Subject Verb Agreement
Subject Verb Agreement
2. Compound subjects joined by and take a base form of the verb, unless thesubject's
intended is singular.
b.Depression and pessimism are two states of mind that look alike.
the verb, depending on whether the emphasis is on the individual units or on group as whole.
a. The basketball team is practicing night and day for the Olympics game.
4. Collecting noun phrases (a bunch of, a group of, a set of,etc.) Take either the s-form or the
base form of the verb, depending on whether the emphasis is on the individual units or on the
group as whole.
5. Invervening word, phrase, clauses, or expression do not affect the subject and verb
rule.
C. Important papers, as well as his last will and testament, were found in his desk.
6. The pronouns either,neither, each, everyone, every one, everybody, anyone, anybody,
someone, and somebody
7. Indefinite pronuons like both, few, many and several take a base of the verb.
8. When singular and plural subjects are connected by either/or and neither/nor, the verb
agrees to the nearest subject.
9. If one of the works each, every, or no comes before the subject, take the s-form of the verb.
10.The phares more than one, many a/an and not one Take the s-form of the verb.
11.With words theat indicate portions: percent, fraction, part, majority, some all, none ,
remainder, and so forth-- look at the noun in your of phrase (object of the preposition)to
determine whether to use an s-form or base form of the verb. If the the subject of the
preposition is singular, use s-form of the verb. If the object of the perposition is plural, use a
base for of the verb.
12.Use s-form of the verb with sums of money or periods of time, distance, unit of measurements,
volume, height, weight and mathematical expressions.With money, if the amount is specific, use s-form
13. The expression the number is followed by s-form of the verb while the expression a number is
followed by a base form of the verb.
14. The words here and there have generally been labelled as adverbs even though they indicate a
place. In sentences beginning with here and there , the subject follows the verb.
15. Sometimes the pronoun who, that or which is the subject of the verb in the middle of the sentence.
These pronouns become singular or plural according the noun directly in front of them. So, if that noun
is singular, use s-form of the verb; if plural, use base form of the verb.
18. With the nouns singular in form but either plural or singular in meaning: deer,salmon,cattle,sheep
and swine, the verb agrees with the intended meaning.
19. The following nouns are always used in the singular: baggage, blood, bread, chalk, dirt, dust,
furniture, gravel, information, jewelry, machinery, music, poetry, prose, scenery, advice, slang,
money, soap, help, paper, mail, clothing, and graft. The use of the expressions pieces of, kinds of
collections of, bits of etc. Makes them plural.
20. The name of the firm is often regarded as singular. If the entire name carries a plural idea, use base
form of the verb.
22. Adjectives that are used as subject take a base form of the verb.
23. If one of the subject is affirmative and the other is negative, the verb agrees with the affirmative
subject.