Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
A sentence that has the word you as a subject must have a plural verb.
Exercise A – Underline the subject of each sentence then circle the correct verb choice.
1. Nicknames given to students often ( stick / sticks ) with them for life.
9. ( Is / Are ) the nicknames you have for your friends funny or serious?
Example: The pencil and paper have dropped off the desk.
Compound subjects made up of plural words joined by or must have a plural verb.
Compound subjects made up of both singular and plural words joined by or take a
verb that agrees with whichever subject is closer.
Exercise B – Underline the subject of each sentence then circle the correct verb choice.
2. Lockers and teachers (are / is ) two subjects of Nipp and Tucker humor.
7. Wally and his dogs usually ( win / wins ) the local Frisbee Tournament.
9. Either his daughter or his three sons ( was / were ) in the play.
10. New flags or a new door ( have / has ) been purchased by the student council.
Subject / Verb Agreement cont.
Sometimes the subject of a sentence is not easy to find due to an intervening phrase or the
verb preceding the subject.
Exercise C – Underline the subject of each sentence then circle the correct verb choice.
1. What ( is / are ) the reasons for attending college for four years?
3. History, not logic, ( seem / seems ) to have determined this length of time.
4. At the time of Harvard’s opening, students in Cambridge, England ( was / were ) attending
college for four years.
5. Today, some students, though by no means all, ( earn / earns ) their degree in four years.
6. Sixty-four percent of all college students in 1991 ( was / were ) five-year students.
10. Hundreds, if not thousands, of today’s students ( take / takes ) time out to work.
11. The end result of the education—not just its cost—also ( motivate / motivates ) students.
12. In the minds of some students ( is / are ) a dual degree, a kind of insurance policy for their
future.
Subject / Verb Agreement cont.
An indefinite pronoun expresses an amount or refers to an unspecified person or thing. Some
indefinite pronouns are always singular and take singular verbs; others are always plural and take
plural verbs.
Use a singular verb when the indefinite pronouns all, any, most, and some refer to a singular
word. Use a plural verb when these pronouns refer to a plural word.
Exercise D - Underline the subject of each sentence then circle the correct verb choice.
8. Of all adults age sixty and over, some ( have / has ) lost all their teeth.
9. Some—and perhaps as many as half—of all high school students ( has / have ) gingivitis.
10. Almost nobody at your age ( think / thinks ) about this problem much.