Subject Verb Agreement

 The subject should agree with the ‘verb’ in

number and person
 The complex subject of the sentence is followed
by a verb that agrees with the main noun in the
subject.
 For example: He goes; They go
 Some nouns can be treated both as singular or
plural
BBC, Maruti, University, Team
Ex: The jury disagree about the guilt of the
accused
The orchestra is about to play
 Some nouns that always end in –s and look
plural, infact are followed by singular verb such
as:
For example: The news about the Kidney racket
is very disturbing
 Academic disciplines words such as
Mathematics, politics, physics, statistics and so
take a singular verb.

Politics is the favourite of many students in this

university.
Otherwise:
The Statistics are not indicative of this fact.
 If the last item is singular and the subject is made
up of two or more items joined by either...or
neither...nor, we use a singular verb.

 Either the classroom or the auditorium is a good

place to hold the lecture.
 Plural verb is used if the last item is plural

Neither the secretary nor his representatives are to

join the club
 Use singular with any of, none of, majority of, a
lot of, plenty of, all of (some of), each and every
 Use plural with a number of

For example: The number of tigers in the country is

decreasing.
A number of reports have been questioned.
 After % we use singular verb

An inflation of 10% per annum makes a big

difference in any economy.
 Some phrase are considered to be singular and so
they take a singular verb

 Three quarters of a ton is too much

 The three hundred rupees I earned was kept in the
locker