Concord (Subject-Verb SubjectAgreement)

A Singular Subject takes a Singular Verb. A Plural subject takes a Plural Verb. E.g. He Works Very hard. (Singular Verb) They Work Very hard. (Plural Verb)

When Two subjects are joined by and The Verb is plural.

E.g. Tom and his brother work hard. His Wife and children are in Madras.

When two Singular Subjects are joined by or, eitheror, Neithernor the subject is Singular. When two plural subjects are joined by or , Neithernor',' eitheror the subject is plural. Singular Subjects E.g. John or his brother goes home every week. Either he or his wife has to help me. Neither the boy nor his sister has passed.

Plural Subjects Cows or Oxen are grazing in the field. Either Oranges or apples are required. Neither the boys nor the girls are reading now.

When a singular subject and a plural subject are joined by or , Eitheror , neithernor the verb agrees with the second subject or subject nearer to the verb. E.g. John or his brothers go home every week. Either the boys or their father has come.

When two subjects are joined by as well as, rather than , more than, as much as the verb agrees with the first subject.
E.g. The boys as well as their teacher have left. John rather than his brothers is involved in the activity.

When two subjects are joined by with , along with, together with, in the company of , in addition to, accompanied by, besides etc the verb agrees with the first subject.
E.g. My friend with all his children has returned. The Student along with his guardian is waiting outside the room.

A Sentence starts with One of, Each of, Either of, Everyone of, followed by a plural noun the Verb is singular.
One of the boys has lost his pen. Neither of them has passed. Each of them is known to me.

Each, Every, Either, Neither followed by a noun take a singular verb.

E.g. Each boy Works hard. Each girl has passed the Exam.

Expressions like Five pounds, Ten rupees, Two weeks, Three miles etc are singular and take singular verb. E.g. Two Rupees is not a big sum. Two weeks is not a long time.

If a sentence begins with a word There it may take the singular or plural verb according to the number of the subject. E.g. There is some coffee in the pot. There are some apples in the table.

Certain nouns like deer, sheep,counsel,and nationality names like Indians ,Africans etc are both singular and plural.

E.g. A deer is grazing in the field. A few Deer are grazing in the field. A Chinese boy is waiting near the tree. A few Chinese boys are waiting for the bus.

Numerical expressions like dozen, thousand, lakh, million,etc have plural form when they are preceded by number words. E.g. Two dozen oranges are packed in this basket. Five hundred books have been ordered.

Nouns like Furniture, Machinery, equipment, luggage etc are called Class collectives. They are followed by a singular verbs.
E.g. The furniture was old and it has to be repaired. The luggage was carried by a boy.

Some nouns have plural endings but they are singular and take singular verb E.g. The News is too good to be. Measles is not a dangerous disease.

Subject names ending in -ics take singular verb. E.g. Physics is easy to understand. Mathematics is hard to learn.

Things made of two equal parts are always plural.

E.g. My Scissors are old. His Trousers are torn. My Spectacles are broken.

Name of a book or is plural it takes singular verb. E.g. The Arabian Nights is an interesting book. Gullivers Travels was written by Swift.

Thank You