Important Rules Of

English Grammar
For All Competitive and Academic Exams
RULE NO #01
Everybody/Nobody/Somebody/Anybody (Used for Person)
Everything/Nothing/Something/Anything (Used for Things)
All of these are Singular Pronouns and must follow a Singular Verb
Examples:- 1) Everybody is/are ready to do work. (is)
Explanation:- Because “everybody” is a singular pronoun, it will take
singular verb “is”.
2) Anybody can do the work if they try/he tries. (he tries)
Explanation:- Because “anybody” is a singular pronoun, it will take
singular verb “tries”.
3) Nothing but some books was/were available. (was)
Explanation:- In the above sentence, “But” is used as a “preposition” and
our verb generally agrees with the word placed before preposition i-e
“nothing”. As “Nothing” is a singular pronoun, hence singular verb i-e
“was” must be used.
4) Nobody/Nothing but some books was present. (Nothing)
Explanation:- As “books” is a thing and not a person, hence singular
pronoun used for things i-e “nothing” must be used.