Basic Principle. Singular subfects need singular verbs, plural subfects need plural verbs.

My brother is a
nutritionist. My sisters are mathematicians.
See the section on Plurals Ior additional help with subject-verb agreement.
The indeIinite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always singular and, thereIore,
require singular verbs.
O veryone has done his or her homework.
O Somebody has left her purse.
Some indeIinite pronouns such as all, some are singular or plural depending on what they're reIerring to. (Is
the thing reIerred to countable or not?) Be careIul choosing a verb to accompany such pronouns.
O Some oI the beads are missing.
O Some oI the water is gone.
On the other hand, there is one indeIinite pronoun, none, that can be either singular or plural; it oIten doesn't matter
whether you use a singular or a plural verb unless something else in the sentence determines its number. (Writers
generally think oI none as meaning not any and will choose a plural verb, as in "None oI the engines are working,"
but when something else makes us regard none as meaning not one, we want a singular verb, as in "None oI the Iood
is Iresh.")
O None oI you .laims responsibility Ior this incident?
O None oI you .laim responsibility Ior this incident?
O None oI the students have done their homework. (In this last example, the word their precludes the use oI
the singular verb.


Some indeIinite pronouns are particularly troublesome Everyone and everybody (listed above, also)
certainly 1eel like more than one person and, thereIore, students are sometimes tempted to use a plural
verb with them. They are always singular, though. Ea.h is oIten Iollowed by a prepositional phrase
ending in a plural word (ach oI the cars), thus conIusing the verb choice. ach, too, is always singular and requires
a singular verb.
veryone has Iinished his or her homework.
You would always say, "verybody is here." This means that the word is singular and nothing will change that.
ach oI the students is responsible Ior doing his or her work in the library.
Don't let the word "students" conIuse you; the subject is each and each is always singular ach is responsible.
Phrases such as together with, as well as, and along with are not the same as and. The phrase
introduced by as well as or along with will modiIy the earlier word (mayor in this case), but it does not
compound the subjects (as the word and would do).
O The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison.
O The mayor and his brothers are going to jail.
The pronouns neither and either are singular and require singular verbs even though they seem to be
reIerring, in a sense, to two things.
O Neither oI the two traIIic lights is working.
O Which shirt do you want Ior Christmas?
ither is Iine with me.
In inIormal writing, neither and either sometimes take a plural verb when these pronouns are Iollowed by a
prepositional phrase beginning with o1. This is particularly true oI interrogative constructions: "Have either oI you
two clowns read the assignment?" "Are either oI you taking this seriously?" BurchIield calls this "a clash between
notional and actual agreement."*
The conjunction or does not conjoin (as and does): when nor or or is used the subject closer to the verb
determines the number oI the verb. Whether the subject comes beIore or aIter the verb doesn't matter;
the proximity determines the number.
O ither my Iather or my brothers are going to sell the house.
O Neither my brothers nor my Iather is going to sell the house.
O re either my brothers or my Iather responsible?
O s either my Iather or my brothers responsible?
Because a sentence like "Neither my brothers nor my Iather is going to sell the house" sounds peculiar, it is probably
a good idea to put the plural subject closer to the verb whenever that is possible.
The words there and here are never subjects.
O There are two reasons |plural subject| Ior this.
O There is no reason Ior this.
O Here are two apples.
With these constructions (called expletive constructions), the subject Iollows the verb but still determines the
number oI the verb.
Verbs in the present tense Ior third-person, singular subjects (he, she, it and anything those words can
stand Ior) have s-endings. Other verbs do not add s-endings.
He loves and she loves and they love and . . . .
Sometimes modiIiers will get betwen a subject and its verb, but these modiIiers must not
conIuse the agreement between the subject and its verb.
The mayor, who has been convicted along with his Iour brothers on Iour counts oI various
crimes but who also seems, like a cat, to have several political lives, is Iinally going to jail.
Sometimes nouns take weird Iorms and can Iool us into thinking they're plural when they're really
singular and vice-versa. Consult the section on the Plural Forms of Nouns and the section on
Colle.tive Nouns Ior additional help. Words such as glasses, pants, pliers, and scissors are regarded as
plural (and require plural verbs) unless they're preceded the phrase pair o1 (in which case the word pair
becomes the subject).
O My glasses ere on the bed.
O My pants ere torn.
O A pair oI plaid trousers is in the closet.
Some words end in s and appear to be plural but are really singular and require singular verbs.
O The news Irom the Iront is bad.
O Measles is a dangerous disease Ior pregnant women.
On the other hand, some words ending in s reIer to a single thing but are nonetheless plural and require a plural
verb.
O My assets ere wiped out in the depression.
O The average worker's earnings have gone up dramatically.
O Our thanks o to the workers who supported the union.
The names oI sports teams that do not end in "s" will take a plural verb: the Miami Heat have been looking . , The
Connecticut Sun are hoping that new talent . . See the section on plurals Ior help with this problem.
Fractional expressions such as hal1 o1, a part o1, a percentage o1, a mafority o1 are sometimes singular
and sometimes plural, depending on the meaning. (The same is true, oI course, when all, any, more,
most and some act as subjects.) Sums and products oI mathematical processes are expressed as singular
and require singular verbs. The expression "more than one" (oddly enough) takes a singular verb:
"More than one student has tried this."
O Some oI the voters are still angry.
O A large percentage oI the older population is voting against her.
O Two-IiIths oI the troops ere lost in the battle.
O Two-IiIths oI the vineyard as destroyed by Iire.
O Forty percent oI the students are in Iavor oI changing the policy.
O Forty percent oI the student body is in Iavor oI changing the policy.
O Two and two is Iour.
O Four times Iour divided by two is eight.
II your sentence compounds a positive and a negative subject and one is plural, the other singular, the
verb should agree with the positive subject.
O The department members but not the chair have de.ided not to teach on Valentine's Day.
O It is not the Iaculty members but the president who de.ides this issue.
O It was the speaker noL hls ldeas LhaL has provoked Lhe sLudenLs Lo rloL

,- h|||pp|nes 1he hoL vldeo cllps dld noL only spread llke wlldflre 1he recordlngs supposedly showlng
conLroverslal docLor ur Payden kho ln bed wlLh celebrlLles had also made many eyes dllaLe afLer Lhese hlL Lhe neL
recenLly

Lawmakers femlnlsLs and even hls colleagues ln Lhe medlcal professlon dldn'L llke whaL Lhey elLher heard or saw
kho's alleged sulLry scenes wlLh sexy acLress kaLrlna Pallll and hls alleged sexual acLs wlLh Lwo oLher women
reporLedly Lop commerclal models

1hey all wanL kho censured for hls alleged lmmoral acLs whlch Lhey clalm were also a vlolaLlon of Lhe rlghLs of
women who reporLedly dld noL know LhaL Lhey were belng fllmed
1he person behlnd Lhe spread of Lhe hoL vldeo cllps ls sLlll unknown kho dld noL granL medla lnLervlews as of
posLlng Llme Lo alr hls slde 8uL SenaLor 8amon 8evllla aLLacked Lhe docLor ln hls prlvllege speech on 1uesday

1he ouLraged senaLor called kho a manlac and a perverL of Lhe hlghesL klnd who should be sLrlpped of hls
llcense over Lhe vldeo cllps

Sa vldeo mlsmo maklklLa ang masamang lnLenslyon nlLo na paLagong lslneLup ang kamera aL lplnuwesLo ang
babae para slguradong makukunan Clnoong angulo ang LlnuLukoy ko po ay sl ur Payden kho who ls perverL of
Lhe hlghesL klnd a predaLor who has no consclence nor respecL for women 8evllla sald

1he bad lnLenLlon of sLealLhlly seLLlng up Lhe camera and placlng Lhe woman near lL can be seen Lhrough Lhe vldeo
fooLage Mr resldenL l am referrlng Lo ur Payden kho who ls perverL of Lhe hlghesL klnd a predaLor who has no
consclence nor respecL for women

Llllnawln ko lang Mr resldenL Lhe acLs ln Lhe vldeo lLself ls noL whaL l am angry abouL kundl ang paraan ng
pagllnlang nlLong dukLor na lLo Laklng advanLage of Lhe LrusL confldence and emoLlons ng kanyang glrlfrlend para
makunan ang vldeo aL lpakalaL lLo sa publlko whlch has deflnlLely rulned Lhe dlgnlLy and honor of Lhls poor and
hapless woman he sald

ae of depress|on

8evllla sald he wasn'L angry abouL Lhe acL buL on how kho decelved Lhe woman Laklng advanLage of Lhe LrusL
confldence and emoLlons of hls glrlfrlend so LhaL vldeo cllps of Lhe woman could be Laken and spread Lo Lhe
publlc

1hls he sald has deflnlLely rulned Lhe dlgnlLy and honor of Lhls poor and hapless woman 1he woman ls already
ln a sLaLe of depresslon and could no longer go ouL accordlng Lo Lhe senaLor

Ang lsang docLor ay kallangang maglng kagalanggalang sa kanyang pagkllos kallangang respeLuhln nlya ang
dangal ng lahaL aL LraLuhln nang may respeLo ang bawaL Lao A docLor should be respecLable ln all hls acLlons Pe
should also respecL Lhe dlgnlLy and LreaL oLher people wlLh respecL sald 8evllla Pe had waLched Lhe vldeo

Pe sald a docLor could elLher be reprlmanded suspended or have hls cerLlflcaLe revoked lf he would be found
gullLy of dlsplaylng lmmoral or dlshonorable conducL as prescrlbed under SecLlon 24 of 8epubllc AcL 2382

ln an earller lnLervlew wlLh SLarLalk Pallll admlLLed LhaL she was Lhe one on Lhe vldeo cllps danclng wlLh kho
She however sald LhaL she was noL aware LhaL kho was Laklng shoLs of whaL Lhey were dolng

ero 'dl ko alam na nagblvldeo vldeo po slya Plndl ko po alam na everyLlme na nagklklLa kaml may nakaseL up
pala na camera hlndl ko alam l dldn'L know LhaL he was Laklng vldeo l dldn'L know LhaL a camera was seL upo
every Llme we saw each oLher Pallll Lold SLarLalk

8evllla found an ally among kho's colleagues

|cense can be revoked

ur !alme Calvez 1an former PealLh secreLary sald kho's llcense could be revoked for moral LurplLude or a
conducL consldered conLrary Lo Lhe medlcal communlLy's sLandards of [usLlce honesLy or good morals

Any clLlzen who ls offended by Lhe vldeo could flle a complalnL dependlng on how conflagranL Lhe vldeo ls 1an
Lold CMAnews1v on 1uesday

lf hls llcense geLs canceled Lhe conLroverslal docLor wlll [oln Lhe rosLer of prevlous pracLlLloners who have shamed
Lhe professlon accordlng Lo 1an member of Lhe lnfluenLlal hlllpplne Medlcal AssoclaLlon (MA)

ln Lhe pasL Lhere was a docLor who losL hls llcense for molesLlng a paLlenL who was sLlll a mlnor' 1an added

8uL Lhe cancellaLlon of hls llcense could Lake Llme as Lhe MA would sLlll need Lo lnvesLlgaLe and hear Lhe case
Aslde from havlng hls llcense revoked 1an sald kho could be klcked ouL of Lhe MA or a medlcal organlzaLlon LhaL
he ls a member of

n he nouse oo

ln Lhe Pouse of 8epresenLaLlves aL leasL Lwo lawmakers bewalled kho's alleged sex vldeos

Cabrlela 8ep Llsa Maza sald LhaL once proven LhaL Lhe vldeo was Laken wlLhouL permlsslon Pallll could press
charges agalnsL Lhe docLor for vlolaLlon of her prlvacy

kung LoLoong hlndl nlya alam lf lL's Lrue LhaL Pallll was unaware she has Lhe rlghL Lo flle charges lL ls vlolaLlon of
her rlghLs deflnlLely lf she dld noL permlL Lhe dlsLrlbuLlon Maza sald

Maza sald she deflnlLely condemns such acL and Pallll has Lhe rlghL Lo geL angry

8uhay 8ep lrwln 1leng has flled Pouse 8lll 4313 whlch seeks Lo crlmlnallze Lhe recordlng of acLs LhaL vlolaLe
prlvacy musL be passed lmmedlaLely Lo prevenL Lhe spread of Lhe negaLlve effecL of such vldeos on chlldrens
morallLy

We deplore Lhe surfaclng ln Lhe lnLerneL of Lhe kaLrlna PallllPayden kho vldeo and Lhe buzz lL ls creaLlng ln Lhe
publlc lf Lhls goes on people wlll become [aded abouL Lhe spread of such scandalous vldeos and Lhey wlll no
longer be shocked by such maLLers 1leng sald

1hls wlll have a negaLlve effecL on chlldren especlally Leenagers who mlghL grow Lhlnklng LhaL lL ls perfecLly
alrlghL for Lhem Lo Lake vldeos of Lhelr prlvaLe sexual acLs and encounLers and posL Lhls on Lhe lnLerneL Lhe
lawmaker added

P8 4313 seeks Lo crlmlnallze Lhe recordlng of prlvaLe acL or acLs and oLher vlolaLlons of Lhe prlvacy of an
lndlvldual uslng moblle phones or vldeo cameras 1he blll also penallzes Lhe mere possesslon of such vldeo Lape
dlsc record and replay or share relay or exhlblL Lhe conLenLs Lhereof ln any form

under Lhe measure a penalLy of up Lo slx years lmprlsonmenL and a flne of up Lo 300000 may be lmposed for
Lhose lnvolved ln fllmlng sexual vldeos ,ark Ioseph Uba|de |e 8a|agas ee |a egasp| Iohanna Ca|||e
|sane G,-ews1V
'
The best advice to prevent such things Irom happening again is not to create/record such
materials. II you really want to create one, be prepared to guard it with your liIe. Same goes Ior
important documents such as contracts and proposals.