Subject-Verb Agreement

A singular subject needs a singular verb, and a plural subject needs a plural verb. When the subject and verb do not correspond in number, it leads to a
grammatical error called subject-verb disagreement.

These errors tend to crop up when sentences contain pronouns, in cases where it is difficult to determine whether the pronoun is singular or plural. Let’s
consider some of these instances:

When a sentence contains indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns (see table) are always singular.

(“-one” pronouns) (“-thing” pronouns) (“-body” pronouns)

neither one everything everybody
either everyone anything anybody
each anyone nothing nobody
no one something somebody
someone

These singular pronouns are often followed by a prepositional phrase containing a plural noun. The trick is to read the sentences ignoring these phrases
(italicized).

• One of the children has found a squirrel.

• Each of the teachers brings a special treat to the picnic.
• High levels of mercury occur in some fish.

Note: Look out for sentences that contain a relative clause (italicized). These clauses are often present after the prepositional phrase. When the relative
pronouns which, who, and that are used in an adjective clause (relative clause), the verb in the clause should agree in number with the subject of the
sentence (the antecedent for the pronoun).
 • Trees that drop fruit will attract bugs, birds, squirrels, and other small animals. [The antecedent for the pronoun "that" is "trees"; therefore, a plural
verb should follow the adjective clause "that drop fruit.")
• One of the children who were down by the river has found a squirrel.
• Each of the baskets, which are lined up on the lawn, contains a treat.

Note: When the phrases “one in [plural number]” and “more than one” function as the subject, they always take a singular verb.

• One in every six people in the world is Indian.

• More than one student is American.

Further, the phrase “one of those [plural noun]” may take a singular or plural verb, depending on the emphasis.

• Wabi-sabi is one of those words that does not have a direct English translation.
• London is one of those cities that have a popular nightlife.

Some other pronouns can act as either singular or plural.

(1) Pronouns that are always plural

Some pronouns—both, others, few, many, and several—are always plural and take plural verbs.

• Both desserts contain chocolate.

• Many are of the opinion that anti-abortion laws should be revised.
• Several papers have been written on the mating behavior of the yellow-cheeked crested gibbon found in Cambodia.
• Others believe that there is no life after death.
• Few papers have been published in the literature on algorithms of this kind.

(2) Pronouns that can be plural or singular

Some pronouns—there, none, more, most, all, any, and some—can be singular or plural. In this case, you have to match the verb form with the number of
the noun in the prepositional phrase. If there is no prepositional phrase, then determine what noun, possibly in an earlier sentence, the pronoun is referring
to.

• None of the food has been eaten. (food—singular)

• None of the children are hungry. (children—plural)
• More adults than children are going to see the squirrel. (adults—plural)
• More than one squirrel has run to the top of the tree. (squirrel—singular)
• Some of the cake is left. (cake—singular)
• Some of the individuals under consideration were asked to abort the study. (individuals—plural)
• Although the influence of industrial agglomerations as external economies has been verified in numerous previous researches, to our knowledge,
most of these studies have merely confirmed the existence of the agglomeration effects.
 How to fix common subject-verb agreement errors

(1) When lengthy and numerous modifying phrases are present between the subject and its verb

Phrases intervening between the subject and its verb do not affect the number of the verb. Often, these include prepositional or participial phrases
(italicized).

• Tim Berners-Lee, one of America’s most prominent computer scientists and—as a founder of the World Wide Web Consortium—one of the most
important figures in the development of the Internet, has been working quietly at M.I.T. for many years.

The fact that the plural “scientists” and “figures” appear in this sentence has no effect on our choice of a singular verb, “has.” The subject is singular, and so
the verb must be singular.

(2) When an expletive construction (there is, there are, here is, etc.) begins a sentence

In such sentences, the subject is present after the verb.

• There are several explanations for the Civil War.

• We were looking down the street when—all of a sudden—here come Joe and his two brothers.
• If the management team takes this attitude, there is very little latitude for negotiation.

(3) When a sentence contains compound subjects

Compound subjects are nouns or pronouns connected by and, or, either-or, or neither-nor.

(i) Nouns joined by and, as well as, along with, etc.

In a compound subject, two or more nouns perform the action of the verb.
When the coordinating conjunction and joins two equal elements, the plural verb is used.
There are two exceptions to this rule. The first occurs when a seemingly compound and plural subject comes to be regarded as singular through popular
usage:
• Bacon and eggs is my favorite breakfast.
• Corned beef and cabbage is an Irish tradition.
The other exception occurs when subjects connected by and describe a single person or thing:
• The creator and champion of the sport is injured.
• The cause and solution to our problems is this.
In the first sentence, the words creator and champion refer to a single person, so the verb is singular. In the second sentence, the
words cause and solution refer to a single object or issue. The verb must also be singular." (Michael Strumpf and Auriel Douglas, The Grammar Bible. Owl
Books, 2004)

When the nouns in a sentence are joined by expressions such as as well as, in addition to, or along with, the second and subsequent nouns become
parenthetical, and the emphasis is on the first noun. Hence, a verb that agrees with the first noun (subject) is used.

• The salt shaker and the pepper shaker are on the picnic table.
• The salt shaker along with the pepper shaker is on the picnic table.
• The ketchup bottles as well as the mustard jar and the pickle jar are still in the car.

(ii) Nouns joined by or

When the nouns are joined by or, match the verb to the subject closest to it in terms of number.

• When the principal or the teachers arrive, the contest will begin.
• When the teachers or the principal arrives, the contest will begin.

(iii) Nouns joined by neither-nor and either-or

These are correlative conjunctions (used in pairs). To fix subject-verb agreement in such sentences, follow the same rule as the coordinating conjunction “or”
(mentioned above).
 • Neither the chicken nor the deviled eggs have been tasted by the judges.
• Neither the deviled eggs nor the chicken has been tasted by the judges.
• Either the ants or the dog gets the leftovers.
• Either the dog or the ants get the leftovers
• Under these conditions, the heart rate decreased to 85 bpm and the blood pressure increased to 126/48 mmHg. Thereafter, neither dialysis nor
diuretics were required.

(4) When a sentence contains fractions or percentages

In this case, determine whether the noun (or the pronoun) that the fraction or percentage refers to is singular or plural.

• Half of the ants were red. (ants—plural)

• Half of the table was covered with watermelon seeds. (table—singular)
• Two-thirds of the parents attend every event. (parents—plural)
• Two-thirds of the basket was full of plastic forks. (basket—singular)
• Of the cars at the park, 49 percent were parked on the grass. (The 49 percent refers to the cars mentioned at the front of the sentence.)
• A hundred percent of the sun was covered by the moon. (sun—singular)

(5) When a sentence contains a collective noun

Collective nouns can be singular or plural. Here are some examples of collective nouns:
army, audience, band, chorus, class, clergy, community, council, crowd, den, faculty, flock, gang, government, group, herd, jury, league, majority,
navy, membership, mob, couple, number, orchestra, platoon, police, public, quartet, staff, team, variety, and varsity
In this case, evaluate whether you think one (singular) or more than one (plural) person/thing did the action of the verb. If you go with plural, consider
inserting the word “members” to make the sentence read more smoothly.

• The faculty were given raises. (If decided more than one person got a raise, so the verb has to be plural.)
• The faculty members were given raises.
 • The faculty of the school was huge. (Just one thing was huge: the faculty. Hence, singular.)
• The couple are separating this week. (The action of two individual people forming a “couple” is being referred to here, and hence, it is treated as
plural.)
• The couple is in therapy. (Here, the two people referred to as a “couple” are deemed to be acting as a group, and hence, it is treated as a single
unit.)
• The family have all gone their separate ways.
• The whole family is celebrating the holidays at home this year.
• The majority of our city council members are Republicans.
• The majority always rules.

(6) Special Cases

(i) The word “number”

The word number takes the singular when preceded by “the” and the plural when preceded by “a.”

• A number of children lose their permission slips each year.

• This year the number of children was small.
• A number of studies reveal that methodologies adopted for security-related issues are inefficient.

However, this rule does not apply to some other words, which are considered as one single unit.

• A set of figures was provided at the end of the document.

• A range of colors was used by the subjects to describe the sodium chloride and monosodium glutamate levels.

(ii) Nouns ending in “–ics”

Statistics, acoustics, athletics, etc. can be singular or plural. To decide which to use, evaluate whether the word refers to one subject area or to the many
items involved in the subject.

• Statistics is the math teacher's favorite topic.

 • Statistics on how many students left school early for the picnic are now being gathered.

Note: Words like measles, mumps, mathematics, and pancreas are false plurals—that is, they may be mistakenly taken for plurals since they end in “s” or
“es.” However, they take a singular verb.

(iii) The word “species”

“Species” can be singular (sp.) or plural (spp.), depending on the context.

• However, neither the temperature field caused by the exothermic process of combustion nor the chemical species produced by the chemical
reactions that take place during combustion were investigated.

(iv) Units of measure

According to the AMA, “Units of measure are treated as collective singular (not plural) nouns and require a singular verb.”

• After 0.7 mL was added to the solution.

• In Japan, 0.35 million tons of dross is produced each year (Namba and Ohnishi, 2003).

Examples of standard units of measure

• any SI unit
• kilograms, pounds
• ounces, etc.

However, words like “drops” and “mugs” are not standard units of measure.

(v) Money

When a specific sum is named, the amounts of money take a singular verb. However, a plural verb is used when the sum of money referred to is vague.

• Eighty-five dollars is a huge amount.

 • Billions of dollars were wasted in this construction project.

(vi) Titles of works

Titles of works always take a singular verb.

• Dickinson’s Selected Poems is a fine introduction to her work.

References

• The guide to grammar and writing: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/#

• http://www.srjcwritingcenter.com/gramsentcs/sv_agr/sv_agr.html
• http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/Subject-Verb-Agreement.htm
• Flo Witte, Basic Grammar and Usage for Biomedical Communicators, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Iowa.
• Amony Einsohn, The Copyeditor’s Handbook, University of California Press