F. Subject-Verb Agreement
What is Subject-Verb Agreement?
Subject-verb agreement errors are common, and correcting them will do a lot to improve the writer’s professional or academic credibility and make a good impression on readers.
To correct such an error, we first need to identify the subject and verb. Every complete sentence, and indeed every complete thought, has a subject and a verb at its heart.
Agreement in writing refers to a consistent grammatical match between words. Subject-verb agreement describes the match between subjects and verbs. Because subjects and verbs are either singular or plural, the subject of a sentence and the verb of a sentence must agree with each other in number. That is, a singular subject belongs with a singular verb form, and a plural subject belongs with a plural verb form. In the examples below, the singular verb jumps is used with the singular subject cat, while the plural jump goes with plural subject cats.
- Singular: The cat jumps over the fence.
- Plural: The cats jump over the fence.
Regular verbs follow a predictable pattern. For example, in the third person singular, regular verbs always end in -s. Other forms of regular verbs do not end in -s.
| Person | Singular Form | Plural Form |
|---|---|---|
| First Person (“I”) | I do. | We do. |
| Second Person (“you”) | You do. | You do. |
| Third Person (“she,” “he,” singular “they” or “it”) | He/She/They/It does. | They do. |
A note on singular they
They and their can now be used to refer to a single person whose gender is unknown or to a person who identifies as nonbinary, as in “A teacher should consider their students’ responses. They should ask for student feedback.” However, it is still considered awkward to use the singular they directly with a singular verb. So when referring to a single teacher, instead of the awkward, “They has a duty to find out whether students are learning from their teaching,” we could write, “They have a duty…” See the Oxford English Dictionary’s “A Brief History of Singular They.”
Exercise 1: Complete the following sentences with the correct present tense form of be, have, or do.
- I ________ sure that you will succeed.
- They ________ front-row tickets to the show.
- He ________ a great Elvis impersonation.
- We ________ so excited to meet you in person!
- She ________ a fever and a sore throat.
- You ________ not know what you are talking about.
- You ________ all going to pass this class.
- She ________ not going to like that.
- It ________ appear to be the right size.
- They ________ ready to take this job seriously.
Types of subject-verb agreement errors
Errors in subject-verb agreement frequently occur when
- a sentence contains a compound subject;
- the subject of the sentence is separate from the verb;
- the subject of the sentence is an indefinite pronoun, such as anyone or everyone;
- the subject of the sentence is a collective noun, such as team or organization;
- the subject appears after the verb.
Compound subjects
A compound subject is formed by two or more nouns and the coordinating conjunctions and, or, or nor. A compound subject can be made of singular subjects, plural subjects, or a combination of singular and plural subjects.
Compound subjects combined with and take a plural verb form. In the sentences below, the compound subjects are in bold.
| Subject type | Sample sentence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Two singular subjects | Alicia and Miguel ride their bikes to the beach. | Alicia and Miguel are the singular subjects, which combine to form a plural compound subject, and ride is the plural verb. |
| Two plural subjects | The girls and the boys ride their bikes to the beach. | Girls and boys are the plural subjects, which combine to form a plural compound subject, and ride is the plural verb. |
| Singular and plural subjects | Alicia and the boys ride their bikes to the beach. | Alicia is a singular subject, boys is a plural subject; they combine to form a plural compound subject, and ride is the plural verb. |
Compound subjects combined with or and nor are treated separately. The verb must agree with the subject that is nearest to the verb.
| Subject type | Sample sentence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Two singular subjects | Neither Elizabeth nor Rianna wants to eat at that restaurant. | Rianna is the singular subject closest to the verb, so the verb wants is in singular form. The other singular subject, Elizabeth, does not affect the verb form. |
| Two plural subjects | Neither the kids nor the adults want to eat at that restaurant. | Adults is the plural subject closest to the verb, so the verb want is in plural form. The other subject, kids, is plural but does not affect the verb form. |
| Singular and plural subjects | Neither Elizabeth nor the kids want to eat at that restaurant. | Kids is the plural subject closest to the verb, so the verb want is in plural form. The other subject, Elizabeth, is singular but does not affect the verb form. |
| Plural and singular subjects | Neither the kids nor Elizabeth wants to eat at that restaurant. | Elizabeth is the singular subject closest to the verb, so the verb wants is in singular form. The other subject, kids, is plural but does not affect the verb form. |
| Two singular subjects | Either Adauto or Jason takes the furniture out of the garage. | Jason is the singular subject closest to the verb, so the verb takes is in singular form. The other subject, Adauto, is singular but does not affect the verb form. |
| Two plural subjects | Either you two or the twins take the furniture out of the garage. | Twins is the plural subject closest to the verb, so the verb take is in plural form. The other subject, you two, is plural but does not affect the verb form. |
| Singular and plural subjects | Either Jason or the twins take the furniture out of the garage. | Twins is the plural subject closest to the verb, so the verb take is in plural form. The other subject, Jason, is singular but does not affect the verb form. |
| Plural and singular subjects | Either the twins or Jason takes the furniture out of the garage. | Jason is the singular subject closest to the verb, so the verb takes is in singular form. The other subject, twins, is plural but does not affect the verb form. |
Tip
If you can substitute the word they for the compound subject, then the sentence takes the third person plural verb form.
Separation of subjects and verbs
Sometimes, a phrase or clause separates the subject from the verb. Often, prepositional phrases or dependent clauses add more information to the sentence and appear between the subject and the verb. These words in between subject and verb may distract the writer and lead them to a subject-verb agreement error.
One way to find the main subject and verb, in this case, is to cross out or ignore the phrases and clauses that begin with prepositions or dependent words. The subject of a sentence will never be in a prepositional phrase or dependent clause.
The following sentences each show a subject and verb separated by a prepositional phrase:
Example 1
- The students with the best grades win the academic awards. (Students is the subject and win is the verb.)
- The puppy under the table is my favorite. (Puppy is the subject and is is the verb.)
Tip
Be aware that automatic grammar assistants in Google Docs and MS Word will sometimes incorrectly advise writers to make a verb singular or plural based on the last word of a prepositional phrase that appears between the subject and verb. Imagine you type the following sentence into your essay, and the grammar assistant advises you to change “wins” to “win”:
- The student with the best grades wins the academic award.
The software is inaccurately identifying the noun closest to the verb as the subject. Some writers do not feel confident enough to “argue with the computer,” but you can easily identify the subject by asking, “Who or what performs the verb?” In this case, “Who or what wins?” You might go to grades right away, as it logically makes sense that the grades that are best win. However, since there are a bunch of words in front of grades, just check to see if there is a prepositional phrase. In this case, “with the best grades” describes the student, so the verb wins is correct.
For more information on prepositional phrases, see section “B. Sentences” in this book.
The following is an example of a subject and verb separated by a dependent clause:
Example 2
- The car that I bought has power steering and a sunroof. (Car is the subject and has is the verb.)
- The representatives who are courteous sell the most tickets. (Representatives is the subject and sell is the verb.)
For more information on dependent clauses, see sections “A. Grammar Overview,” “D. Commas,” and “G. Coordination and Subordination” in this book.
Indefinite pronouns
Indefinite pronouns such as anybody, each, or all refer to an unspecified person, thing, or number. When an indefinite pronoun serves as the subject of a sentence, you will often use a singular verb form.
However, keep in mind that exceptions arise. Some indefinite pronouns may require a plural verb form. To determine whether to use a singular or plural verb with an indefinite pronoun, consider the noun that the pronoun would refer to. If the noun is plural, then use a plural verb with the indefinite pronoun.
| Indefinite Pronouns That Always Take a Singular Verb | Indefinite Pronouns That Can Take a Singular or Plural Verb |
|---|---|
| anybody, anyone, anything | All |
| each | Any |
| everybody, everyone, everything | None |
| much | Some |
| many | |
| nobody, no one, nothing | |
| somebody, someone, something |
| Sample sentence with the indefinite pronoun in bold and the verb in italics | Why the indefinite pronoun is plural or singular in this case |
|---|---|
| Singular: Everybody in the kitchen sings along when that song comes on the radio. | The indefinite pronoun everybody takes a singular verb form, sings, because everybody refers to a group performing the same action as a single unit. |
| Plural: All the people in the kitchen sing along when that song comes on the radio. | The indefinite pronoun all takes a plural verb form, sing, because all refers to the plural noun people. Because people is plural, all is plural. |
| Singular: All the cake is on the floor. | In this sentence, the indefinite pronoun all takes a singular verb form, is, because all refers to the singular noun cake. Because cake is singular, all is singular. |
Collective nouns
A collective noun, such as family or group, is a noun that identifies more than one person, place, or thing and considers those people, places, or things one singular unit. Because collective nouns are counted as one, they are singular and require a singular verb. Some commonly used collective nouns are group, team, army, flock, family, and class, as in the following example.
- Singular: The class is going on a field trip. (Class is the subject and is is the verb.)
In this sentence, class is a collective noun. Although the class consists of many students, the class is treated as a singular unit and requires a singular verb form, is.
The subject follows the verb
In some sentences, the subject comes after the verb instead of before the verb. This may lead to a subject-verb agreement error because the writer may not recognize the subject and form the verb accordingly. The most common such sentences begin with here or there, as in the following examples.
- Here is my wallet! (Wallet is the subject and is is the verb.)
- There are thirty dolphins in the water. (Dolphins is the subject and are is the verb.)
One way to identify the subject and verb is by reversing the order of the sentence so the subject comes first, as we demonstrate below.
- “Here is my wallet!” becomes “My wallet is here.” (Wallet is the subject and is is the verb.)
- “There are thirty dolphins in the water” becomes “Thirty dolphins are in the water.” (Dolphins is the subject and are is the verb.)
Exercise 4: Which of the following sentences have errors in subject-verb agreement? Correct any errors you find.
- My dog and cats chases each other all the time.
- The books that are in my library is the best I have ever read.
- Everyone are going to the concert except me.
- My family are moving to California.
- Here is the lake I told you about.
- There is the newspapers I was supposed to deliver.
- Which room is bigger?
- When are the movie going to start?
- My sister and brother cleans up after themselves.
- Some of the clothes is packed away in the attic.
