is men, which is plural. • Therefore, use the plural verb

This may seem a bit confusing at first, but there's a way to get it right every time. • If you find "who," "which," or "that" introducing a dependent clause (like in the examples above): • Look at the word right in front of it (usually that's the word it takes the place of). • Decide if the word is singular or plural (that will tell you whether "who," "which," or "that" is singular or plural). • Make the verb agree! • That's all there is to it!

“One of the. . .” causes problems: • Sanders is one of the council members who oppose the plan. • Who refers to the plural members • Several council members oppose the plan. • Sanders is the only one of the council members who opposesthe plan. • Who refers to one • There is only one council member, Sanders, opposing the plan.

Let’s Practice

1. Either the physicians in this hospital or the chief administrator is / are going to have to make a decision. 2. Is / Are my boss or my sisters in the union going to win this grievance? 3. Some of the votes seem / seems to have been miscounted.

4. The tornadoes that tear through this county every spring are / is more than just a nuisance. 5. Everyone selected to serve on this jury have / has to be willing to give up a lot of time. 6. Kara Wolters, together with her teammates, presents / present a formidable opponent on the basketball court.

7. He seems to forget that there are / is things to be done before he can graduate. 8. There have / has to be some people left in that town after yesterday's flood. 9. Some of the grain appear / appears to be contaminated. 10. Three-quarters of the students is / are against the tuition hike.

Either the physicians in this hospital or the chief administratoris going to have to make a decision. Is my boss or my sisters in the union going to win this grievance? Some of the votes seem to have been miscounted. The tornadoes that tear through this county every spring are more than just a nuisance. Everyone selected to serve on this jury has to be willing to give up a lot of time. KaraWolters, together with her teammates, presents a formidable opponent on the basketball court. He seems to forget that there arethings to be done before he can graduate. There have to be some people left in that town after yesterday's flood. Some of the grain appears to be contaminated. Three-quarters of the students are against the tuition hike.

Subject-Verb Agreement