SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
Subject-Verb Agreement is also known as concord. It is used in grammar to
represent grammatical agreement between two parts of a sentence. It is
agreement between subject of a sentence and the verb of a sentence.
Note: If the subject of
the sentence is singular, then the verb must be singular. If the subject of the
sentence is plural, then the verb must be plural.
Example:
i) The book have 100 pages.
ii) The book has 100 pages.
In these two sentences, first sentence failed to
maintain agreement as compare to second sentence. As second sentence include
subject “book” as singular so it includes verb “has” plural. The correct
sentence is:
ii) The book has 100
pages.
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Example:
i) The boy between the lines is one who came
last in race.
ii) The boy between the lines are one who came
last in race.
In these two lines, “are” verb is wrong as the
subject is singular and it doesn’t agree with subject. The correct sentence is:
i) The boy between
the lines is one who came last in race.
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Example:
i) The bunch of keys is kept in the cupboard.
ii) The bunch of keys are kept in the cupboard.
In these two lines, the correct sentence is
first one which includes singular subject and singular verb. The correct
sentence is:
i) The bunch of keys
is kept in the cupboard.
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Example:
i) Neither Mona nor Sona has the car to drive.
ii) Either Pankaj or Sanjay is playing cricket
in the garden.
When two subjects connected by either/or, or
neither/nor. If you have two singular subjects that are connected by either/or,
or neither/nor, use the singular verb. Only one of them (singular) is taking
action, so the verb is singular.
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Example:
i) Either teacher or the students are
distributing papers.
ii) Neither Piyush nor the waiters have broken
the glasses.
iii) Neither doctors nor patient has taken blood
report.
iv) Either children or mom is eating ice cream.
Here one of the subjects is plural and the other
isn’t, in such case the verb agrees with the closest subject to it. If the
closest subject is singular, then verb must be singular. If the closest subject
is plural the verb must be plural.
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Example:
i) Ramesh and Suresh are good friends.
ii) Adarsh and Ritali are painting a wall.
In these two sentences two subjects connected by
“and”, the verb should be plural.
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Example:
i) Ninety nine rupees is the price for this
burger.
ii) Two hundred kilometers is the distance
remaining to reach Punjab.
iii) Thirty three minutes is time to complete
the project.
In these sentences singular verbs is used for
plural subjects. Here use a singular verb when you have a subject that conveys
a single unit of distance, money or time.
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Example:
i) Someone has stolen my pen.
ii) None of the students has brought assignment
today.
iii) Everybody is busy in gossiping.
iv) Anyone has compass?
When a subject includes: each, everyone, every,
everybody, anyone, anybody, somebody, nobody, someone, none, no one then the
verb must be used singular.
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Examples:
i) The crowd is rushing towards stadium.
ii) The fleet of ships is sailing in Arabian
Sea.
iii) The bouquet of flowers is received by me.
iv) A dozen of bananas is eaten by him.
The subjects are collective nouns in above
sentences, the subject is singular, and so the verb should be singular.
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SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT EXAMPLES:
·
Cows eat grass in the meadows.
·
Tennis balls roll across the floor.
·
He doesn’t play khabadi.
·
Those bags are new.
·
He didn’t like vegetables.
·
Butter and peanuts are needed for the dish.
·
Neither he nor she knows how to ride a bike.
·
Actor and director are busy in meeting.
When using
"or" or "nor" in a compound subject containing a singular
and plural subject, the verb agrees with the closest subject. Examples of
compound subjects using or, neither-nor, or either-or include:
·
My uncle or aunt is going to Darjeeling. (singular)
·
Neither red nor saffron is her favorite color.
(singular)
·
Either teacher or students are going to the class.
(closest subject is plural)
·
Either children or uncle is coming to the home.
(closest subject is singular)
·
Neither Raj nor I am visiting to hostel. (closest
subject is singular)
Singular Indefinite
Pronouns
Here are some
examples of subject verb agreement with singular indefinite pronouns:
·
Everyone gets a medal for participating.
·
Someone will buy for you.
·
None is more cautious than you.
·
Everything is unexpected there.
·
Each celebrates every festival.
·
Something is fishy here.
Plural Indefinite
Pronouns
Here are some
examples of subject verb agreement with plural indefinite pronouns:
·
Both are intelligent boys in the class.
·
Many chefs spoil food.
·
Few understand the concept in the meeting.
·
Several are collecting diamond in the tunnel.
·
Some salt is less in the curry. (salt is uncountable
so singular verb used)
·
Most of the desserts were stolen. (desserts are
countable so plural verb used)
Midsentence Phrase or
Clause
Here are some
examples of subject verb agreement with a phrase or clause between the subject
and verb:
·
Isaac Newton’s theories are still in work.
·
Today a single software company deals with technical
problems.
·
The main reason for his death was tuberculosis.
·
The window frame and front door are good products in
that shop.
·
The staff members of the office are unhappy due to
their boss.
Collective Nouns
Collective nouns can
be singular or plural depending on meaning. Here are some examples of subject verb
agreement with collective nouns:
·
The herd of elephant rushes in the sugarcane
field.(singular)
·
Bunches of grapes are eaten by fox. (plural)
·
The mob is ferocious on politician. (singular)
·
The dozens of bananas were stolen by monkeys. (plural)
·
The pride of lions attacks a deer. (singular)
·
The teams are playing well in tournament. (plural)
Inverted Subjects
Here are some
examples of subject verb agreement with inverted subjects where the subject
follows the verb:
·
There are hundreds of people in the conference hall.
·
There is a car in parking lot.
·
Over the bridge flies an airplane.
·
How are the players enjoying their victory party?
·
A mistake is better than being ideal.
