Subject-Verb agreement

Subject verb agreement means that the number and person of the subject must
agree with the verb in any given sentence. This agreement of the subject and the verb
is called Concord. There are certain rules for this agreement.

Rule 1

The third person singular form of verbs in the simple present tense is formed by
adding ‘s/es’ to the root form of third person plural. We can use this rule in the below-
mentioned format.

He/ She/ Common Nouns/ Proper Nouns + verb (base form) with s/es at the end +
object (optional)

Few examples of Rule 1 are:

1) A cow eats hay.

एक गाय घास खाती है।

2) She goes for a walk daily.

वह रोजाना टहलने जाती है।

3) My father does not smoke.

मेरे पता धू पान नह करते ह।

4) Does he drink tea?

या वह चाय पीता है?

5) My friends do not drink.

मेरे दो त नह पीते।
Rule 2

The second rule for concord is that the subject ‘one of + plural noun’ is singular and
the verb along with it is also singular.

Few examples of Rule 2 are:

1) One of my friends lives in Dehradun.

मेरे एक म दे हरा न म रहते ह।

2) One of my uncles plays golf.

मेरा एक चाचा गो फ खेलता है।

3) One of my aunts is a minister.

मेरी एक चाची मं ी ह।

4) One of my relatives stays in London.

मेरा एक र तेदार लं दन म रहता है।

5) One of her uncles is a pilot.

उसका एक चाचा पायलट है।

Rule 3

The third rule is that when the subject and the verb are separated by a clause or a
long phrase, the verb must agree with the actual subject.

Few examples of Rule 3 are:

1) The aunt, who is irritated today, is usually very good.

चाची, जो आज चढ़ ई है, आमतौर पर ब त अ होती है।

2) All the songs that she recorded on the computer are good.

कं यूटर पर उसके ारा रकॉड कए गए सभी गाने अ े ह।

3)The gift which the mother gave her children is very good.

माँ ने अपने ब को जो उपहार दया वह ब त अ ा है।

4) The milk that father had brought in the morning is now spoilt.

पता सु बह जो ध लाए थे वह अब खराब हो गया है।

5) My dog that used to stay happy earlier is now irritated.

मेरा कु ा जो पहले खुश रहता था अब चढ़ गया है।

Rule 4

The fourth rule says that when a subject is made up of two or more nouns joined by
‘and’, the verb to be attached along should be plural. But if two of them join to form a
compound name of one thing, then the verb given along remains singular.

Few examples of Rule 4 are:

1) Sugar and spice are found at the grocery store.

कराने क कान पर चीनी और मसाला पाया जाता है।

2) Lemon and honey taken in water are said to be good for skin.

पानी म लया गया न बू और शहद वचा के लए अ ा माना जाता है।

3) Dogs and cats are supposed to be enemies.

कु और ब लय को मन माना जाता है।

4) Forks and knives are kept in the drawer.

दराज म चाकू और चाकू रखे जाते ह।

5) Water and ice are two different forms of water.

पानी और बफ पानी के दो अलग-अलग प ह।

Rule 5

The fifth rule states that when two subjects are joined together by ‘as well as’, ‘with’,
‘in addition to’, ‘and not’ , the verb attached along is chosen according to the first
subject.

Few examples of Rule 5 are:

1) My friends as well as I are going to give the practical.

मेरे दो त और म इ तेहान दे ने जा रहे ह ।

2) He with his servants is in police custody.

वह अपने नौकर के साथ पु लस हरासत म है।

3) Green and not black is a better colour.

हरा काले से बेहतर रंग है।

4) Mr. Batra as well as his sons is a fraudster.

ी ब ा के साथ-साथ उनके बेटे भी धोखेबाज ह

5) The murderer as well as the thieves is under trials.

का तल के साथ-साथ चोर भी परी ण के अधीन है।

Rule 6

The sixth rule states that the words such as each, every, either, neither and ‘many a’
are followed by a singular verb.

Few examples of Rule 6 are:

1) Either of the two girls is lying.

दोन लड़ कय म से कोई एक झूठ बोल रही है।

2) Neither of the five boys is eating.

पाँच लड़क म से कोई भी नह खा रहा है।

3) Each of the girls was given a cash prize.

येक लड़ कय को नकद पुर कार दया गया।

4) Many a times it is the culprit who runs.

काफ बार जो भाग रहा होता है, वही गलत होता है।

5) Every child is god gifted.

हर ब े को भगवान का उपहार दया जाता है।

Rule 7

This rule states that if two or more subjects in a sentence are joined by words like ‘or’,
‘nor’, ‘either____ neither____ nor’, and ‘not only____ but also’ then the verb is chosen
according to the subject nearest to the verb. If one of the verbs in the sentence is
plural then it should be placed near to the verb and the verb must agree with it.

Few examples of Rule 7 are:

1) Either he or I am going to face the consequences.

या तो वह या म प रणाम का सामना करने जा रहा ं।

2) Neither you nor she is to blame.

न तो आप और न ही वह दोषी है।

3) Either she or I am to do it.

या तो वह या म यह कर रहा ँ।

4) Neither the owner nor his sons come to the office anymore.

न तो मा लक और न ही उनके बेटे अब कायालय आते ह।

5) Not only she but also her family have gone to London.

न के वल वह ब क उसका प रवार भी लं दन गया है।

Rule 8

This rule says that the word ‘none’ will take a verb according to the sense of the
sentence. It might be singular or plural depending upon the sentence.

Few examples of Rule 8 are:

1) None of the students were in the class.

कोई भी छा क ा म नह था ।

2) I asked for a maid, but none was there.

मने एक नौकरानी के लए कहा, ले कन कोई नह थी ।

3) None of them wanted to go out for a dinner.

उनम से कोई भी रात के खाने के लए बाहर नह जाना चाहता था।

4) All of the students cleared the exam, none of them failed.

सभी छा ने परी ा पास कर ली , उनम से कोई भी असफल नह आ।

5) None of the thieves were caught.

कोई भी चोर नह पकड़ा गया।

Rule 9

The ninth rule of subject verb agreement says that when distances, weights or
amounts represent a single unit or a fixed quantity, they are treated as singular and
the verb attached along is also singular.

Few examples of Rule 9 are:

1) Five hundred rupees is not much money these days.

पांच सौ पये इन दन यादा पैसा नह है।

2) Hundred kilometers is a very long distance.

सौ कलोमीटर क री ब त लं बी है।

3) Four kilograms of chicken is enough for the party.

पाट के लए चार कलो ाम चकन पया त है।

4) He dropped his Rs.2000 on the road.

उसने अपना 2000 सड़क पर गरा दए ।

5) Delhi is 250 Kilometers from Chandigarh.

द ली चंडीगढ़ से 250 कलोमीटर र है।

Rule 10

The tenth rule is that collective nouns such as ‘group’, ‘herd’, ‘team’, etc. are
considered singular when taken as one body and the verb attached to them is also
singular but when the members of the group are considered individually then they are
considered plural and the verb attached is also plural.

Few examples of Rule 10 are:

1) A group of workers was on strike.

मक का एक समूह हड़ताल पर था।

2) The committee is not resolved upon this reform.

स म त इस सु धार पर हल नह है।

3) The team of players is ready for a match.

खला ड़य क ट म एक मैच के लए तैयार है।

4) A group of employees was not happy with the boss.

कमचारी का एक समूह बॉस से खुश नह था।

5) The group of children has gone out for a movie.

ब का समूह एक फ म के लए बाहर गया है।

Rule 11

Uncountable nouns such as furniture, sugar, rice, equipment, etc. are considered
singular subjects and get singular verb attached to them.

Few examples of Rule 11 are:

1) The furniture in his room is very old.

उनके कमरे का फन चर ब त पुराना है।

2) The stationery is not sufficient for everyone.

टे शनरी सभी के लए पया त नह है।

3) The equipment is still on the way.

उपकरण अभी भी रा ते म है।

4) The luggage is missing from the flight.

लाइट से सामान गायब है।

5) The weather is going to be pleasant today.

आज मौसम सु हाना होने वाला है।

Rule 12

The twelfth rule states that the nouns like amends, archives, compasses, glasses,
trousers are always considered plural and the verb attached along is also plural. But,
when used with ‘a pair of’ they are considered to be singular. Then the verb form
attached along also becomes singular.

Few examples of Rule 12 are:

1) A pair of jeans is lying on the ground.

एक जोड़ी ज स जमीन पर पड़ी है।

2) Scissors are blunt.

कची कुं द है।

3) You need a pair of trousers.

आपको पतलू न क एक जोड़ी क आव यकता है।

4) I lost a pair of glasses.

मने च मे क एक जोड़ी खो द ।

5) The scissors are sharp.

कची तेज़ है
Rule 13

This rule states that phrases like a lot of, a great deal of, plenty of, some of are
considered to be singular when refering to amount or quantity but are considered
plural when they refer to number so the verb to be attached is also chosen
accordingly.

Few examples of Rule 13 are:

1) A lot of money is required to start a new business these days.

इन दन एक नया वसाय शु करने के लए ब त धन क आव यकता होती है।

2) A lot of money is wasted on election campaign these days.

इन दन चुनाव चार पर ब त पैसा बबाद हो रहा है।

3) A lot of students are asking for the results.

ब त सारे छा प रणाम के लए पूछ रहे ह।

4) There is plenty of scope for betterment.

बेहतरी क ब त गुज
ं ाइश है।

5) There are plenty of songs on that tape.

उस टे प पर ब त सारे गाने ह।
Rule 14

The last rule for the subject- verb agreement states that nouns like news, physics,
measles, ethics are although plural by name but are considered to be singular when
used in a sentence.

Few examples of Rule 14 are:

1) Cancer is a very common disease these days.

कसर इन दन एक ब त ही आम बीमारी है।

2) Physics is mostly loved by sudents.

भौ तक व ान यादातर सू दय से यार करता है।

3) Every parent teaches their child some basic family ethics

हर माता- पता अपने ब े को कु छ बु नयाद पा रवा रक नै तकता सखाते ह

4) According to the news, it is going to be the hardest hitting earthquake.

खबर के अनुसार यह भूकंप का सबसे क ठन मार है।

5) Measles is now curable by getting timely vaccines.

खसरा अब समय पर ट के लगने से ठ क हो जाता है।

Subject- verb agreement Exercise

Choose the right form of verb from the given options:

1) The pots on the table is/ are beautiful.

2) The detectives are/ is investigating the case.

3) One of the diamonds was/ were stolen.

4) A number of videos have/ has been deleted from the phone.

5) Two hundred rupees seem/ seems a fair price for 2 bricks of ice cream.

6) None of these flowers grow/ grows well inside the house.

7) Not everyone want/ wants to learn more and more.

8) Neither of these printers work/ works properly.

9) Each of the employess is/ are going to get a trip as a gift.

10) Bread and eggs is/ are my favourite.

11) The style and colour of trouser are/ is best for you.

12) One of you has/ have to take the responsibility of the kid.

13) What does/ do a pair of jeans cost?

14) Dont you think oil in America cost/ costs much less than in India.

15) Nine and nine make/ makes eighteen.