Agr

eementofSubj
ectandVer
b

Verbscanchangeformintense,person,andnumber .Thesubjectandverbof
everycl
ause(i
ndependentordependent),however,
mustagr eeinpersonand
number.Onceyouidenti
fythesubj
ectandt heverb,youcant hendeter
minesuch
agreementoft
hesubjectandthev erb.

Ther
earethreeper sons:
Fi
rstperson-thespeaker
Secondper son-t
hepersonspokent
o
Thir
dper son-theper
sonspokenabout

Ther
earetwonumber s:
Si
ngul
ar-denoti
ngonepersonort
hing
Pl
ural
-denoti
ngmorethanonepersonort
hing

Nounsendi nsar
ngi eusual
lypl
ural
.
Ver
bsendinginsar
esingul
ar.

Si
ngul
arsubj ect
sshouldbepai
redwi
thsi
ngul
arv
erbsandpl
ural
subj
ect
sshoul
d
bepai
redwi thplur
alver
bs.
shewal ks
thebooki s
theywant
Bil
l,John,andJanego

1.CompoundSubj
ect
s

Compoundsubj
ectsj
oinedbyandnor mal
lyrequi
reaplur
alver
b:
Har
dworkandper si
stencear
erequir
edinall
rewardi
ngaccompl
i
shment
s.
Wherear
ethepensandpaper ?

Subj
ectswhichincludeatl
easttwonounsorpr edbyandshoul
onounsconnect d
bepai
redwithpluralver
bs.
themanagerandt heemployeesar
e
thecatsandt hedogrun
themanandt hewomanar e

2.Subj
ect nedbyOrorNor
sJoi

Whentwoormoresubjectarej
oinedbyorornor,
theverbshoul
dagr
eewiththe
subj
ectpar
tcl
osestt
othev er
b.Thisal
soappli
estoei
ther/
orandnei
ther
/nor
.

t
hepr
ofessororherst
udentswri
te
t
hest
udentsorthei
rprof
essorwri
tes

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 t
heboyort
hegi
rlwal
ks

3.I
nter
veni
ngExpr
essi
ons

Modify
ingphrasesorclausesthatcomebetweenthesubj
ectandthever
bdonot
changethenumberoft heverb.Thenumberofthever
bisdeter
minedenti
rel
yby
thenumberofthesubject:

Theassi
gnment
,whi
chtheysubmi
ttedt
othei
rpr
ofessor
,wasi
ncompl
ete.
[
Assi
gnmentist
hesubj
ectofthev
erbwas]
.

Thenewcomput ercl
assroom, wit
hitsmanywor kstat
ionsandi
ts
sophist
icat
edtechnology,f
il
ls[notfi
l
l]al ong-
fel
tneed.[Comput
er
cl
assroom ist
hesubj ectoftheverbfi
lls;t asewi
hephr thitsmanywor
k
stat
ions…hasnot hi
ngt odowiththev erb.]

4.Ver
bPr
ecedi
ngt
heSubj
ect

Iti
spossibl
eforaver
btocomebefor
easubj
ecti
nasentence.Ther
ulesof
agreementbetweent
hesubj
ectandt
hev
erbremai
nthesamedespit
et he
changeinorder.

Thereisinmanyci
ti
esadesi
ret
oreducet
raf
fi
candpol
l
uti Desi
on.[ rei
s
thesubjectoft
hev
erbi
s.]

Thereareastapler
,twopens,fourbooks,andawr i
ti
ngtabl
etont
hedesk.
St
[ apler
,pens,booksandwrit
ingtabletar
et hesubj
ectsoft
hev bar
er e.
]

WhereareJoanandherdaught
ersgoi
ng?[
Joanandherdaught
ersar
e
subj
ect
softhever egoi
bar ng.]

5.I
ndef
ini
tePr
onouns

Theindef
ini
tepr
onounsoradjecti
veseithernei
, ther
, andeach,
aswellas
compoundssuchaseverybody,anybody,everyone,andanyoneareal
ways
si
ngul .Nonemaybesi
ar ngularorplural
.Thepl ural
usagei smorecommon.

Eachoft hecar shasi tsinsur ancepr oofintheglov ecompartment.

Ever
yoneatt hemeet ingwasupsetov erthepoliciesannounced.
Ever
yempl oyee,super visor,andexecut iv
er evealstheoperati
onofa
model company .
I
seitherofy our eadyf orlunch?
Noneoft heempl oyeeshav ebr oughttheirchil
drent othecompanydinner
.
Noneoft hest udentsisi nterestedint heresearchpr oj
ect.
None--
no, notone- -
ispl anningt oattendther etr
eat .

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6.Subj
ect
sPl
ural
inFor
m

Si
ngul
arv
erbsar
eusual
l
yusedwi
thnounst
hatar
epl
ural
inf
orm butsi
ngul
ari
n
meani
ng.

Thefol
lowingnounsar eusuall
ysingul
arinmeani
ng:news,economics,ethi
cs,
physi
cs,mat hemati
cs,gal
lows,mumps, measl
es,
shambles,whereabouts.
apeanutbut t
erandj el
l
ysandwichis…
physicsisadiff
icul
tcourse…
stat
isticsi
s…
poli
ticsis…
athl
et i
csseems…

Nounssuchasgy mnasti
cs, t
actics,tr
ousers,scissor
s,at
hlet
ics,
tidi
ngs,
acoust
ics,
riches,andbarracksar eusuall
ytreatedasplural
.
Histacticsaresneaky.
Thesci ssor
sareont het able.
Thetr ouser
sarehangi ngint hecl
oset.

Pl
ural
nounsdenotingamass,aquanti
ty,oranumberr
equi
reasi
ngul
arv
erb
whenthesubj
ectisregar
dedasaunit.
Fi
vedoll
arsistoomuchforhertopay.
Fi
ft
ybushelswasallt
hebinwouldhold.

Thoughusageismixed,phrasesinvol
vi
ngaddi
ti
on,mul
ti
pli
cat
ion,
subt
ract
ion,
anddiv
isi
onofnumber susuallytaket
hesi
ngul
arfor
m.
Twoplustwoi sfour
.
Twotimesthreeissix.
Twelvedi
vi
dedbysi xist wo.

I
nexpr essionslkepar
i toft
heapple, someoft hepi
e,al
loft
hemoney,t
he
numberofpar t,some,andalli
sdeter minedbythenumberoft
henounint
he
preposit
ionalphrase.
Someoft hepi
ehasbeeneat en.
Someoft hepi
eshavebeeneat en.

7.Thesubj
ectofsomef
orm ofToBe

Whenonenounpr ecedesandanot herfol

lowssomef orm oft
heverbtobe,t
he
fi
rstnouni sthesubj ect,andthev erbagreeswithi
tandnotwi t
hthecomplement
evenifthecompl ementi sdif
ferentinnumber .
Theonl yfoodr emai ni
ngismashedpot at
oes.
Mashedpot atoesar etheonl yfoodremaini
ng.
[I
nt hef i
rstsentence,foodisthesubject
;int
hesecond,mashed
potatoes.
]

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8.Rel
ati
vePr
onounasSubj
ect

Whenar el
ati
vepronoun(who,which,
orthat)isusedasthesubj
ectofaclause,
thenumberandpersonoftheverbaredeterminedbytheant
ecedentoft
he
pronoun,
thewordtowhichthepronounrefers.

Thisist heprofessorwhoi stobehi r

ed.[Theant ecedentofwhoi
st he
singularnounpr ofessor;therefor
e,whoi ssingular.
]
Thesear et
heempl oyeeswhoar etobewor kingt omorrow.[
The
antecedentofwhoi st hepluralnounempl oyees.]
ShouldI ,whoam notast udentatt heschool,beal l
owedt ot
aketheclass?
[Whor eferstoI;Iisfir
stper son,si
ngularnumber .]
Shei soneoft hoset oughpr ofessorswhoar eal waysexpect
ingt
hebest
fr
om st udents.[Theant ecedentofwhoi spr ofessors.
]

Ifsentencessuchast helastonegiveyoutr
ouble,t
rybeginni
ngthesentence
withthe"of "phrase,andyouwi l
lreadi
l
yseethattheantecedentofwhois
personsandnotone.
Oft hoset oughprofessor
swhoar eal
waysexpect i
ngthebestfr
om
students,shei sone.

9.Col
l
ect
iveNouns

Somenounsar esi
ngul
arinf or
m butpluralinmeaning.Theyar ecall
edcoll
ect
ive
nounsandincl
udesuchwor dsasteam, class,
commi ttee, cr
owd,andcrew.
Thesenounsmaytakeeitherasingularorplur
alver
b; i
fy ouar et
hinki
ngofthe
groupasaunit
,useasingularver
b;ifyouar et
hinki
ngoft heindi
vi
dualmembers
ofthegr
oup,useaplur
alv er
b.

Whenr
efer
ri
ngtoagr oupasasingl
eunit
,asingularver
bisused.
Thepubli
cis…
Thefamilyi
s…
Theclassisdemanding…
Whenr
efer
ri
ngtoagr oup'smember
sasindi
viduals,aplur
alv
erbisused.
Thecommi tt
eefightamongt
hemselv
es.
Thestudentbodyaretal
ki
ngwit
heachot her.
Theclassarewrit
ing.

10.Nounswi
thFor
eignPl
ural
s

Somenounsr etainthepluralformspecul i
artothel
anguagesf r
om whichthey
havebeenbor rowed: alumni,media,cri
sis.Stil
lot
hernounsoccurwitheither
thei
rorigi
nalpluralformsorpl ural
formst ypi
calofEngli
sh:aquari
aoraquariums,
cri
ter
iaorcrit
erions.Ifyouar eindoubtast othecorr
ectorpr ef
err
edplur
al f
orm
ofanoun, consultagooddi ct
ionary.
Note:Becar efulnottouseapl uralfor
m wheny ourefertoasi
ngularidea.

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Fori
nst
ance:
Heisanal notal
umnus[ umni
]oft
hisschool
.

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 Subj
ectVer
bAgr
eementPr
act
ice

Mar
ktheappr
opr
iat
ever
bchoi
cef
oreachoft
hef
oll
owi
ngsent
ences.

1.Thenoi syst udent s( hav e, has)t ol eav eaf tertwowar ni

ngs.
2.Shei st heonl yoneoft hest udent swho( hav e,has)fail
edt het est.
3.Thecr yi
ngbaby( i
r ri
tat e, irri
tates)t hem.
4.Thel ongestoft hepr esent ations( is, are)thenextgr oup.
5.Thest udent sandt hei rt eacher( i
s, ar e)trav eli
ngt othecompet it
ion.
6.Eitheroneoft hechoi ces( i
s, are)goi ngt odi srupttheschedul e.
7.Thisist hest ereosy stem t hat( hav e, has)beenpur chasedmostof t
eninour
store.
8.Nobody( dare, dar es)t ochal lenget het eacherwhenshei swrong.
9.Thepl ay ersort hei rcoach( i
s, ar e)hol dingapr essconf erence.
10.
Nei t
heroft hest udent s( has, hav e)beent oEur ope.
11.
Thepr oblems( was, wer e)duet oami sunder standing.
12.
Whi ch( is,are)mor ei nt er esting, ther edj acketsort hebl uesweat ers?
13.
(Has, Hav e)t hemanagerort heassi stantmanagerappr oachedy ou?
14.
Joan, aswel l asmysi ster ,(is,ar e)i ncol l
egenow.
15.
Sev eraloft hest udent s( has, hav e)l eft.
16.
Bot hoft hechi ldren( has, hav e)r ednot ebooks.
17.
Oneoft hebestknownl ov est or i
es( is,are)RomeoandJul iet
.
18.
Mat hemat i
cs( is,ar e)v er ydi fficul tformanyst udentstomast er.
19.
Shei soneoft hegi r l
swho( hav e, has)l onghai r.
20.
Sheorhersi st ers( is, are)goi ng.

Subj
ectVer
bAgr
eementPr
act
ice

Mar
ktheappr
opr
iat
ever
bchoi
cef
oreachoft
hef
oll
owi
ngsent
ences.

1.Eachoft heexer cises(take, takes)aboutt went ymi nutest ocompl et

e.
2.Theladi esandt hechild( is, are)planni ngt ohav epizzaf orlunch.
3.Thet eacher ,al
ongwi thherst udents, (
is,ar e)det er
mi nedt ohav eagoodyear.
4.Pleaset ellmewhenJohnandMar y( go,goes)t othest ore.
5.Thecl ass( watch, watches)amov i
eev eryFr idayni ght.
6.Thenumberofi ssues( seem, seems)t obei ncreasing.
7.Thehusbandandhi swi f e( drive,dri
v es)aconv erti
ble.
8.Hardlyany one( speak, speaks)t oher .
9.Heorhi ssister(want ,want s)t ov i
sitEuropenextsummer .
10.
She( take,takes)herdogf orawal keachev ening.
11.
Thebr otherandsi ster(want , wants)t ovisitt heirauntanduncl e.
12.
Thehi ghschool senior, alongwi thhi spar ent s,(i
s,are)upsetov ert
hesudden
poli
cychange.
13.
Thesongst heysing( stay ,st ays)inmymi ndal lday .
14.
Tendol lars( i
s,are)toomucht ochar gef orsuchasmal litem.
15.
Sheandhermot her( t
alk, talks)ont hephoneal mostev eryday .

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16.
Theblueones(seem,seems)t omat chbest.
17.
Teenagersandthei
rparents(see,sees)thi
ngsv er
ydiff
erent
ly.
18.
She,agai
nstheraunt'
swi shes,
(have,has)decidedtogoskii
nginst
ead.
19.
Whent hetwoofthem (go,goes)together,
theyalwayshavefun.
20.
Heandhi sgi
rl
fr
iend(l
ov e,l
oves)togocampi ng.

Subj
ectVer
bAgr
eementPr
act
ice

Cir
clet
hecorrectf
orm oft
hev
erbt
enseandi
ndi
cat
ether
ulet
hatdet
ermi
nest
he
corr
ectanswer.

___1. For mal trouser s(is,are)r equi redf ort hisdi nnerpar ty.
___2. Herf riendandment or(wer e, was)oneofhercol legepr of essor s.
___3. Nei theradognoracat( of fer ,
of fers)t hesamecompani onshi pas
anotherper son.
___4. Ont heot hersi deoft hest reet( are, i
s)ar estaurantandacl othingst or
e.
___5. I nt hebackseatofhi scar( was, wer e)t hreebooksandhi sbr i
ef case.
___6. Thr eehour s(ar e,i
s)notgoi ngt obeenought i
met ot ravel thatdi stance.
___7. Thepr essur eofacademi cl ifecansomet i
mes( t
empt , t
empt s)st udent s
tocheat.
___8. Ev er yonei nthegr oup( was, wer e)supposedt omeetatt hef rontgat eat
7:00.
___9. Eachoft hesebooks( was, wer e)usef ul i
nmygr ammarr eview.
___10.Thepr of essor ,alongwi thmanyofhi sst udents, (i
s, are)pr epar ingf orthe
endoft hesemest er.
___11.Idon' tt hinkei theroft hesecar s( are, i
s)r eli
ableenoughf oral ongr oad
tr
ip.
___12.Thecr iteriaforpassi ngtheexam ( ar e,is)becomi ngmor edi ff
icult.
___13.( Ar e, Is)Loi sorKat ey ourchoi cef ort hepr omot ion?
___14.Al gebr aandgeomet ry(is, are)t heonl ymat hcour sesbei ngof feredt hi
s
semester.
___15.At hl et ics( hav e,has)beenamat terofi ncr easi
ngi nt erestamongwomen.
___16.Ev er yoneoft heguest s( hav e,has)hadanoppor t
uni t
yt owi sht he
couplewell.
___17.Ther esul tsoft hel atestst andar dizedexams( i
ndi cate,indicat es)an
incr easei nst andar dsatt heschool .
___18.Accor dingt ot henewspaper , t
her e( wer e, was)thr eemai nsuspect s
questi
oned.
___19.( Hav e, Has)t hespr ingtrai ningpr ogr amsbeguny et?
___20.Myf av oriteliteraturetor ead( are, is)moder nAmer i
canpoet ry.

Subj
ectVer
bAgr
eementPr
act
ice

Cir
clet
hecorrectf
orm oft
hev
erbt
enseandi
ndi
cat
ether
ulet
hatdet
ermi
nest
he
corr
ectanswer.

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___1. Iam cer tainthatbot hCat her i
neandLucy( i
s, ar e)comi ngt ov i
sitthis
weekend.
___2. Thesci ssor s( i
s, ar e)kepti nt het opdeskdr awer .
___3. Nei t
herthet wi nsnort heirol derbr ot her( hav e, has)ev erseensnow.
___4. Someoft hef ruit(hav e, has)al readybegunt or ipen.
___5. Thenewsr epor tedbyt hepr esidentoft hecol lege( ar e,is)consi dered
badbymostpeopl e.
___6. Themedi a( are, i
s)pl anni ngel abor atecov erageoft heev ent.
___7. Nei t
herofmynei ghbor s(inv it
e, inv ites)meov erv eryof t
en.
___8. Myaunt ,aswel lasal lofmycousi ns, (have,has)beensi ckthispast
week.
___9. Ov ertwelv egal l
onsofgas( are, is)usedeachweekbecauseofour
commut et owor k.
___10.Howmuch( is,ar e)t went yt imesf our teen?
___11.Hei soneoft hepr of essor swho( at tract ,
attract s)al ar genumberof
students.
___12.Themaj orconcer n, whi chi swhywechangedourpl ans, (ar
e,is)the
chil
dren.
___13.Mostoft heschool cor ridor s,whi char eext remel yol d,(ar e,
is)inneedof
paint
.
___14.Whent her ainbegi nst of all harder ,ev eryswi mmer( are, i
s)toldgetout
ofthewat er.
___15.Onehundr eddol lar s( i
s, are)bei ngof feredf ori nformat ionaboutt he
cri
mes.
___16.Thei rhighpr essur esal est actics( is, are)resent edbymanypeopl e.
___17.Thephenomenont hatsur pr i
sedmanypeopl e( wer e, was)expl ai
nedby
theleadingsci ent isti nt hef ield.
___18.Noneoft heSout her nst ates( hav e, has)ev erexper iencedmuchsnow.
___19.Ther e(are,is)v er yst rictcr iteriaf orpassi ngt heexam.
___20.Thecommer cial stat est hatev er ypr oductt heysel l(are, i
s)super iort
o
theirmai ncompet itor'
spr oduct s.

Subj
ectVer
bAgr
eementPr
act
ice

Sel
ectt
hesent
encet
hathasaner
rori
nsubj
ectv
erbagr
eement
.

1.A.Bot
hChr i
sti
neandHeatherhavepubl
ishedtheirst
ori
esi
nmaj
orj
our
nal
s.
B.Nei
therst
udenthastheassi
gnmentcompl eted.
C.Theprobl
emstakethem al
leveni
ngtocompl ete.
D.Heisoneofthestudent
swhohast akentheexam.

2.A.Heandhi sgir
lf
riendt
alkonthephoneconst ant
ly.
B.Nei
thershenorhermot herwantstogot othedinner.
C.Theprofessororoneofherresearchassi
stantsisatever
ymeeti
ng.
D.Thelongestofthemeetingsarethefi
rstoneofthesemest er
.

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3.A.Theyoungcouplehasanewhomei nabeaut i
fulnei
ghborhood.
B.Ei
thert
heprofessororhi
sstudentshavepr eparedthegrantsubmissi
on.
C.Hasaninstr
uctororoneofthelabassistantscomet ohelpyou?
D.Neit
herthest
udentsnorthei
rprofessoraregoingt ot
hemeet ing.

4.A.Thejur
yaretakingtheirseatsi
nthecour
troom now.
B.Thenumberofst udentsareincr
easi
ng.
C.Eachofherdaughtershasdev el
opedauniquestyl
e.
D.Neit
herSuzinorhersisterhasbeenabl
etof i
ndthemissi
ngear
ri
ng.

5.A.Thereseem tobeagr owinginter

estinthatclass.
B.Ei
therthest
udentsort hei
rparentshavespokent otheboar
d.
C.Whenal l
ofthetest
sar efini
shed,thescienti
stswil
lhav
emor e
i
nformati
on.
D.Ever
yoneexcepttheleadsuspecthasgi v enastat
ementtothepol
i
ce.

6.A.Twobooks, apen,astenotablet
,andsomecandywasf oundi
nthe
br
iefcase.
B.Someonei nthecl
assorSar acri
ti
queseachpresent
ati
on.
C.Thechi
ld'sdemandsirri
tat
et heparent
s.
D.Eachofthestudentswearsawhi teshi
rtwi
thbluepant
s.

7.A.Eachoftheappl
icant
scompletesanentranceexam,whi
chrequi
resan
essay
.
B.Everymemberofthechor
uswascompl ementedonthepr
oducti
on.
C.Thechil
dren,
themother
,andthefatherwerether
esuppor
ti
ngtheteam.
D.Therehasbeenprobl
emswiththeoutdatedpoli
cy.

8.A.Thetimet heclassesareoff
eredhavemadei tdi
ffi
cultf
ormanyst
udent
s.
B.Thewor ker'
staskshavenotbeenneglected.
C.Dr.Jones,aswel lasMs.Gri
ffi
n,att
endstheconferenceev
eryy
ear.
D.Oneoft hemember shasnotret
urnedfr
om therecess.

9.A.Thenewsy stem oftaki

ngmessageshavehel pedourresponseti
me
tr
emendously.
B.Neit
heroneoft hechil
drenhasagreedt
ocomet othemeet i
ng.
C.Thestudent,aswellasherparent
s,waspleasedwiththegraderepor
t.
D.Ei
therthestudentorhispar
entshavecol
lectedhisbooks.

10.
A.NeitherJohnnorhissist
ershascompletedaninfor
mationf or
m.
B.Abook, apen,andpaperwer eonthedesk.
C.Eit
herthestudentoroneoft hepanel
member srespondt oeachquest
ion.
D.Thecommi t
teedebatetheissuesamongthemselvesaftereachopen
session.

LoneSt
arCol
l
ege—Nor
thHar
ri
s Updat
edTar
aEdwar
ds3/
08