Agreement Exercise

This grammar exercise tests your understanding of rules regarding agreement.

Fill in the blanks.

1. Vermin ………………….. our property and carry disease.

destroy
destroys
Either could be used here
Though vermin is singular in form, it is always used as a plural noun.

2. Whose cattle ……………………?

is this
are this
are these
Though cattle is singular in form, it is always used as a plural noun.

3. His means ………………….. small, but he has no debt.

is
are
Either could be used here
When means is used with the meaning of wealth, it is always plural.

4. A new means of communication ……………………….. invented in the

19th century.
was
were
Either could be used here
Both the singular and the plural of means end in –s.

5. I bought two ………………….. mangoes.

dozen

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 Agreement Exercise

dozens
Either could be used here
When dozen is used after a number, it does not have a plural form.

6. Man is the only animal that …………………….. fire.

use
uses
Either could be used here
Here the antecedent of the relative pronoun is a singular noun (animal) and hence we use the
singular verb uses.

7. Hunting tigers ……………………… a favorite sport in this country.

is
are
Either could be used here
Here the subject is the gerund phrase hunting tigers. It is singular.

8. There ……………………. little hope of his recovery.

is
are
has
Hope is a singular noun; hence we use is.

9. Every one of these chairs ……………………. broken.

is
are
Either could be used here
We use a singular verb after every one.

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 Agreement Exercise

10. He visits us every ……………………….

week
weeks
Either could be used here
We use a singular noun after every.

11. He visits us every three ………………….

day
days
Either could be used here
A plural noun is used after every + numeral.

12. A house divided against …………………… cannot stand.

itself
it
that
themselves
Here the subject and the object refer to the same thing and hence we use the reflexive
pronoun itself.

PLAY AGAIN !
Answers
1. Vermin destroy our property and carry disease.
2. Whose cattle are these?
3. His means are small, but he has no debt.
4. A new means of communication was invented in the 19th century.
5. I bought two dozen mangoes.
6. Man is the only animal that uses fire.
7. Hunting tigers is a favorite sport in this country.
8. There is little hope of his recovery.

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 Agreement Exercise

9. Every one of these chairs is broken.

10. He visits us every week.
11. He visits us every three days.
12. A house divided against itself cannot stand.

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