Subject Verb Agreement

1. Pamela Fox Subject Verb Agreement

2. Basic Rules • Subjects and verbs must AGREE in number (singular or plural).  • If a subject is singular, its verb must also be singular; if a subject is plural, its verb must also be plural. • In the present tense, which is the tense that creates the most opportunities for subject/verb agreement errors, nouns and verbs form plurals in opposite ways: nouns ADD an s to the singular form; verbs REMOVE the s from the singular form. (+s, -s)

3. Examples The student runs to school every morning. Student is the singular subject: no “s.” (-s) Runs is the singular verb that agrees with its subject: “s.” (+s) The students run to school every morning. Students is the plural subject: “s.” (+s) Run is the plural verb that agrees with its subject: no “s.” (-s) I recommend that you identify the verb first and then locate the subject. Underline the verb twice and the subject once. Check for agreement.

4. A Test One way to determine whether the subject is singular or plural is to substitute one of the following pronouns in place of the subject: he, she, it, or they. Ask the following question: Which pronoun can I appropriately use as a substitute for the noun? Example: Use he or she in place of the student: He runs to school every morning. Use they when it is appropriate , such as in place of the students: They run to school every morning. He, she , and it are singular pronouns and use the singular form of verbs. They is a plural pronoun and uses the plural form of verbs.

5. More Rules • These rules do not apply to verbs that are used in the simple past tense and that do not have any helping verbs. • Examples Yesterday, the studentran to school. Yesterday, the studentsran to school. Thus, in the simple past tense, agreement is not an issue.

6. Helping Verb Exception • The agreement rules do apply to the following helping verbs when they are used with a main verb: is-are, was-were, has-have, does-do. Examples The student has walked to school. In this example, the singular “s” is in the verb “has.” The studentshave walked to school. In this example, the plural form of the verb does not have the “s.” Other Examples The student does walk to school. The students do walk to school. The student is walking to school. The students are walking to school. The student was walking to school. The students were walking to school.

7. Compound Subject   The word “compound” means “made up of two or more parts.”  Two or more words can be compounded (linked) by connecting them with any of the following words: and, or, and nor Some examples of compounding are Boys =not compound Girls =not comp0und Boys and girls = compound Boys or girls = compound Neither boys nor girls = compound Compound nouns can function as a “compound subject.”  In some circumstances, a compound subject creates special problems for the subject-verb agreement rule (+s, -s).

8. Examples • The boy goes to the mall on Saturday. • The girl goes to the mall on Saturday. In both of the examples above, the subjects and the verbs are singular. Therefore, you see the “+s “ in the verbs. In these sentences, you can substitute the following singular pronouns: He goes to the mall on Saturday. She goes to the mall on Saturday. Thus, you must use the singular form of the verb. Don’t forget to apply this test when you are checking for subject verb agreement. • The boyand the girlgo to the mall on Saturday. In this example, the subject is compound. You can substitute “they” for the compound subject. They go to the mall on Saturday. Therefore, you must use the plural form of the verb. • Singular and singular = plural (1 + 1= 2)

9. Compound Exception • Or and nor used as connecting words are somewhat different from and.  While the word and ADDs things together, or and nordo not.  • Rather, they suggest a CHOICE. The rule is t0 use the subject on the right side of “or” or of “nor” to determine whether or not the subject is plural or singular. • Examples The boys or the girl goes to the mall on Saturday. The boy or the girlsgoto the mall on Saturday.

10. Compound Review • 1.      If the individual parts of the compound subject are joined by “and,” you must always use a plural verb. • 2.      If the individual parts of the compound subject are joined by “or “or “nor,” you must use the verb form (singular or plural) which agrees with the subject closer to the verb (on the right side of or/nor).

11. Group or Corporate Nouns • Some nouns that name groups can be either singular or plural depending on their meaning in individual sentences. Examples: team, army, company, government • Because they can describe either the individuals in the group (more than one – plural), or the group as a single entity (one only – singular), these nouns present special problems.

12. Group Noun Rules • If you are referring to the group as a whole and, therefore, as a single unit, you must consider the noun to be singular.  In this case, you use a singular verb.  Example: The team wins every game. In this case, the team won the game as a singular unit. One individual was not responsible for the team win. • However, if you are referring to the individuals within the group, you should consider the noun plural and should use a plural verb. Example: The couple are deciding whether or not to getmarried this week. In this sentence, the couple represents two people and, therefore, equals a plural. Both are participating in the decision making process as individuals. So, theyare deciding.

13. Plural Forms with Singular Meanings • Some nouns are regularly plural in form, but singular in meaning. Examples: news measles mumps • Although these nouns APPEAR to be plural because they end in s, they actually refer to only one thing made up of smaller, uncounted parts.  Therefore, they are considered singular. Example: The news is bad today.                  • You can see that substituting that pronoun it instead of they makes more sense here. • Another group of plural form nouns end in –ics. Examples: politics, mathematics, economics • Similarly, it is a more suitable substitute for any of these words than is they. • These nouns appear to be plural (end in s), but generally refer to only one thing and are, therefore, usually considered singular. Example: Politics isan interesting topic.

14. Exceptions • In some cases, “ics” words are plural. You must use the pronoun substitution test to determine whether the word is plural or singular. Examples Statistics is a difficult subject. It is a difficult subject. The statistics show that the bill is unpopular. They (many statistics) show that the bill is unpopular.

15. Indefinite Pronouns • Indefinite pronouns can present special problems in subject verb agreement. • The difficulty is that some indefinite pronouns sound plural when they are really singular.

16. Singular Indefinite Pronouns • As subjects, the following indefinite pronouns ALWAYS take singular verbs.  Look at them closely.

17. Plural Indefinite Pronouns • However, the following indefinite pronouns ALWAYS take plural verbs.

18. Prepositional Phrases Subject verb agreement problems can also result from word placement in sentences.  Four types of structures can create problems: prepositional phrases, clauses beginning with who, that, or which, sentences beginning with here or there, and questions.

19. Prepositional Phrases

20. Examples • The birdin the tree likes shiny objects. • The birdsin the tree like shiny objects. In these examples, a prepositional phrase separates the subjects from their verbs. Because prepositional phrases end with nouns, the problem occurs when writers think that subject is the noun that is part of the prepositional phrase when, in fact, that noun is an object. Solution Underline or circle all prepositional phrases. Once you have completed this step, you will be able to identify the correct subject and determine whether or not the subject and the verb agree.

21. Who, Which, That Clauses • A clause that begins with who, that, or which and that comes BETWEEN the subject and the verb can cause agreement problems. • Who / which/ that clauses never contain the subject.

22. Examples The dog[that barks all night] is a nuisance. Dogs [that bark all night] are a nuisance. As you can see in these examples, the verb in the that clause must agree with the subject AND the verb for the sentence must also agree with the subject. This rule also applies to who and which clauses. The employee [who complainsoften] is usually ignored. Employees [who complain often] are usually ignored. The restaurant’s menu, [which includesmany ethnic dishes], offersgreat variety to customers. The restaurants’ menus, [which include many ethnic dishes], offer great variety to customers.

23. There and Here When a sentence begins with there is – there are / here is – here are, the subject and verb are inverted, which means that the subject is on the right side of the verb instead of on the left side. Examples There are four reasonsyou should study for the exam.  There isone reason you should study for the exam. Here isone reason you should study before doing anything else. Here are two reasonsyou should study before doing anything else. In all of these examples, the subject is either reason or reasons. Here and There are never subjects.               

24. Questions In most cases, creating a question will cause the subject to follow the verb. In this situation, you should identify the subject and then choose the verb that agrees with it (singular or plural). Examples What is the solution? What arethe solutions? A test for questions is to change the questions to statements. When you use this test, you can determine what the true subject is in a question. Examples The solutioniswhat. The solutionsare what.