Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb
Agreement
The Mainstay Reviews
1. A verb agrees with its subject in person and in number.
Wrong : They doesn’t understand what to do.

Right : They don’t understand what to do.
2. The number of a noun in a phrase introduced by the
preposition of does not affect the form of the verb
Wrong : A list of books were made by Denzel.

Right : A list of books was made by Denzel.
3. Compound subjects joined by and ordinarily take the
plural form of the verb.
Wrong : Here comes David and Jonathan.

Right : Here come David and Jonathan.
4.When two or more singular objects are joined by or or not,
a singular form of the verb is required.
Wrong : A man’s success or failure lie in his

hands.
Right : A man’s success or failure lies in his
hands.
5. Intervening phrases introduced by of, with, together with,
as well as, including, besides, no less than, in addition to,
accompanied by, not, do not affect the form of the verb.
Wrong : The teacher, together with her pupils,

were there.
Right : The teacher, together with her pupils,
was there.
6. Compound nouns joined by and use the singular form of
the verb if they are regarded as a unit.
E.g. Bread and butter was all he asked for.

Rice and fish is the staple food of the
Filipinos.
7. When the subject and predicate nominative differ in
number, the verb must agree with the subject not the
complement.
Wrong : The theme of the essay are the

experiences of our heroes.
Right : The theme of the essay is the experiences
of our heroes.
8. Compound subjects joined by either-or, neither-nor, not
only but also ordinarily take verbs agreeing in number with
the nearer subject.
Wrong : Not only the students but also the

teacher are learning.
Right: Not only the students but also the teacher
is learning.
9. When the subject comes after the verb make sure that
the verb agress with its subject.
Wrong : In this school is enrolled several alien

students.
Right : In this school are enrolled several alien
students.
10. Never begin a sentence with a participle that does not
logically modify the subject of the sentence.
Wrong : Walking around the campus, the bell

rang.
Right : Walking around the campus, I heard the
bell rang.
11. Sentence elements that are grammatically connected
should be closed together.
Wrong : I, after the class, went to the movies.

Right : I went to the movies after my class.
12. Modifiers should be placed as near as possible to the
words they modify.
Wrong : She rushed into the room just as we are

singing the last song breathless with excitement.
Right : Breathless with excitement, she rushed
into the room just as we are singing the last
song.
13. Avoid dangling modifiers.
Wrong : Having taken the entrance

examinations, the President of the College
accepted me.
Right : After I had taken the entrance
examinations, the President of the College
accepted me.
14. Ordinarily, this and that take the singular form of the
verb while these and those take the plural form of the verb.
E.g. That is a good idea.

These are times that try man’s soul.
15. The following indefinite pronouns belong to the third
person. They take the plural form of the verb: all, both, few,
many, several, some.
E.g. All were satisfied.

Both are to be blamed.
16. The following indefinite pronouns, whether singular or
plural in meaning are ordinarily used with the third person
singular form of the verb: each, everybody, everyone,
everything, any, anybody, anything, somebody, someone,
something, one, nothing, nobody, either, neither, anotherm
the other.
E.g. Each arrives on time.

Everything is in order.
17. The title of the book is considered singular.
E.g. “The Dialogues” of Plato is a great classic.

18. The word people, meaning many persons is plural.
People refer to different races.
E.g. The people were excited about the news.

The peoples of Asia need to be united.
19. The expressions the number of takes the singular form
of the verb, while the expression a number of takes the
plural form of the verb.
E.e. The number of students in the class is

limited.
A number of books are on reserved in the
library.
20. Nouns referring to money, time, measurement or
distance that is preceded by an expression of amount or
quantity is considered singular and takes the singular form
of the verb.
E.g. Three hundred pesos is too much for that
shirt.
Three weeks is a long time to wait for you.
21. The number of the noun that follows an expression of
fraction or portion determines the form of the verb to be
used.
E.g. One-third of the apples are yours.

Half of the apple was eaten by rats.
22. Sentences introduced by it take the singular form of the
verb.
E.g. It is time to say goodbye.

It is our duty to take care of our parents.
23. The number of the subject of a sentence introduced by
there determines the verb to be used.
E.g. There is a man in the room.

There are times when she is lonely.
There are five schooldays in a week.
24. The verb takes an s when it is used in the third person
singular of the present tense.
E.g. Cyrus plays chess vigorously.

25. The expressions one of the, the number of, and a number
of are always followed by plural nouns.
E.g. One of the boys is absent.

A number of books were stolen.
The number of apples was rotten.
26. Some nouns are always plural in form and in meaning.
E.g. mumps, pants, shorts, scissors, trousers

Measles is plural in form but singular in meaning.
Note: The word news is plural in form but singular
in meaning.
The news for today is about the highlights of the UN
summit.
27. Nouns such as Mathematics, Statistics, Economics,
Politics, and Physics are used with the singular form of the
verb when they refer to an area of study.
E.g. Physics is required for Science majors.

Politics is not dirty per se, but the politicians
are the ones making it dirty.
28. Possession is usually shown by adding apostrophe ( ‘ ) or
apostrophe and s ( ‘s ) to a noun.
E.g. The boys’ club

The ladies’ circle
29. The infinitive of a verb is always in the simple form.
E.g. To love is an adventure.

Long ago, Bong’s dream was to love in a
forest.
30. Nouns singular in form but function collectively.
E.g. information, food, equipment, jewelry,

furniture

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Subject-Verb

Wrong : They doesn’t understand what to do.

Wrong : A list of books were made by Denzel.

Wrong : Here comes David and Jonathan.

Wrong : A man’s success or failure lie in his

Wrong : The teacher, together with her pupils,

E.g. Bread and butter was all he asked for.

Wrong : The theme of the essay are the

Wrong : Not only the students but also the

Wrong : In this school is enrolled several alien

Wrong : Walking around the campus, the bell

Wrong : I, after the class, went to the movies.

Wrong : She rushed into the room just as we are

Wrong : Having taken the entrance

E.g. That is a good idea.

E.g. All were satisfied.

E.g. Each arrives on time.

E.g. “The Dialogues” of Plato is a great classic.

E.g. The people were excited about the news.

E.e. The number of students in the class is

E.g. One-third of the apples are yours.

E.g. It is time to say goodbye.

E.g. There is a man in the room.

E.g. Cyrus plays chess vigorously.

E.g. One of the boys is absent.

E.g. mumps, pants, shorts, scissors, trousers

E.g. Physics is required for Science majors.

E.g. The boys’ club

E.g. To love is an adventure.

E.g. information, food, equipment, jewelry,

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