SPEAK

LIFT
BEGIN
DRIVE
 Subject-Verb Agreement refers to the
relationship between the verb and its
subject.

 Every clause or sentence must agree in

number and person with its subject.
 Subjects and verbs must AGREE with one
another in number (singular or plural).

 Singular subjects take singular verbs

 Plural subjects take plural verbs

In present tenses, nouns and verbs form plurals
in ‘opposite’ ways:

 Singular subject = ADD an ‘S’ to the

VERB

 Plural subject = NO ‘S’ on the VERB

Example

Singular: The skydiver jumps out of

the airplane.

Plural: The skydivers jump out of the

airplane.
Examples:
1. The pants are torn into
two.
2. The pair of scissors was
placed on the table.
Examples:
1. Neither the players nor the
coach is joining.
2. Either the conductor or the
singers are attending the
concert.
Choose the verb form that agrees with the subject.

Either Jocelyn or Dan (help / helps)

me stay focused when I have a
long paper to write.
A) help
B) helps
 Either Jocelyn or Dan (help / helps) me stay
focused when I have a long paper to write.

ANSWER:
A) help
B) helps
 Either Grandpa or my sisters _______
( is / are) going to the park. (closest
subject is plural)

 Either my sisters or
Grandpa ______(is/are) going to the
park. (closest subject is singular)
Examples:
 Physics is my favorite
subject.
 The latest news is alarming
to the public.
 5. Noun is SINGULAR AS WELL AS
PLURALS

 Some Nouns exist as singular as well as

plurals also and take singular and plural
verbs
 E.g.
Sheep is grazing in the field
Sheep are grazing in the field

Chef is cooking dinner

Chef are cooking dinner
6. COLLECTIVE NOUNS

• When it refers to the

individual members of a
group, use plural verb.
For example:
 The jury _________ (has / have)awarded
compensation to the victim.
The jury is acting as one unit; therefore,
the verb is singular.

 The jury members ________ (has/ have)

been arguing for days.
The jury members are acting as
individuals; therefore, the verb is plural.
 7. INDEFINITE PRONOUN

An indefinite pronoun replaces a general person, place,

or thing or a general group of people, places, or things.

Often, an indefinite pronoun is followed by a

prepositional phrase or dependent clause.
SINGULAR INDEFINITE PRONOUN
 PLURAL INDEFINITE PRONOUN

 Use a plural verb with a plural indefinite

pronoun (both, few, many, several).

EXAMPLE
 I spent the afternoon shopping for a camera, but few
were reasonably priced.
 Both are beautiful

 Most of the students are absent today.

 Non-intervention rule:

 Sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by

such words as along with, as well as, besides,
not, etc. These words and phrases are not part of the
subject. Ignore them and consider the subject.
.
 Examples:
 The politician, along with the newsmen, is
expected shortly.
 Excitement, as well as nervousness, is the cause of her
shaking.
 Akash along with his girl friends, ____(is/are) going to
the movie.
Examples:

 Two years is a long time to wait.

 One million dollars was given

back to the owner.
Three miles____ (is/are) too far to walk.

Five years _____(is/are) the maximum

sentence for that offense.

Ten dollars _____(is/are) a high price to

pay.
 11. LOST SUBJECTS

Agreement with lost subjects

 The common cause of subject- verb

agreement error is
 when the writer has lost track of what
the subject actually is and has made the
verb agree with the wrong thing.
 SUBJECT
The cost of all the repairs we needed to make were more
than we could afford.
x

SUBJECT
The cost of all the repairs we needed to make was more
than we could afford.

-the writer has lost track of the subject and has made the
verb were agree with the plural noun repairs.

The actual subject is singular noun cost.

 12. Compound Subjects

A compound subject is formed when

two (or more) subjects are joined by
a coordinating conjunction.
SINGLE –WORD CORRELATIVE
CONJUNCTION CONJUNCTIONS

and both …….. and

or either……… or

neither……… nor
 COMPOUND SUBJECTS

1. When the parts of a compound subject are joined by

"and," treat the subject as plural require a plural verb,
even if the individual parts are singular.(except when
they mean one thing.)
Subject were
 Their television and camera was stolen.

 Which sentence is correct?

▪ Danny and Rolando gets their share of rebounds.
▪ Danny and Rolando get their share of rebounds.
2. If the two parts of a compound subject,
whether singular or plural, express a single
idea or refer to a single person, use singular
verb.
S is
 Ham and eggs are my favourite breakfast.

 Bread and bacon _____(is/are) my

favorite food
3. If nouns joined with “and” refers to same
subject then we take singular verb.

e.g. My friend and neighbor Sally is benign person.

4. If nouns joined with “and” refers to different

subjects then we take plural verb.

e.g. My friend Sally and a neighbor are good friends.

5. If there are multiple Nouns then we take verb
according to the Noun closer to the verb

e.g. Ram, sham, sita and his friends are going to

the festival

Ram, his friends, sham and Sita is going to the fair

 13. Prepositional phrase

A prepositional phrase starts with a preposition and

ends with a noun or pronoun:

I took a nap on my bed and woke up after dinner.

The subject of a sentence is never in a prepositional

phrase.
Choose the form of the verb that matches the
subject

Students on a tight schedule (know /knows)

they shouldn’t procrastinate.
A) know
B) knows
 Students on a tight schedule (know / knows)
they shouldn’t procrastinate.

ANSWER:
A) know
B) knows
 14. Dependent clause

• A dependent clause has a subject and a verb, but

it does not express a complete thought.

• When a dependent clause comes between the

subject and the verb, it usually starts with the
word who, whose, whom, that, since etc.

• The subject of a sentence is never a dependent

clause..
Choose the form of the verb that matches the
subject.

Dave, who is one of my brothers, (distract

/distracts) me whenever I try to study.

A) distract
B) distracts
 Dave, who is one of my brothers, (distract
/distracts) me whenever I try to study.

ANSWER:
A) distract
B) distracts
 15. INVERTED WORD ORDER

 Look for inverted word order, in

which the subject follows the verb.
have
From his research has come three
Subject
promising cancer drugs.
Examples:

1. Here are the ways on how to

preserve meat.

2. There is a huge gap between

the rich and the poor.
Examples:

 The Bahamas has beautiful

beaches.
 Paris is an amazing place.
 18. Portions rule:

With words that indicate portions—a lot, a majority,

some, all, etc.—Rule 1 given earlier is reversed, and we
are guided by the noun after of. If the noun after of is
singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural
A lot of the pie has disappeared.
verb.

 A lot of the pies have disappeared.

A third of the city is unemployed.

A third of the people _____(is/are) unemployed.
All of the pie ______(is/are) gone..
Some of the pies _____(are/is) missing.