Agreement

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What do you already
know? Answer the
questions.

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What do you already know?
(1) Which of the following sentences is
correct?
a) One of my classmates are scolded by
the teacher.
b) Mary and Peter attend the class
together.
c) Each candidate have to bring their ID
card to the examination hall.
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What do you already know?
(2) Which of the following sentences is
NOT correct?
a) Nothing is left in the cupboard.
b) The public is discontented about the
government’s decision.
c) The glasses is suitable for me.

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What do you already know?
(3) Which of the following sentences is
NOT correct?
a) Ten thousand dollars are quite a big
amount to me.
b) Something is missing here. Can you
amend it?
c) A number of people have chosen this
topic.
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What is subject-verb
agreement?

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Subject-verb agreement
• choosing the correct
singular/plural verb after the
subject

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How do we check for
subject-verb
agreement?

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Singular verb
1. with a unit of measurement

e.g. Forty dollars seems to be a

reasonable price for lunch in
Hong Kong.
$

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Singular verb
2. with titles and names

e.g. The United Nations is an

international organization
founded in 1945.

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Singular verb
3. with a subject after one of

e.g. One of the eggs is broken.

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Singular verb
4. with a subject after every/each;
everyone, everything,
someone/somebody, something,
anyone/anybody, anything, no
one/nobody, nothing
e.g. Every student has to follow the
school rules.
e.g. No one wants to be punished.
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Singular verb
5. with certain singular uncountable
nouns ending in -s/-ics

e.g. The news is shocking.

e.g. Economics is my
favourite subject.

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Plural verb
1. with two or more
words/phrases linked by and

e.g. Both teachers and parents

are important to children’s
personal growth.

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Plural verb
2. with a number of

e.g. A number of suggestions were

made to improve the proposal.

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Plural verb
3. with a pair noun, e.g. glasses,
trousers and scissors

e.g. Glasses are important to me,

especially during lessons.

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 Pair noun:
a noun used to describe something
made of two identical parts.

Use a singular verb when a pair

noun is used with of.
e.g. This pair of trousers needs to
be ironed.

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Either singular or plural verb

1. with singular collective nouns

(depending on whether we see the noun as
a whole or as a number of individuals)

e.g. The orchestra is/are playing a

romantic song.

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 Collective noun:
refers to a group of people

Association crowd class

government public family
Club team school

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Either singular or plural verb

2. with two words/phrases linked

by or/nor (the verb usually agrees
with the nearest noun)

e.g. Neither Fred nor his brothers

was/were at the party.

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Review

How should subjects

agree with verbs?

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 Singular verbs
With:
1. a unit of measurement
2. titles and names
3. a subject after one of
4. a subject after every/each
everyone, everything, someone/somebody,
something, anyone/anybody, anything,
no one, nobody, nothing
5. certain singular uncountable nouns ending
in -s/-ics

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 Plural verbs
With:
1. two or more words/phrases linked by and
2 a number of
3. a pair noun

Singular/Plural verbs
With:
1. a singular collective noun
2. two words/phrases linked by or/nor

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The end
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