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Writers' Guide>
Agreement of Subject and Verb
The subject of a sentence must agree with its verb – a singular subject requires a singular verb, and plural subjects require plural verbs.
(Note that the singular verb in the third person usually ends in s; the first and second persons singular and all plural verbs usually do not. Example: He/She/It [singular] sits, goes, walks, does, but I/you/we/they sit, go, walk, do.)
Two ways one can make an error with this rule are by: (1) not correctly identifying what the subject of the verb is or (2) making a mistake about whether the subject is singular or plural. The pointers below are designed to help you recognize some of the pitfalls. (In the sample sentences, the subject is underlined and in green; its verb is italics and maroon.)
n Do not let intervening words make you "lose" the real subject.
The timing of the protests about the new regulations was poorly planned.
Over the years the bonus that my company awards to employees has increased.
n Remember that compound subjects are plural.
Our car and our house cost a lot to maintain.
Aunt Mary and Uncle John live in Nebraska.
Exception: Sometimes two words or phrases connected by and are treated as a single thought, as in "Research and development is essential before developing a new product."
A particularly confusing point here - Expressions such as along with, as well as, in addition to, accompanied by, together with, including, no less than, and not to mention do not, as a rule, change the grammatical number of the subject. This principle applies even when such expressions are not set off by commas:
Unemployment as well as taxes influences voters.
A car's performance, together with its price, affects the decision to purchase
n Note that, with correlatives (or, nor, either/or, and neither/nor), the verb agrees with the noun nearer to it.
Neither the teacher nor the students were impressed by the lecture.
Neither the students nor the teacher was impressed by the lecture.
Mr. Grant or his secretary always answers letters from clients.
Either the instructions or some vital part is always missing from do-it-yourself kits.
NOTE: The word neither by itself (not in a correlative) has a singular sense: "Neither of my parents looks like me."
n Don't let inverted word order (when the subject follows the verb) throw you off.
Hardest hit by the drought in Idaho were the farmers.
In the valley between the mountains lives a creature called Bigfoot.
There are several reasons for learning the rules.
n Don't let an intervening who, which, or that clause throw you off.
A person who lacks skills often experiences difficulty finding a job.
The oranges that I bought at the supermarket were delicious.
Our attic, which was infested with termites, needs a new floor.
n Remember that each, every, one, nobody, no one, everybody, everyone, and anyone are singular.
Someone who follows the rules of grammar communicates better.
Each of the candidates proposes a different agenda.
If profits are good, everybody in the company gets a nice bonus.
Every Tom, Dick, and Harry has a different opinion.
n Note that words designating apportionment are singular or plural, depending on their context (how they are used). Such words include all, any, most, none, some, majority, minority, and all percentages and fractions.
All or most or one-half (etc.) of a singular item is singular, and all or most or one-half (etc.) of a plural item is plural.
Three-fourths of the book is in Greek, and one-half of the pages are upside down.
All of his childhood was spent in the woods, so some of his habits are peculiar.
The majority [of the people] believe that the Republicans will win the next election. (The word majority is plural in this context even if "of the people" is only implied.)
Note that one is singluar - no matter what (it's about as singular as anything can be): Only one out of ten people knows this rule.
n Note that a number is always plural, and the number is always singular.
The number of people attending the concert was astounding.
A number of people attending the concert were stoned.
n Remember that collective nouns are treated as plural if the members of the group act separately and are treated as singular if the group acts as a unit.
The jury has reached a verdict.
The jury are arguing about the evidence.
note: When items such as sums of money or periods of time are taken as a unit, they are treated as singular - "Fifty dollars is too much to pay" "Seven months is too long to wait."
n Beware of nouns that look plural but are actually singular.
News about a presidential candidate's love affairs travels fast.
Physics was never easy for me.
Some nouns can be either singular or plural, depending upon meaning. Examples include: statistics, series, communications, acoustics, deer, sheep. Statistics is an interesting subject, but statistics are often misleading.
n Do not let the complement of a linking verb influence the verb.
John's problem is his parents. (The word parents does not affect the verb.)
John's parents are his problem.
n Recognize when an entire phrase acts as the (usually singular) subject of the sentence.
Collecting matchbook covers is a boring hobby.
To experience life without some disappointments is impossible.
n Learn to recognize the singular and plural of Latin nouns.
Some common ones are: medium /media; crisis/crises; criterion/criteria; datum/data; phenomenon/phenomena; alumnus/alumni (male); alumna/alumnae (female).
The media expect the election to be close.
Our data indicate that your company should do well.
A criterion for getting a good job is having a good education.
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