Subject-Verb Agreement

In general, subjects and verbs must agree in number. This means that a singular subject must
have a singular verb, and a plural subject must have a plural verb. Additionally, subjects and
verbs must agree in person (first, second, or third). See the table below to understand this
general idea.
Subject / Verb Agreement: Singular
Subjects

Subject / Verb Agreement: Plural

Subjects

I work

we work

you work

you work

she, he, it works

they work

When youre dealing with a simple subject like those in the table above, making the subjects
and verbs agree is straightforward. Some subjects, however, are not so simple. The following
guidelines will help you deal with these complex subjects and make them agree with verbs.
Please note: in each example, the subject is italicized and the verb is underlined.
When the subject of a sentence is two or more nouns or pronouns (either singular or plural)
connected by and, use a plural verb.

The table and couch look like they need work.

Jamie and her friends drive all the time.

When the subject of a sentence is two or more singular nouns or pronouns connected or or
nor, use a singular verb.

Sheila or Jenny will water my plants.

Neither the Ford nor the Pontiac is the car I want.

The verb should agree with the noun that is closer to the verb when the subject has both a
singular noun or pronoun and a plural noun or pronoun connected by or or nor.

The kitchen or the bedrooms need to be cleaned.

The bedrooms or the kitchen needs to be cleaned.

The following words are all singular and therefore require singular verbs: each, each one,
either, neither, everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody, somebody, someone, and no
one.

Each of these sweaters is black.

Nobody knows what happened to all the cake.

Everybody thinks they can sing really well.

In sentences that begin with there are or there is, pay attention to what follows there are or
there is. This element is what determines whether you use are or is. If the subject is plural,
you use are; if the subject is singular, you use is.

There are two cookies left.

There is one chance to make a first impression.

Some subjects imply more than one person, but are themselves singular. These are known as
collective nouns. Examples include group, team, committee, class, band, and family. Because
these words are singular, they require a singular verb.

The committee meets tomorrow.

My family is a little crazy.

Be careful not to be misled by phrases that come between the subject and verb. Always
remember that the verb should agree with the subject of the sentence, not with the noun(s) or
pronoun(s) in the phrase. Carefully identifying the subject of the sentence will help you avoid
this confusion.

One of the dogs runs really slowly.

The people who bring cake are always popular.

Subject-Verb Agreement Exercise

Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject.
1. Annie and her brothers (is, are) at school.
2. Either my mother or my father (is, are) coming to the meeting.
3. The dog or the cats (is, are) outside.
4. Either my shoes or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.
5. George and Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that movie.
6. Benito (doesn't, don't) know the answer.
7. One of my sisters (is, are) going on a trip to France.
8. The man with all the birds (live, lives) on my street.
9. The movie, including all the previews, (take, takes) about two hours to watch.
10. The players, as well as the captain, (want, wants) to win.
11. Either answer (is, are) acceptable.
12. Every one of those books (is, are) fiction.
13. Nobody (know, knows) the trouble I've seen.
14. (Is, Are) the news on at five or six?
15. Mathematics (is, are) John's favorite subject, while Civics (is, are) Andrea's favorite
subject.
16. Eight dollars (is, are) the price of a movie these days.

17. (Is, Are) the tweezers in this drawer?

18. Your pants (is, are) at the cleaner's.
19. There (was, were) fifteen candies in that bag. Now there (is, are) only one left!
20. The committee (debates, debate) these questions carefully.
21. The committee (leads, lead) very different lives in private.
22. The prime minister, together with his wife, (greets, greet) the press cordially.
23. All of the CDs, even the scratched one, (is, are) in this case.

Answers to Exercises
Subject-Verb Agreement Exercise
The correct verb is in italics.
1. Annie and her brothers are at school.
2. Either my mother or my father is coming to the meeting.
3. The dog or the cats are outside.
4. Either my shoes or your coat is always on the floor.
5. George and Tamara don't want to see that movie.
6. Benito doesn't know the answer.
7. One of my sisters is going on a trip to France.
8. The man with all the birds lives on my street.
9. The movie, including all the previews, takes about two hours to watch.
10. The players, as well as the captain, want to win.
11. Either answer is acceptable.
12. Every one of those books is fiction.
13. Nobody knows the trouble I've seen.
14. Is the news on at five or six?
15. Mathematics is John's favorite subject, while Civics is Andrea's favorite subject.
16. Eight dollars is the price of a movie these days.
17. Are the tweezers in this drawer?
18. Your pants are at the cleaner's.
19. There were fifteen candies in that bag. Now there is only one left!
20. The committee debates these questions carefully.
21. The committee lead very different lives in private.
22. The prime minister, together with his wife, greets the press cordially.
23. All of the CDs, even the scratched one, are in this case.

Subject-Verb Agreement
Basic Principle: Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs. My
brother is a nutritionist. My sisters are mathematicians.
See the section on Plurals for additional help with subject-verb agreement.
The indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always singular and,
therefore, require singular verbs.

Everyone has done his or her homework.

Somebody has left her purse.

Some indefinite pronouns such as all, some are singular or plural depending on what
they're referring to. (Is the thing referred to countable or not?) Be careful choosing a verb to
accompany such pronouns.

Some of the beads are missing.

Some of the water is gone.

On the other hand, there is one indefinite pronoun, none, that can be either singular or 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 as meaning not any and
will choose a plural verb, as in "None of the engines are working," but when something else
makes us regard none as meaning not one, we want a singular verb, as in "None of the food is
fresh.")

None of you claims responsibility for this incident?

None of you claim responsibility for this incident?

None of the students have done their homework. (In this last example, the word their
precludes the use of the singular verb.

Some indefinite pronouns are particularly troublesome Everyone and everybody (listed
above, also) certainly feel like more than one person and, therefore, students are sometimes
tempted to use a plural verb with them. They are always singular, though. Each is often
followed by a prepositional phrase ending in a plural word (Each of the cars), thus confusing
the verb choice. Each, too, is always singular and requires a singular verb.
Everyone has finished his or her homework.
You would always say, "Everybody is here." This means that the word is singular and nothing
will change that.
Each of the students is responsible for doing his or her work in the library.
Don't let the word "students" confuse you; the subject is each and each is always singular
Each 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 modify the earlier word (mayor in this case), but it
does not compound the subjects (as the word and would do).

The mayor as well as his brothers is going to prison.

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 referring, in a sense, to two things.

Neither of the two traffic lights is working.

Which shirt do you want for Christmas?

Either is fine with me.

In informal writing, neither and either sometimes take a plural verb when these pronouns are
followed by a prepositional 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 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 of the verb. Whether the subject comes before or after the
verb doesn't matter; the proximity determines the number.

Either my father or my brothers are going to sell the house.

Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house.

Are either my brothers or my father responsible?

Is either my father or my brothers responsible?

Because a sentence like "Neither my brothers nor my father 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.

There are two reasons [plural subject] for this.

There is no reason for this.

Here are two apples.

With these constructions (called expletive constructions), the subject follows the verb but still
determines the number of the verb.
Verbs in the present tense for third-person, singular subjects (he, she, it and anything those
words can stand for) have s-endings. Other verbs do not add s-endings.
He loves and she loves and they love_ and . . . .
Sometimes modifiers will get betwen a subject and its verb, but these modifiers must not
confuse the agreement between the subject and its verb.
The mayor, who has been convicted along with his four brothers on four
counts of various crimes but who also seems, like a cat, to have several
political lives, is finally going to jail.
Sometimes nouns take weird forms and can fool 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 Collective Nouns for 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 of (in which case the word pair becomes the subject).

My glasses were on the bed.

My pants were torn.

A pair of plaid trousers is in the closet.

Some words end in -s and appear to be plural but are really singular and require singular
verbs.

The news from the front is bad.

Measles is a dangerous disease for pregnant women.

On the other hand, some words ending in -s refer to a single thing but are nonetheless plural
and require a plural verb.

My assets were wiped out in the depression.

The average worker's earnings have gone up dramatically.

Our thanks go to the workers who supported the union.

The names of 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 for help with this problem.
Fractional expressions such as half of, a part of, a percentage of, a majority of are sometimes
singular and sometimes plural, depending on the meaning. (The same is true, of course, when
all, any, more, most and some act as subjects.) Sums and products of 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."

Some of the voters are still angry.

A large percentage of the older population is voting against her.

Two-fifths of the troops were lost in the battle.

Two-fifths of the vineyard was destroyed by fire.

Forty percent of the students are in favor of changing the policy.

Forty percent of the student body is in favor of changing the policy.

Two and two is four.

Four times four divided by two is eight.

If your sentence compounds a positive and a negative subject and one is plural, the other
singular, the verb should agree with the positive subject.

The department members but not the chair have decided not to teach on
Valentine's Day.

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.

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT:
Additional Practice 2
1. Dr. Ferndon is one of those professors who ___________ distracted most of the
time.
SEEM

SEEMS

2. ___________ either Luis or his parents written to Angela?

HAVE

HAS

3. Neither Luis nor his parents ___________ the least bit interested in keeping in
touch with her.
IS

ARE

4. Everybody on this team ___________ really hard to please the new coach.
TRY

TRIES

5. Because there ___________ so many students in that class, I can sometimes

sleep in the back row.
ARE

IS

6. Neither traffic light--neither the one on Asylum Avenue nor the one on
Farmington Avenue-- ___________ working after the storm.
WAS

WERE

7. Mr. Bradley, along with his two sisters, ___________ lived in this town for thirty
years.
HAVE

HAS

8. There ___________ no reasons for this horrible development that I can see.

IS

ARE

9. Some of the water ___________ already gone bad.

HAVE

HAS

10. One of these students ___________ obviously cheated on the exam.

HAVE

HAS

11. Either the UConn Women's Team or the UConn Men's Team ___________
going to be national champion this year.
ARE

IS

12. Carlos and his brother Raoul ___________ traveling across the country next
summer.
IS

ARE

13. Several of the students ___________ decided to withdraw from the course.
HAVE

HAS

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT:
Additional Practice 1
1. The piano as well as the pipe organ ____________ to be tuned for the big
concert.
HAS

HAVE

2. The mayor together with his two brothers ____________ going to be indicted
for accepting bribes.
ARE

IS

3. Neither of my two suitcases ____________ adequate for this trip.

IS

ARE

4. There ____________ a list of committee members on the head-table.

ARE

IS

5. Everybody in the class ____________ done the homework well in advance.

HAS

HAVE

6. The jury ____________ their seats in the courtroom.

TAKE

TAKES

7. Neither the teacher nor the students ____________ to understand this

assignment.
SEEM

SEEMS

8. ____________ either my father or my brothers made a down-payment on the

house?
HAS

HAVE

9. Hartford is one of those cities that ____________ working hard to reclaim a

riverfront.
HINT: Try starting the sentence with "Of those cities that . . . ."

IS

ARE

10. Some of the grain ____________ gone bad.

HAVE

HAS

11. John or his brother ____________ going to be responsible for this.

ARE

IS

12. A few of the students ____________ doing so well they can skip the next
course.
ARE

IS

13. Either the Committee on Course Design or the Committee on College

Operations ____________ these matters.
DECIDE

DECIDES

14. One of my instructors ____________ written a letter of recommendation for

me.
HAVE

HAS

Practice sentences:
1. One of the students ( is/are ) studying algebra.
2. The exhibit of the artists paintings ( was/were ) very interesting.
3. Mrs. Andrews, along with, Mr. Stone, ( do/does ) volunteer work.
4. All of the salesmen, including Mr. Stone, ( was/were ) at the meeting.
5. Every one of the girls ( do/does ) her shorthand homework.
6. Either Julia or her friends ( is/are ) planning to attend.
7. Both of the carpenters ( is/are ) planning to do the job.
8. Neither the students nor the instructor ( want/wants ) to miss class.
9. The women, as well as the men ( sing/sings ) beautifully.
10. Most of the nurses ( work/works ) every day.

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT

Exercise 1
: In each of the following sentences, two verbs are written in parentheses.
First locate and
underline the subject. Then circle the one that agrees with the subject.
Example

: Cherry trees (lines, line ) the Potomac.

1. An electric computer (solves, solve) difficult problems quickly.
2. Many colleges (has, have) computers.
3. Over one hundred thousand forest fires (is, are) reported each year.
4. Sometimes lightning (causes, cause) fires.
5. Careless people (is, are) often at fault.
6. Forest rangers (says, say) that we can prevent forest fires.
7. Some Polynesian divers (descends, descend) al
most forty-five feet without special equipment.
8. The owl's eyes (makes, make) it look wise.
9. Actually, the owl (sees, see) poorly during the day.
10. Every year scientists (discovers, discover) new drugs to fight diseases.

PROBLEMS IN AGREEMENT
In the previous exercise, it was easy to make the subjects and verbs agree
because the verbs followed their subjects closely and the number of the
subject was clear. However, a phrase may come between the subject and
verb, creating an agreement problem, or the subject may be a pronoun, the
number of which is hard to determine.
A. Phrases between subject and verb
I. Sometimes a prepositional phrasecomes between the subject and verb in
a sentence.
Remember- the subject is not in the prepositional phrase. Therefore, put ( )
around the prepositional phrase. Then locate the subject and agree the verb
with the subject.
Examples
: The special effects (in the movie) were particularly original.
The lights (in the stadium) have been dimmed.
Exercise
1. The girls from John Carroll (is, are) arriving early for class.
2. The heads of state (arrive, arrives) for the conference.

3. The bag of golf balls (is, are) for practice.

4. The boxes of chalk (is, are) at the chalkboard.
5. A shipment of clothing (is, are) expected soon.
6. A little practice in the evenings (help, helps) us play better.
7. The little baby with the dimples (slide, slides) down the bank.
8. The problems with Bobby (has, have) to be solved.
9. A package from my daughters (was, were) left on the doorstep.
10. The courses in college (require, requires) a lot of studying.

Exercise 1:
Follow the basic directions. Also use the straight line to separate the or,
nor
subjects.
1. Either a loan or a scholarship (is, are) available to selected applicants.
2. A desk or a bookcase (goes, go) into that corner.
3. Neither sheets nor towels (is, are) furnished at camp.
4. (Has, Have) the books or other supplies come?
5. A vocabulary notebook or vocabulary flas
hcards (is, are) helpful for review.
6. Either the clock on the town hall or my watch (is, are) wrong.
7. Another boy or girl (takes, take) the part of the narrator.
8. A map or a guidebook (has, have) been my constant companion in this
city.
9. Enthusiasm for the proposal or excitement about it (is, are) not the same
as solid support.
10. A course in ceramics or a course in woodworking (is, are)
recommended.

1. Joe and Jim (have, has) been friends for a long time. They (is, are)
neighbors and (play, plays) in a band.
2. Neither Jan nor I (were, was) able to attend the meeting. We (were, was)
sorry we had to miss it.
3. Each of the barrels (is, are) full. Each one (need, needs) to be inspected.
They (is, are) from Italy.
4. There (has, have) been two tornadoes near here this year. They (frighten,
frightens) me.
5. The stories in this book (doesn't, don't) interest me, but my wife and son
(enjoy, enjoys) them.
6. The nurse or the secretary (come, comes) in on Saturday. Much work
(needs, need) to be done.
7. One of those sentences (don't, doesn't) make sense to me, but my
classmates (weren't, wasn't)
confused by it.
8. None of the tests (has, have) been graded, but all of the homework (has,
have) been checked.
9. Anyone who (want, wants) to try out (need, needs) to make an
appointment.
10. The doctor and her husband (take, takes) a trip to Mexico each year.

11. This class, together with math and biology, (keep, keeps) me extremely
busy.
12. Here (come, comes) the meanest kids on the block. Why (do, does)
they act so bad?
13. Every one of the shoes (seems, seem) to need a shine. Neither of us
(was, were) ready to do it though.
14. Jason, Timothy, Sandra, or I (am, are) responsible for closing the store
on the weekend.
15. Forty dollars (seem, seems) too high a price. There (has, have) to be
better bargains somewhere in town.