Subject Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb Agreement Definition

When forming grammatically correct sentences, it is essential that the subject of the sentence 'agrees' with the verb. This means...

• Singular subjects (e.g., he, she, it, Beyonce) agree with singular verbs/verb forms, e.g., "She is happy."

• Plural subjects (e.g., we, they, Beyonce and Jay Z) agree with plural verbs/verb forms. e.g., "They are happy."

Before we go any further, let's look at some quick definitions for the terms subject and verb.

So, now we have a basic idea of how subject-verb agreement works, let's take another look at the previous incorrect sentences from the beginning of the explanation and how they should look.

"They are at the shopping mall."

"The coffee or the tea is on the shelf."

"One of the shops is open."

The first example is easy to understand; however, the other two sentences might be a little more confusing. Don't worry, we're about to cover all the rules to ensure the subjects and verbs agree in your sentences.

Subject-Verb Agreement Rules

Here are the main rules to help you decide if you should use a singular or plural verb to ensure your sentences have a correct subject-verb agreement.

For reference, here are some examples of singular and plural verbs:

• Singular verbs include the auxiliary verbs is, was, and has. As well as main verbs + '-s', e.g., likes, walks, runs, and jumps.

• Plural verbs include the auxiliary verbs are, were, and have. As well as main verbs without an '-s', e.g., like, walk, run, jump.

Singular Subjects and Plural Subjects

1. When the sentence's subject is singular, use a singular verb.

2. When the sentence's subject is plural, use a plural verb.

Notice how the verb changes depending on the number of people we talk about?

Multiple Subjects

3. When the sentence's subject is two or more singular nouns joined by the conjunction 'and,' use a plural verb.

4. When the subject is two or more singular nouns joined by the conjunctions 'or/nor', use a singular verb.

Compound Subjects

5. When a sentence contains a compound subject (multiple subjects, including singular and plural) joined by or/nor/also, the verb should agree with the subject closest to it.

Phrases between subject and verb

6. It's easy to be misled by phrases that fall between the subject and verb. To avoid confusion and mistakes, highlight the sentence's subject and verb and simply 'ignore' everything in between.

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that don't refer to anything specific, such as anything, something, each, either, neither, someone, somebody, anybody, etc. Indefinite pronouns are usually treated as a singular subject and require a singular verb.

Quantifiers and Countable/Uncountable Nouns

When the subject contains a quantifier, e.g., some, many, any, all, the verb can be either singular or plural depending on whether the subject is countable or uncountable. Countable subjects are considered plural and uncountable subjects are singular.

Collective Nouns

Sometimes we use a singular collective noun to refer to a group of people, animals, or things—for example, team, family, crew, staff, and herd. When using collective nouns, the verb should be singular.

Subject-Verb Agreement Errors

Subject-verb agreement errors usually occur when the sentence uses a plural form of the verb instead of the singular, and vice-versa.

Let's look at some of the most common errors and how to avoid them.

• Use the plural verb form when using the singular pronouns I and You.

• Use the singular verb form when subjects are joined with Or/Nor.

• Use the singular verb form for collective nouns

• Pay attention to the countable and uncountable nouns, rather than the modifiers. Uncountable nouns agree with singular verb forms.

• Pair indefinite pronouns (e.g., anyone) with singular verb forms.

Subject-Verb Agreement Examples

Let's now look at some correct and incorrect examples of subject-verb agreement in sentences based on the most-common mistakes.

Subject-Verb Agreement Chart

Here is a helpful chart highlighting the main things to remember when creating sentences with correct subject-verb agreement.