Name: _______________________________________________________________

Date: _____________________

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
I
you
they
Remember:

TO BE
am
are
are
X and Y (plural);

HAVE
have
have
have

TO SHOW
show
show
show

X or Y (singular);

he
she
it

-one, -body, -thing (singular);

TO BE
is
is
is

HAVE
has
has
has

TO SHOW
shows
shows
shows

all, some, none, either, neither (contextual)

DIRECTIONS: Select one answer from the choices provided after each sentence.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.

Either the physicians in this hospital or the chief administrator (is/are) going to have to make a decision.
(Is/Are) my boss or my sisters in the union going to win this grievance?
Some of the votes (seem/seems) to have been miscounted.
The tornadoes that tear through this county every spring (are/is) more than just a nuisance.
Everyone selected to serve on this jury (have/has) to be willing to give up a lot of time.
Kara Wolters, together with her teammates, (presents/present) a formidable opponent on the basketball court.
He seems to forget that there (are/is) things to be done before he can graduate.
There (have/has) to be some people left in that town after yesterday's flood.
Some of the grain (appear/appears) to be contaminated.
Three-quarters of the students (is/are) against the tuition hike.
Three-quarters of the student body (is/are) against the tuition hike.
A high percentage of the population (is/are) voting for the new school.
A high percentage of the people (was/were) voting for the new school.
The piano as well as the pipe organ (has/have) to be tuned for the big concert.
The mayor together with his two brothers (are/is) going to be indicted for accepting bribes.
Neither of my two suitcases (is/are) adequate for this trip.
There (are/is) a list of committee members on the head-table.
Everybody in the class (has/have) done the homework well in advance.
The jury (take/takes) their seats in the courtroom.
Neither the teacher nor the students (seem/seems) to understand this assignment.
(Has/Have) either my father or my brothers made a down-payment on the house?
Hartford is one of those cities that (is/are) working hard to reclaim a riverfront.
Some of the grain (have/has) gone bad.
John or his brother (are/is) going to be responsible for this.
A few of the students (are/is) doing so well they can skip the next course.
Either the Committee on Course Design or the Committee on College Operations (decide/decides) these matters.
One of my instructors (have/has) written a letter of recommendation for me.
There (are/is) several reasons why you should reconsider your decision.
Howard and Vincent, who (runs/run) a copy center in town, have decided to expand their business.
Both of the statues on the shelf (are/is) broken.
The fishing boat that has been tied up at the pier for three days (was/were) finally on its way this morning.
The chairman, along with his two assistants, (plan/plans) to attend the annual convention.
The issues of inflation and tax reform (continue/continues) to be on everyone's mind.
Juan or Julian (prepare/prepares) the conference room each week.
Not one of the performers (were/was) at the party after the concert.
The results of the election (were/was) not available for two days.
When there (is/are) thunderstorms approaching, we are always reminded of the threat of tornadoes.
Macaroni and cheese (is/are) my favorite dish.
At the foot of the mountain (was/were) two enormous vineyards, both owned by the same woman.
A small percentage of the grain (was/were) ruined by the prolonged rain.

DIRECTIONS: Identify the correct verb form.

I can't believe I (get) ____________________ that apartment. I (submit) ______________________ my application
last week, but I didn't think I had a chance of actually getting it. When I (show) ___________________________ up to take
a look around, there were at least twenty other people who (arrive) _______________________ before me. Most of them
(fill, already) __________________ out their applications and were already leaving. The landlord said I could still apply, so
I did.
I (try) __________________ to fill out the form, but I couldn't answer half of the questions. They
(want) __________________ me to include references, but I didn't want to list my previous landlord because I
(have) ________________________some problems with him in the past and I knew he wouldn't recommend me. I
(end) __________________ up listing my father as a reference.
It was total luck that he (decide) __________________ to give me the apartment. It turns out that the landlord and
my father (go) __________________ to high school together. He decided that I could have the apartment before he
(look) __________________ at my credit report. I really lucked out!

Proofread and correct the following paragraph for errors in subject/verb agreement. Keep all corrected verbs in present
tense. When you have finished, check your work against the answer key.
There is many benefits to using spaced practice instead of massed practice. Massed practice, like cramming for exams,
involve studying all of the material at one time. Spaced practice, on the other hand, involves distributing your study time
over a longer period with breaks between practice sessions. Studying for short periods of time, such as one fifty-minute
session, prevent boredom, helps avoid fatigue, and improves motivation. If you space out your study over a period of days,
you gain several additional benefits. First of all, you delay forgetting. In addition, you benefit by reviewing and reinforcing
the information that you previously studied.
Spaced practice or distributed practice, as it is also known, allow time for the information to consolidate or jell in longterm memory. Allowing breaks between learning sessions give you time to think about what you have been studying and to
structure and organize it according to what you already know about the topic. Remember, trying to study many chapters at
one time become overwhelming to most students. Rereading and reviewing is the key to college success.

Name: _______________________________________________________________

Date: _____________________

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT (ANSWER KEY)

I
you
they
Remember:

TO BE
am
are
are
X and Y (plural);

HAVE
have
have
have

TO SHOW
show
show
show

X or Y (singular);

he
she
it

-one, -body, -thing (singular);

TO BE
is
is
is

HAVE
has
has
has

TO SHOW
shows
shows
shows

all, some, none, either, neither (contextual)

DIRECTIONS: Select one answer from the choices provided after each sentence.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.

Either the physicians in this hospital or the chief administrator (is/are) going to have to make a decision.
(Is/Are) my boss or my sisters in the union going to win this grievance?
Some of the votes (seem/seems) to have been miscounted.
The tornadoes that tear through this county every spring (are/is) more than just a nuisance.
Everyone selected to serve on this jury (have/has) to be willing to give up a lot of time.
Kara Wolters, together with her teammates, (presents/present) a formidable opponent on the basketball court.
He seems to forget that there (are/is) things to be done before he can graduate.
There (have/has) to be some people left in that town after yesterday's flood.
Some of the grain (appear/appears) to be contaminated.
Three-quarters of the students (is/are) against the tuition hike.
Three-quarters of the student body (is/are) against the tuition hike.
A high percentage of the population (is/are) voting for the new school.
A high percentage of the people (was/were) voting for the new school.
The piano as well as the pipe organ (has/have) to be tuned for the big concert.
The mayor together with his two brothers (are/is) going to be indicted for accepting bribes.
Neither of my two suitcases (is/are) adequate for this trip.
There (are/is) a list of committee members on the head-table.
Everybody in the class (has/have) done the homework well in advance.
The jury (take/takes) their seats in the courtroom.
Neither the teacher nor the students (seem/seems) to understand this assignment.
(Has/Have) either my father or my brothers made a down-payment on the house?
Hartford is one of those cities that (is/are) working hard to reclaim a riverfront.
Some of the grain (have/has) gone bad.
John or his brother (are/is) going to be responsible for this.
A few of the students (are/is) doing so well they can skip the next course.
Either the Committee on Course Design or the Committee on College Operations (decide/decides) these matters.
One of my instructors (have/has) written a letter of recommendation for me.
There (are/is) several reasons why you should reconsider your decision.
Howard and Vincent, who (runs/run) a copy center in town, have decided to expand their business.
Both of the statues on the shelf (are/is) broken.
The fishing boat that has been tied up at the pier for three days (was/were) finally on its way this morning.
The chairman, along with his two assistants, (plan/plans) to attend the annual convention.
The issues of inflation and tax reform (continue/continues) to be on everyone's mind.
Juan or Julian (prepare/prepares) the conference room each week.
Not one of the performers (were/was) at the party after the concert.
The results of the election (were/was) not available for two days.
When there (is/are) thunderstorms approaching, we are always reminded of the threat of tornadoes.
Macaroni and cheese (is/are) my favorite dish.
At the foot of the mountain (was/were) two enormous vineyards, both owned by the same woman.
A small percentage of the grain (was/were) ruined by the prolonged rain.

DIRECTIONS: Identify the correct verb form.

I can't believe I (get) got that apartment. I (submit) submitted my application last week, but I didn't think I had a
chance of actually getting it. When I (show)showed up to take a look around, there were at least twenty other people who
(arrive) had arrived before me. Most of them (fill, already) had already filled out their applications and were already
leaving. The landlord said I could still apply, so I did.
I (try) tried to fill out the form, but I couldn't answer half of the questions. They (want) wanted me to include
references, but I didn't want to list my previous landlord because I (have) had had some problems with him in the past and I
knew he wouldn't recommend me. I (end) ended up listing my father as a reference.
It was total luck that he (decide) decided to give me the apartment. It turns out that the landlord and my father
(go) went to high school together. He decided that I could have the apartment before he (look) looked at my credit report. I
really lucked out!

Proofread and correct the following paragraph for errors in subject/verb agreement. Keep all corrected verbs in present
tense. When you have finished, check your work against the answer key.
There are many benefits to using spaced practice instead of massed practice. Massed practice, like cramming for
exams, involves studying all of the material at one time. Spaced practice, on the other hand, involves distributing your study
time over a longer period with breaks between practice sessions. Studying for short periods of time, such as one fifty-minute
session, prevents boredom, helps avoid fatigue, and improves motivation. If you space out your study over a period of days,
you gain several additional benefits. First of all, you delay forgetting. In addition, you benefit by reviewing and reinforcing
the information that you previously studied.
Spaced practice or distributed practice, as it is also known, allows time for the information to consolidate or jell in longterm memory. Allowing breaks between learning sessions gives you time to think about what you have been studying and to
structure and organize it according to what you already know about the topic. Remember, trying to study many chapters at
one time becomes overwhelming to most students. Rereading and reviewing are the keys to college success.