Subject

~The word/s that name the topic of the

sentence
~The word/s that the sentence is about

Definition:

Verb
~The word that states the action or state of
the subject
Subject Verb Agreement
~The appropriate pairing of subject and verb
based on whether the subject and verb are
plural or singular and whether the person is
first, second, or third.

Difference:
The difference between singular and plural
forms
Example:

Singular

Plural

The students sings.

(He or She sings)

Your children sing.

(They sing)

The bird does

migrate.(It does)

Those birds do
migarate.(They do)

Irregular Verbs:
DO
Singular Plural

~He does
HAVE

~They do

Singular Plural

~She has
BE

~They have

Singular Plural
~He is ~They are
~She was
~They were

Basic Rules:

Basic Rules 1:

The indefinite pronouns anyone,

everyone,someone,no one,nobody are always
singular and, therefore,require singular
verbs.
Everyone on Earth=more than one person
Example:
Everyone has done his or her homework.
Somebody has left her purse.
Everybody loves grammar!
Everybody understands subject/verb
agreement.

Some indefinite pronouns-such as all, someare singular or plural depending on what

theyre referring to.
Be careful choosing a verb to accompany
such
pronouns.
Example:
Some of the beads are missing.
Some of the water is gone.
On the other hand,there is one indefinite
pronoun,none,that can be either singular or
plural;it often doesnt matter whether you use
a singular or a plural verb-unless something
else in the sentence determines its number.

Example:
None of you claims responsibility for this
incident?
None of you claim responsibility for this
incident?
None of the students have done their
homework.
(In this last example, the word their precludes
the use of the singular verb)

Basic Rules 2:

Some indefinite pronouns are particularly

troublesomeEveryoneandEverybody
certainlyfeellike more than one person
and, therefore, students are sometimes
tempted to use a plural verb with them.
They are always singular, though.Each is
often followed by a prepositional phrase
ending in a plural word (Each of the
cars), thus confusing the verb choice.
Each,too, is always singular and requires
a singular verb.

Example:
Everyonehasfinishedhisorherhomework.
~Youwouldalwayssay,"Everybodyishere."
Thismeansthatthewordissingularand
nothingwillchangethat.

Eachofthestudentsisresponsiblefordoinghis
orherworkinthelibrary.
~Don't let the word "students" confuse
you; the subject iseachandeachis
always singular Each isresponsible.

Basic Rules 3:
Phrases such astogether with, as well
as, andalong withare not the same
asand. The phrase introduced byas
well asoralong with will modify the
earlier word (mayorin this case), but it
does notcompoundthe subjects (as the
wordandwould do).
Themayoras well as his brothers is
going to prison.
Themayor and his brothersaregoing
to jail.

Basic Rules 4:
The pronounsneitherandeitherare
singular and require singular verbs even
though they seem to be referring, in a
sense, to two things.
Example:
Neitherofthetwotrafficlightsisworking.
WhichshirtdoyouwantforChristmas?
~Eitherisfinewithme.

 In informal writing,neither and either

sometimes take a plural verb when these
pronouns are followed by a prepositional
phrase beginning withof.
This is particularly true of interrogative
constructions:
"Haveeither of you two clowns read the
assignment?
"Areeither of you taking this seriously?
Burchfield calls this "a clash between
notional and actual agreement."

Basic Rules 5:
Theconjunctionordoesnotconjoin
(asanddoes):whennorororisusedthesubject
closertotheverbdeterminesthenumberofthe
verb.Whetherthesubjectcomesbeforeorafter
theverbdoesn'tmatter;theproximity
determinesthenumber.
Example:
Eithermyfatherormybrothersaregoingtosell
thehouse.
Neithermybrothersnormyfatherisgoingtosell
thehouse.

Areeither my brothers or my father

responsible?
Iseither my father or my brothers
responsible?

Because a sentence like "Neither my

brothers nor my fatherisgoing to sell the
house" sounds peculiar, it is probably a
good idea to put the plural subject closer
to the verb whenever that is possible

Basic Rules 6:
The wordsthereandhereare never
subjects.
Example:
Therearetwo reasons [plural subject]
for this.
Thereisno reason for this.
Herearetwo apples.
With these constructions (called
expletive constructions), the subject
follows the verb but still determines
the number of the verb.

Basic Rules 7:
Verbs in the present tense for thirdperson, singular subjects (he,
she,itand anything those words can
stand for) haves-endings. Other
verbs do not adds-endings.
Example:
He lovesand she lovesand they love_
and

Basic Rules 8:
Sometimes modifiers will get between a
subject and its verb, but these
modifiers must not confuse the
agreement between the subject and its
verb.

Themayor, who has been

convicted along with his four
brothers on four counts of various
crimes but who also seems, like a
cat, to have several political
lives,isfinally going to jail

Basic Rules 9:
Sometimesnounstakeweirdformsandcanfool
usintothinkingthey'repluralwhenthey're
reallysingularandvice-versa.Consultthe
sectiononthePluralFormsofNounsandthe
sectiononCollectiveNounsforadditionalhelp.
Wordssuchasglasses,pants,pliers,andscissors
areregardedasplural(andrequirepluralverbs)
unlessthey'reprecededthephrasepair of(in
whichcasethewordpair becomesthesubject).

Example:
My glasseswereon the bed.
My pantsweretorn.
A pair of plaid trousersisin the closet.

Basic Rules 10:

On the other hand, some words ending
in-srefer to a single thing but are
nonetheless plural and require a plural
verb.
Example:
My assetswerewiped out in the
depression.
The average workers earnings have gone
up dramatically.
Our thanksgoto the workers who
supported the union.

 The names of sports teams that do

not end in "s" will take a plural verb:
the Miami Heathavebeen looking ,
The Connecticut Sunarehoping that
new talent . See the section on
pluralsfor help with this problem.

Basic Rules 11:

Fractional expressions such ashalf of, a part of,
a percentage of, a majority ofare sometimes
singular and sometimes plural, depending on the
meaning. (The same is true, of course, when all,
any, more, mostandsomeact as subjects.)
Sums and products of mathematical processes are
expressed as singular and require singular verbs.
The expression "more than one" (oddly enough)
takes a singular verb: "More than one
studenthastried this.

Example:
Some of the votersarestill angry.
A large percentage of the older
populationisvoting against her.
Two-fifths of the troops werelost in the
battle.
Two-fifths of the vineyardwasdestroyed
by fire.
Forty percent of the students arein favor
of changing the policy.
Forty percent of the student body isin
favor of changing the policy.
Two and twoisfour.
Four times four divided by two iseight.

Basic Rules 12:

If your sentence compounds a positive
and a negative subject and one is plural,
the other singular, the verb should agree
with the positive subject.
Example:
The department members but not the
chairhavedecidednot to teach on
Valentine's Day.
It is not the faculty members but the
president whodecidesthis issue.
It was the speaker, not his ideas,
thathasprovokedthe students to riot