ENGLISH GRAMMAR - SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT / CONCORD

 

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.