Subject – Verb Agreement

Subject – Verb Agreement.

In a sentence

 Subjects and verbs must agree in number

(even if the subject is complex or contains

extra information)
For example

He goes to the beach on Saturdays.

 Singular subject + Singular verb

We go to the beach on Saturdays.

 Plural subject + Plural verb
 For Subject
Singular Plural
car cars
baby babies

For Verb
Singular Plural
goes go
writes write
 For Subject (person)

Singular Plural
he goes I go
she goes we go
it goes you go
they go
I like to go swimming.
She likes to go swimming.
 Auxiliary verb
• do/does
• am/is/are/was/were
• have/has

The dogs don’t want it.

The dog doesn’t want it.
 Auxiliary verb
• do/does
• am/is/are/was/were
• have/has

We are going to the beach.

He is going to the beach.
I am going to the beach.
We were going to the beach.
He was going to the beach.
 Auxiliary verbs
• do/does
• am/is/are/was/were
• have/has

They have been driving for hours.

He has been driving for hours.
 Modal verbs
• can / could
• shall / should t he
s in
• will / would a
ay
lw for m
is tive
• may / might b
Ver infini
• must

My friends might come.

My friend might comes.
.
 Indefinite Pronouns
• everybody
• nobody Singular
• anybody Verb
• someone etc.

Everybody wants to be loved.

Nobody likes to be left out.
 Compound Subjects
And

My mum is happy for me.

My mum and dad are proud of me.

They are proud of me.

 Compound Subjects
Or / Nor

Peter or Paul is coming.

• not saying both

• it’s only one singular noun or the other.
 Gerund and Gerund Phrases
• playing /swimming/waiting etc…

Playing football is fun.

Waiting for the bus is annoying.

Meeting friend after work and going to the beach

are my favourite things about living here.
 Group Nouns
• club/team/company/family/crowd/class
etc…

The team is organising the event.

(team – Just the single unit)
The team are meeting today
(team – Members of the club are meeting together)
The teams are organising the event.
(teams – Many of the individuals group nouns.)
 Uncountable Nouns + Plural Verb
The furnitures are comfortable.

The furniture is comfortable.

Education is the key to success.

The news is interesting.

 Some uncountable nouns
• Advertising, aid, advice, art, business, cash, clothing, content,
courage, currency, damage, data, education, employment,
energy, entertainment, enthusiasm, equipment, evidence, food,
freedom, furniture, fire, happiness, health, help, homework,
information, intelligence, juice, justice, kindness, knowledge,
labour, leisure, literature, litter, luck, management, meat, milk,
money, motivation, music, nature, news, oil, oxygen, patience,
pollution, poverty, progress, rain, rice, safety, salt, sand,
seafood, shopping, stress, sugar, sunshine, tea, traffic,
transportation, travel, water, wealth, weather, welfare,
wisdom, work, yoga etc…
 Some Plural Nouns
(only have a plural form)
• earnings, goods, odds, surroundings,
proceeds, contents , etc…

The earnings for this quarter exceed expectations.

Locally produced goods have the advantage of

shorter supply chains.
 There is / There are

There is little administrative support.

There is a plant in the bathroom.

There are many factors affecting teacher retention.

There are many plants in your garden.

 Some examples

The car, which belongs to my brother, is not very.

clean. (Relative clause)

The new features of the car are impressive.

(Phrase)
 Exercise 1
1. The West Indies (is/are) famous for sugar.
2. The committee (is/are) unable to decide who is to be
chairman.
3. The news (is/are) surprising.
4. Some of the machines (is/are) rusty.
5. A number of files (has/have) to be updated.
 Exercise 1
6. Every man, woman and child (is/are) a citizen.
7. One of the pages (is/are) torn.
8. There (was/were) a lot of criticism of his actions.
9. Some of the machinery (is/are) rusty.
10. Two-third of the furniture (need/needs) to be repaired.
 Exercise 1
11. The number of people at the meeting (was/were) twenty.
12. There (was/were) a lot of violence during the election.
13. The old (is/are) well cared for in my country.
14. My family always (argue/argues) over television
programmes.
15. One of the countries I would like to visit (is/are) Norway.
 Exercise 1
16. There (is/are) a series of debates at the Civic Centre.
17. The staff (was/were) given a set of instructions.
18. The head of state and his entourage (was/were) telling the
truth.
19. Neither of the witnesses (is/are) telling the truth.
20. Not only (was/were) his wallet stolen, but his documents
too.
 Exercise 2
Read the news bulletin and fill in the blanks with the correct
verbs in brackets

The situation in strike-torn Marimba ___1___ (has/have)

been worsening day by day. This time it is rebellious factions,
not the government, who ___2___ (is/are) to blame.
Meanwhile, the number of refuges pouring into neighbouring
states ___3___ (is/are) increasing at an alarming rate.
 
 Exercise 2
Read the news bulletin and fill in the blanks with the correct
verbs in brackets

This exodus ___4___ (has/have) put a tremendous strain on

each country’s resources which ___5___ (is/are) already
limited. Not only food but also medical supplies ___6___
(is/are) badly needed. Clothing, too ___7___ (is/are) in short
supply.
 Exercise 2
Read the news bulletin and fill in the blanks with the correct
verbs in brackets

The task of keeping these refugees alive ___8___ (is/are) not

easy. First, the sheer logistics of sending and distributing the
supplies across continents ___9___ (is/are) overwhelming.
Second, hygiene ___10___ (is/are)a major concern. River
water that used to be good for drinking ___11___ (is/are)
becoming polluted with wasted; however, efforts to provide a
water treatment plant ___12___ (has/have) Been fairly
successful.
 Exercise 2
Read the news bulletin and fill in the blanks with the correct
verbs in brackets

But not all the news we read about Marimba ___13___

(is/are) discouraging. Many countries ___14___ (has/have)
already responded to the call for humanitarian aid. We are
proud that our country, together with other Asian countries,
___15___ (is/are) sharing the burden. One of our key
contributions ___16___ (is/are) the provision of medical
relief.
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