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NOTE !!

Examples:

We will use the standard of underlining Neither the plates nor the serving bowl goes
subjects once and verbs twice. on that shelf.

Being able to find the right subject and verb Neither the serving bowl nor the plates go on
will help you correct errors of subject-verb that shelf.
agreement.
This rule can lead to bumps in the road. For
example, if I is one of two (or more) subjects,
it could lead to this odd sentence:
Basic Rule
Awkward: Neither she, my friends, nor I am
A singular subject (she, Bill, car) takes a going to the festival.
singular verb (is, goes, shines), whereas a
plural subject takes a plural verb. If possible, it's best to reword such
grammatically correct but awkward
Example: The list of items is/are on the desk. sentences.
If you know that list is the subject, then you Better:
will choose is for the verb.
Neither she, I, nor my friends are going to
Rule 1 the festival.
A subject will come before a phrase OR She, my friends, and I are not going to
beginning with of. This is a key rule for the festival.
understanding subjects. The word of is the
culprit in many, perhaps most, subject-verb Rule 4
mistakes.
As a general rule, use a plural verb with two
Hasty writers, speakers, readers, and or more subjects when they are connected
listeners might miss the all-too-common by and.
mistake in the following sentence:
Ex: A car and a bike are my means of
Incorrect: A bouquet of yellow roses lend transportation.
color and fragrance to the room.
But note these exceptions:
Correct: A bouquet of yellow roses lends . . .
(bouquet lends, not roses lend) Breaking and entering is against the law.

Rule 2 The bed and breakfast was charming.

Two singular subjects connected by or, In those sentences, breaking and entering
either/or, or neither/nor require a singular and bed and breakfast are compound nouns.
verb.
Rule 5a
Ex: My aunt or my uncle is arriving by train
Sometimes the subject is separated from
today.
the verb by such words as along with, as well
Neither Juan nor Carmen is available. as, besides, not, etc. These words and
phrases are not part of the subject. Ignore
Either Kiana or Casey is helping today with them and use a singular verb when the
stage decorations. subject is singular.

Rule 3 Examples:

The verb in an or, either/or, or neither/nor The politician, along with the newsmen, is
sentence agrees with the noun or pronoun expected shortly.
closest to it.
Excitement, as well as nervousness, is the Ex: A lot of the pie has disappeared.
cause of her shaking.
A lot of the pies have disappeared.
Rule 5b
All of the pie is gone.
Parentheses are not part of the subject.
All of the pies are gone.
Example: Joe (and his trusty mutt) was
always welcome. NOTE !!!

If this seems awkward, try rewriting the In recent years, the SAT testing service has
sentence. considered none to be strictly singular.
However, according to Merriam-Webster's
Rule 6 Dictionary of English Usage: "Clearly none
has been both singular and plural since Old
In sentences beginning with here or there, English and still is. The notion that it is
the true subject follows the verb. singular only is a myth of unknown origin
that appears to have arisen in the 19th
Ex: There are four hurdles to jump.
century. If in context it seems like a singular
There is a high hurdle to jump. to you, use a singular verb; if it seems like a
plural, use a plural verb. Both are acceptable
Here are the keys. beyond serious criticism." When none is
clearly intended to mean "not one," it is
NOTE !!! followed by a singular verb.
The word there's, a contraction of there is, Rule 9
leads to bad habits in informal sentences like
There's a lot of people here today, because With collective nouns such as group, jury,
it's easier to say "there's" than "there are." family, audience, population, the verb might
Take care never to use there's with a plural be singular or plural, depending on the
subject. writer's intent.

Rule 7 Ex: All of my family has arrived OR have


arrived.
Use a singular verb with distances, periods
of time, sums of money, etc., when Most of the jury is here OR are here.
considered as a unit.
A third of the population was not in favor OR
Ex: Three miles is too far to walk. were not in favor of the bill.

Five years is the maximum sentence for that NOTE !!!


offense.
Anyone who uses a plural verb with a
Ten dollars is a high price to pay. collective noun must take care to be
accurateand also consistent. It must not be
BUT done carelessly. The following is the sort of
flawed sentence one sees and hears a lot
Ten dollars (i.e., dollar bills) were scattered these days:
on the floor.
The staff is deciding how they want to vote.
Rule 8
Careful speakers and writers would avoid
With words that indicate portionse.g., a assigning the singular is and the plural they
lot, a majority, some, allRule 1 given earlier to staff in the same sentence.
in this section is reversed, and we are guided
by the noun after of. If the noun after of is Consistent: The staff are deciding how they
singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, want to vote.
use a plural verb.
Rewriting such sentences is recommended The indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone,
whenever possible. The preceding sentence someone, no one, nobody are always
would read even better as: singular and, therefore, require singular
verbs.
The staff members are deciding how they
want to vote. Everyone has done his or her homework.

Rule 10 Somebody has left her purse.

The word were replaces was in sentences Some indefinite pronouns such as all,
that express a wish or are contrary to fact: some are singular or plural depending on
what they're referring to. (Is the thing
Example: If Joe were here, you'd be sorry. referred to countable or not?) Be careful
choosing a verb to accompany such
Shouldn't Joe be followed by was, not were,
pronouns.
given that Joe is singular? But Joe isn't
actually here, so we say were, not was. The Some of the beads are missing.
sentence demonstrates the subjunctive
mood, which is used to express things that Some of the water is gone.
are hypothetical, wishful, imaginary, or
factually contradictory. The subjunctive mood On the other hand, there is one indefinite
pairs singular subjects with what we usually pronoun, none, that can be either singular or
think of as plural verbs. plural; it often doesn't matter whether you
use a singular or a plural verb unless
something else in the sentence determines
its number. (Writers generally think of none
Examples: as meaning not any and will choose a plural
verb, as in "None of the engines are
I wish it were Friday.
working," but when something else makes us
She requested that he raise his hand. regard none as meaning not one, we want a
singular verb, as in "None of the food is
In the first example, a wishful statement, not fresh.")
a fact, is being expressed; therefore, were,
which we usually think of as a plural verb, is None of you claims responsibility for this
used with the singular subject I. incident?

Normally, he raise would sound terrible to us. None of you claim responsibility for this
However, in the second example, where a incident?
request is being expressed, the subjunctive
None of the students have done their
mood is correct.
homework. (In this last example, the word
their precludes the use of the singular verb.

Note !!! 2
The subjunctive mood is losing ground in Some indefinite pronouns are particularly
spoken English but should still be used in troublesome Everyone and everybody (listed
formal speech and writing. above, also) certainly feel like more than one
person and, therefore, students are
Basic Principle: Singular subjects need sometimes tempted to use a plural verb with
singular verbs; plural subjects need plural them. They are always singular, though.
verbs. My brother is a nutritionist. My sisters Each is often followed by a prepositional
are mathematicians. phrase ending in a plural word (Each of the
cars), thus confusing the verb choice. Each,
See the section on Plurals for additional help too, is always singular and requires a
with subject-verb agreement. singular verb.

1 Everyone has finished his or her homework.


You would always say, "Everybody is here." Either my father or my brothers are going to
This means that the word is singular and sell the house.
nothing will change that.
Neither my brothers nor my father is going to
Each of the students is responsible for doing sell the house.
his or her work in the library.
Are either my brothers or my father
Don't let the word "students" confuse you; responsible?
the subject is each and each is always
singular Each is responsible. Is either my father or my brothers
responsible?
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Because a sentence like "Neither my
Phrases such as together with, as well as, brothers nor my father is going to sell the
and along with are not the same as and. The house" sounds peculiar, it is probably a good
phrase introduced by as well as or along with idea to put the plural subject closer to the
will modify the earlier word (mayor in this verb whenever that is possible.
case), but it does not compound the subjects
(as the word and would do). 6
The mayor as well as his brothers is going to The words there and here are never subjects.
prison.
There are two reasons [plural subject] for
The mayor and his brothers are going to jail. this.

There is no reason for this.


4
Here are two apples.
The pronouns neither and either are singular
and require singular verbs even though they With these constructions (called expletive
seem to be referring, in a sense, to two constructions), the subject follows the verb
things. but still determines the number of the verb.
Neither of the two traffic lights is working.
7
Which shirt do you want for Christmas?
Verbs in the present tense for third-person,
Either is fine with me. singular subjects (he, she, it and anything
those words can stand for) have s-endings.
In informal writing, neither and either Other verbs do not add s-endings.
sometimes take a plural verb when these
pronouns are followed by a prepositional He loves and she loves and they love_ and . .
phrase beginning with of. This is particularly ..
true of interrogative constructions: "Have
either of you two clowns read the
assignment?" "Are either of you taking this
seriously?" Burchfield calls this "a clash 8
between notional and actual agreement."*
Sometimes modifiers will get betwen a
5 subject and its verb, but these modifiers
must not confuse the agreement between
The conjunction or does not conjoin (as and the subject and its verb.
does): when nor or or is used the subject
closer to the verb determines the number of The mayor, who has been convicted along
the verb. Whether the subject comes before with his four brothers on four counts of
or after the verb doesn't matter; the various crimes but who also seems, like a
proximity determines the number. cat, to have several political lives, is finally
going to jail.
9 11
Sometimes nouns take weird forms and can Fractional expressions such as half of, a part
fool us into thinking they're plural when of, a percentage of, a majority of are
they're really singular and vice-versa. sometimes singular and sometimes plural,
Consult the section on the Plural Forms of depending on the meaning. (The same is
Nouns and the section on Collective Nouns true, of course, when all, any, more, most
for additional help. Words such as glasses, and some act as subjects.) Sums and
pants, pliers, and scissors are regarded as products of mathematical processes are
plural (and require plural verbs) unless expressed as singular and require singular
they're preceded the phrase pair of (in which verbs. The expression "more than one"
case the word pair becomes the subject). (oddly enough) takes a singular verb: "More
than one student has tried this."
My glasses were on the bed.
Some of the voters are still angry.
My pants were torn.
A large percentage of the older population is
A pair of plaid trousers is in the closet. voting against her.

10 Two-fifths of the troops were lost in the


battle.
Some words end in -s and appear to be plural
but are really singular and require singular Two-fifths of the vineyard was destroyed by
verbs. fire.

The news from the front is bad. Forty percent of the students are in favor of
changing the policy.
Measles is a dangerous disease for pregnant
women. Forty percent of the student body is in favor
of changing the policy.
On the other hand, some words ending in -s
refer to a single thing but are nonetheless Two and two is four.
plural and require a plural verb.
Four times four divided by two is eight.
My assets were wiped out in the depression.
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The average worker's earnings have gone up
dramatically. If your sentence compounds a positive and a
negative subject and one is plural, the other
Our thanks go to the workers who supported singular, the verb should agree with the
the union. positive subject.
The names of sports teams that do not end The department members but not the chair
in "s" will take a plural verb: the Miami Heat have decided not to teach on Valentine's
have been looking , The Connecticut Sun Day.
are hoping that new talent . See the
section on plurals for help with this problem. It is not the faculty members but the
president who decides this issue.

It was the speaker, not his ideas, that has


provoked the students to riot.

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