SUBJECT-VERB

AGREEMENT
SIMPLIFIED
Presented by:

Virgo Clemente Lopez

RULES:

USED TO PROPERLY DETERMINE

WHETHER TO USE

SINGULAR
OR
PLURAL
FORM

PRACTICALLY

12
RULES

1. Intervening phrase/
clause does not change

Margarita, together with

her brothers, likes to party.
The gentlemen who
attended the meeting are
very punctual.

2. Singular and Plural

Indefinite pronouns

Each student in this school

does not pay for his tuition.

Many students perform

well in surprise quizzes.

3. Compound subjects joined

by and are ALWAYS PLURAL
Remegel and Virginia spend
their free time at the gym.
Jessa and Mark set aside a
small percentage of their
income for their childrens
educational plan.

4. Compound subjects joined

by or/nor, verb agrees with
the nearer subject

Either Amanda or her

badminton buddies are bringing
the desserts.
Neither the students nor the
teacher recognizes the strange
markings.

5. Inverted subjects must

agree with the verb

There are 15 students in my

class.
How is Maria handling the
news of her grandfathers
death?

6. Collective nouns may

be singular or plural

The jury decides that you

are guilty of the crime.
The jury have been
arguing for 5 days
regarding the case.

7. Titles of single entities

ALWAYS SINGULAR

The Grapes of Wrath by John

Steinbeck takes quite some
time to read.
The Philippines strengthens its
diplomatic ties with ASEAN
nations.

8. Plural form subjects with

singular meaning and plural form
subjects with plural meaning

Measles is a contagious
disease that spreads among
school children.
Scissors are used to cut the
props for the stage play.

9. Subject and subjective

complement of different number,
verb ALWAYS agrees with the
subject

My favorite topic is short

stories by Edgar Allan Poe.

Short stories by Edgar Allan

Poe are my favorite topic.

10. One of those ___ who, use

PLURAL, Only one of those
___, use SINGULAR

Pocholo is one of those people

who like to watch DVDs.
Patricia is the only one of those
people who likes to read novels.

11. The number of ____, use

SINGULAR. A number of ____,
use PLURAL.

The number of students who

fail the exam increases at an
alarming rate.
A number of students
continue to fail the exam.

12. Every _____ and many a

____, use SINGULAR verb

Every driver knows his

way around Makati.
Many a Filipino dreams of
winning the lottery.