Subject-Verb Agreement Practice Test 1

1. My brother or my sister are arriving tomorrow.

2. Neither Ella nor her friends is available to assist you.
3. Armand, together with his friends, are going on a camping trip tomorrow.
4. Jim and Mike are going to take the Subprofessional Civil Service
Examination next month.
5. Each of the boys play piano well.
6. Neither of them are available to meet you at the airport.
7. Ten years are such a long time to wait my love.
8. Five thousand pesos are a high price to pay for a single T-shirt.
9. Fifty percent of the cake have disappeared after just two minutes.
10. Everybody is happy about the result of the examination
11. One-tenth of the people in this city are unemployed.
12. He is one of the men who does the work without complaining.
13. The team are going to practice tomorrow for the final competition
14. The committee are in disagreement whether to use the fund in a feeding
program or donate it to a hospital.
15. Nina, as well as his brother and sister, is attending a birthday party.
Subject-Verb Agreement Practice Test 1 Answers
1. My brother or my sister are arriving tomorrow.
Correct sentence: My brother or my sister is arriving tomorrow
Explanation: Two singular subjects connected by or require a singular verb. In
this sentence, there brother and sister are both singular, so the sentence
should use the singular verb is.
2. Neither Ella nor her friends is available to assist you.
Correct sentence: Neither Ella nor her friends are available to assist you.
When

singular

subject

and

plural

subject

are

connected

by neither/nor or either/or, the verb agrees with the subject nearest to it. In

the sentence above, the plural verb are is used because it is nearer to the
plural subject friends.
3. Armand, together with his friends, are going on a camping trip tomorrow.
Correct sentence: Armand, together with his friends, is going on a camping
trip tomorrow.
Explanation: In general, phrases such as together with, along with, as well as,
should be ignored when considering the verb of the sentence. The verb should
always agree with the subject. In this sentence, Armand is the singular subject,
so the singular verb is is used.
4. Jim and Mike are going to take the Subprofessional Civil Service
Examination next month.
Explanation: No error. Jim and Mike is a plural subject, so the plural
verb are is used.
5. Each of the boys play piano well.
Correct sentence: Each of the boys plays piano well.
Explanation:

The

one, everybody are

pronouns each, anyone, anybody, everyone, every

singular

and

require

singular

verbs.

In

the

sentence, each is singular so, the singular verbplays must be used.

6. Neither of them are available to meet you at the airport.
Correct sentence: Neither of them is available to meet you at the airport.
Explanation: Sentences that use either or neither (without or) always require
singular verb.
7. Ten years are such a long time to wait my love.
Correct sentence: Ten years is such a long time to wait my love.
Explanation: Periods of time take singular verb.
8. Five thousand pesos are a high price to pay for a single T-shirt.
Correct sentence: Five thousand pesos is a high price to pay for a single Tshirt.
Explanation: Amount of money takes singular verb.

9. Fifty percent of the cake have disappeared after just two minutes.
Correct sentence: Fifty percent of the cake has disappeared after just two
minutes.
Explanation: The verb used in words that indicate portions such
as percent, fraction, part,all, some, etc. depends on the noun in the of
phrase. In the sentence above, the cake in of the cake phrase is singular,
therefore, the singular verb has should be used.
10. Everybody is happy about the result of the examination
Explanation: No Error. See no. 5 for explanation.
11. One-tenth of the people in this city are unemployed.
Explanation: No error. See no. 9 for explanation.
12. He is one of the men who does the work without complaining.
Correct sentence: He is one of the men who do the work without complaining.
Explanation: The pronouns who, which, and that which is the subject of the
verb in the middle of the sentence become singular or plural according to the
noun directly in front of them. In the sentence above, the noun in front
of who is men which is plural, so the plural verb do must be used.
13. The team are going to practice tomorrow for the final competition
Correct sentence: The team is going to practice tomorrow for the final
competition
Explanation: Collective nouns such as team and staff may either be singular or
plural depending on their use in the sentence. In the sentence above, the team
acts as a unit and therefore requires a singular verb.
14. The committee are in disagreement whether to use the fund in a feeding
program or donate it to a hospital.
Explanation: No error. Unlike in number 13, the committee in this sentence
act as individuals and not as a unit.
15. Nina, as well as his brother and sister, is attending a birthday party.
Explanation: No error. See no. 3 for explanation.

Below are the answers and the explanations to the Grammar and Correct
Usage Practice Test 1. The incorrect word or phrase in the sentence is
highlighted red, while the correct word or phrase is highlighted green.
1. The inventor stood to except the award.
Correct

Sentence:

The

inventor

stood

toaccept the

award.

Explanation: Accept means to receive, except means to exclude.

2. Between the three of us, I think I am the slowest runner.
Correct Sentence: Among the three of us, I think I am the slowest runner.
Explanation: Among is used to refer to 3 or more members of the group, while
between is used to refer to two member of the group.
3. There are scarcely no more birds in this city.
Correct sentence: There are scarcely any birds in this city.
Explanation: Double negative. Scarcely and no more are both negative
word/phrase.
4. This fruit contains fewer sugar.
Correct sentence: This fruit contains less sugar.
Explanation: Fewer is used to describe plural nouns (how many) while less is
used to describe singular nouns (how much). Sugar is singular.
5. I have never seen nothing as beautiful as this city.
Correct sentence: I have never seen anything as beautiful as this city.
Explanation: Double negative. Never seen and nothing are both negative
word/phrase.
6. Place the mirror on the wall to give you an allusion of bigger room.
Correct sentence: Place the mirror on the wall to give you an illusion of
bigger room.
Explanation: Allusion means a passing or casual reference, while illusion
means something that deceives by producing a false or misleading
impression of reality.
7. We were lucky we didnt have typhoon this month. (No Error)
8. My favorite vegetable are peas.

Correct sentence: May favorite vegetable is peas.

Explanation: The subject is favorite is singular, therefore the verb are should
be is.
9. Either James or John are going to lead the choir in the
recital tommorow.
Correct sentence: Either James or John is going to lead the choir in their
recitaltomorrow.
Explanation: In either or statements, the verb considers the subject after the
or statement. The subject John is singular, so the verb should be is. The
correct spelling istomorrow.
10. The additional supplies that we need to bring are: band aids, cottons,
alcohol, and gauze.
Correct sentences:
The additional supplies that we need to bring are band aids, cottons, alcohol,
and gauze. (The colon was deleted).
The additional supplies that we need to bring are the following: band aids,
cottons, alcohol, and gauze.
Explanation: The colon is used before a list of items especially after
expressions like the following and as follows. Do not use a colon before a verb
or a preposition.
11. All the students has finished their report.
Correct sentence: All the students have finished their report.
Explanation: In this sentence, all refers to many students, therefore have is
the correct verb.
12. He was a honorable man.
Correct

sentence:

He

was an honorable

man.

Explanation: A is used before words beginning with a consonant sound (a car,

a pencil), while an is used to before words beginning with vowel sounds (an
ant, an egg). An is also used to before words beginning with the
consonant h when h is not pronounced (such ashonorable).

13. The recently heavy flooding effected the crops of farmers.

Correct sentence: The recently heavy flooding affected the crops of farmers.
Explanation: Affect means to influence while effect means the result of
some actions.
14. Emmanuel could of passed the examinations if he had studied hard
enough.
Correct sentence: Emmanuel could have passed the examinations if he
studied hard enough.
Explanation: The word of is not used after the verb could.
15. I believe that were going to have a prosperous new year.
Correct sentence: I believe that were going to have a prosperous new year.
Explanation: The word were is the past tense of was while were is the
contraction of we are.