Subject-Verb Agreement Practice Test 1Answers

1. My brother or my sister are arriving tomorrow.

Correct sentence: My brother or my sister is arriving tomorrow
Explanation: Two singular subjects connected by or require a singular verb. In this
sentence, there brother and sister are both singular, so the sentence should use the
singular verb is.
2. Neither Ella nor her friends is available to assist you.
Correct sentence: Neither Ella nor her friends are available to assist you.
When a singular subject and a plural subject are connected by neither/nor or either/or, the
verb agrees with the subject nearest to it. In the sentence above, the plural verb are is
used because it is nearer to the plural subject friends.
3. Armand, together with his friends, are going on a camping trip tomorrow.
Correct sentence: Armand, together with his friends, is going on a camping trip tomorrow.
Explanation: In general, phrases such as together with, along with, as well as, should be
ignored when considering the verb of the sentence. The verb should always agree with
the subject. In this sentence, Armand is the singular subject, so the singular verb is is
used.
4. Jim and Mike are going to take the Subprofessional Civil Service Examination next
month.
Explanation: No error. Jim and Mike is a plural subject, so the plural verb are is used.
5. Each of the boys play piano well.
Correct sentence: Each of the boys plays piano well.
Explanation: The pronouns each, anyone, anybody, everyone, every one, everybody are
singular and require singular verbs. In the sentence, each is singular so, the singular
verb plays must be used.
6. Neither of them are available to meet you at the airport.
Correct sentence: Neither of them is available to meet you at the airport.
Explanation: Sentences that use either or neither (without or) always require singular verb.
7. Ten years are such a long time to wait my love.
Correct sentence: Ten years is such a long time to wait my love.
Explanation: Periods of time take singular verb.

8. Five thousand pesos are a high price to pay for a single T-shirt.
Correct sentence: Five thousand pesos is a high price to pay for a single T-shirt.
Explanation: Amount of money takes singular verb.

9. Fifty percent of the cake have disappeared after just two minutes.
Correct sentence: Fifty percent of the cake has disappeared after just two minutes.
Explanation: The verb used in words that indicate portions such
as percent, fraction, part, all, some, etc. depends on the noun in the of phrase. In the
sentence above, the cake in of the cake phrase is singular, therefore, the singular
verb has should be used.
10. Everybody is happy about the result of the examination
Explanation: No Error. See no. 5 for explanation.

11. One-tenth of the people in this city are unemployed.

Explanation: No error. See no. 9 for explanation.

12. He is one of the men who does the work without complaining.
Correct sentence: He is one of the men who do the work without complaining.
Explanation: The pronouns who, which, and that which is the subject of the verb in the
middle of the sentence become singular or plural according to the noun directly in front of
them. In the sentence above, the noun in front of who is men which is plural, so the plural
verb do must be used.
13. The team are going to practice tomorrow for the final competition
Correct sentence: The team is going to practice tomorrow for the final competition
Explanation: Collective nouns such as team and staff may either be singular or plural
depending on their use in the sentence. In the sentence above, the team acts as a unit
and therefore requires a singular verb.
14. The committee are in disagreement whether to use the fund in a feeding program or
donate it to a hospital.
Explanation: No error. Unlike in number 13, the committee in this sentence act as
individuals and not as a unit.
15. Nina, as well as his brother and sister, is attending a birthday party.
Explanation: No error. See no. 3 for explanation.

Subject-verb agreement means that the subject and verb endings agree in number.
Determining singular or plural endings can be confusing because an -s ending on a noun
indicates plural, whereas an -s ending on a verb indicates singular form. The subject of
every sentence is either singular or plural, and that determines the ending of the verb.

In the examples below, the subjects in the sentences are underlined the
verbs are italicized.
Rule 1: Singular nouns (usually without s) take singular verbs (usually with s). Plural nouns
(usually with s) take plural verbs (usually without s).
Examples:

The bee buzzes every night. (One bee = singular verb)

The bees buzz every night. (More than one bee = plural verb)
The stamps stick.
Time flies so fast.
Note: The nouns I and you always take a plural verb.

I eat a lot.
You are so beautiful.
Rule 2: Compound subjects or subjects joined by and take a plural verb.
Example:

My father and my brother visit me every year.

Rule 3: The conjunction or does not conjoin like and. When you use or, the verb takes
the the number of the closest subject.
Your father or his sisters are going to take care of Anna.
Your sisters or your father is going to take care of Anna.
Rule 4: Just like in Rule 3, when the subject words are joined by either or, neither . . . nor,
or not only but , the verb agrees with the subject closest to it.
Examples:

Either her friend or her mother has the money.

Neither her uncle nor her aunts have the money.
In sentence 1, the verb has which is singular agrees with the subject mother (singular).
In the second sentence, the verb have (plural) agrees with the subject aunts (plural).
Rule 5: The indefinite pronouns no
one, anyone, everyone, someone, anybody, everybody, somebody, and nobody are always
singular. They take singular verbs.
Examples:

No one is above the law.

Everyone was happy.
Rule 6: When word groups or modifiers separate the subject and the verb, locate the
subject word to determine whether to use a singular or plural verb.
Examples:

The flowers in the pot on the balcony need watering.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Rule 7: Phrases starting with the following words are normally not part of the subject: along
with, together with, accompanied by, in addition to, as well as, except, with, no less than.
Risa, together with her friends, goes to a party every weekend.
Dana and Gemma, together with their father, go to church every weekend.

Rule 8: Modifiers between the subject and the verb does not affect the number of the subject.
Jason, who is a father of four, is currently suffering liver cancer.
In this sentence, the phrase who is a father of four is a modifier of Jason. It does not affect Jason
as a subject and therefore takes a singular verb is.
Rule 9: Some nouns (collective nouns) can be used as singular or plural depending on the context
and usage.
Ricas family plans to go on a vacation this summer.
The staff have gone their separate ways after the meeting.
In the first sentence, the family is a collective noun and functions as one group. In the
second sentence, the staff refers to the persons individually.

Rule 10: Uncountable nouns or nouns that cant be counted takes singular verbs.
Too much sugar was put in this coffee.
Money is the root of all evils.
In this sentence, sugar is an uncountable noun, so we used was instead of were. It is the same
with the second sentence.
Rule 11: There are words that end in s that are always considered as singular.
The news about her death is spreading very fast.
Mathematics is a very difficult subject.
Diabetes is not a curable disease.
Rule 12: Fractional expressions half of, part of, portion of may take singular or plural
verbs depending on the context.
Half of the audience are asleep because of his boring speech.
A portion of his wealth was donated to cancer patients.
Rule 13: In inverted sentences especially those that use here and there, the subject
follows the verb.
Here are the towels.
A good snack is a salad.

Grammar and Correct Usage Practice Test 1. The incorrect word or phrase in the sentence
is highlighted red, while the correct word or phrase is highlighted green.
1. The inventor stood to except the award.
Correct Sentence: The inventor stood to accept the award.
Explanation: Accept means to receive, except means to exclude.
2. Between the three of us, I think I am the slowest runner.
Correct Sentence: Among the three of us, I think I am the slowest runner.
Explanation: Among is used to refer to 3 or more members of the group, while between is
used to refer to two member of the group.
3. There are scarcely no more birds in this city.
Correct sentence: There are scarcely any birds in this city.
Explanation: Double negative. Scarcely and no more are both negative word/phrase.
4. This fruit contains fewer sugar.
Correct sentence: This fruit contains less sugar.
Explanation: Fewer is used to describe plural nouns (how many) while less is used to
describe singular nouns (how much). Sugar is singular.
5. I have never seen nothing as beautiful as this city.
Correct sentence: I have never seen anything as beautiful as this city.
Explanation: Double negative. Never seen and nothing are both negative word/phrase.
6. Place the mirror on the wall to give you an allusion of bigger room.
Correct sentence: Place the mirror on the wall to give you an illusion of bigger room.
Explanation: Allusion means a passing or casual reference, while illusion means
something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality.
7. We were lucky we didnt have typhoon this month. (No Error)
8. My favorite vegetable are peas.
Correct sentence: May favorite vegetable is peas.
Explanation: The subject is favorite is singular, therefore the verb are should be is.
9. Either James or John are going to lead the choir in the recital tommorow.
Correct sentence: Either James or John is going to lead the choir in their recital tomorrow.
Explanation: In either or statements, the verb considers the subject after the or statement.
The subject John is singular, so the verb should be is. The correct spelling is tomorrow.
10. The additional supplies that we need to bring are: band aids, cottons, alcohol, and
gauze.
Correct sentences:
The additional supplies that we need to bring are band aids, cottons, alcohol, and gauze.
(The colon was deleted).
The additional supplies that we need to bring are the following: band aids, cottons, alcohol,
and gauze.
Explanation: The colon is used before a list of items especially after expressions like the
following and as follows. Do not use a colon before a verb or a preposition.
11. All the students has finished their report.
Correct sentence: All the students have finished their report.
Explanation: In this sentence, all refers to many students, therefore have is the correct
verb.
12. He was a honorable man.
Correct sentence: He was an honorable man.
Explanation: A is used before words beginning with a consonant sound (a car, a pencil),
while an is used to before words beginning with vowel sounds (an ant, an egg). An is also
used to before words beginning with the consonant h when h is not pronounced (such
as honorable).
13. The recently heavy flooding effected the crops of farmers.
Correct sentence: The recently heavy flooding affected the crops of farmers.
Explanation: Affect means to influence while effect means the result of some actions.
14. Emmanuel could of passed the examinations if he had studied hard enough.
Correct sentence: Emmanuel could have passed the examinations if he studied hard
enough.
Explanation: The word of is not used after the verb could.
15. I believe that were going to have a prosperous new year.
Correct sentence: I believe that were going to have a prosperous new year.
Explanation: The word were is the past tense of was while were is the contraction of we
are.