Subject-Verb Agreement: Rules, Examples and Common Errors

Subject-verb agreement means that the verb must match its subject in number: a singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb. The rule sounds simple, but tricky subjects such as “each”, “neither … nor” or “the number of” cause many errors. Lok Sewa papers test this topic through error spotting and fill-in-the-blanks, so learn the rules below with their examples.

1. The basic rule

In the present simple, a third person singular subject (he, she, it, Ram, the farmer) takes a verb ending in s/es, while a plural subject takes the base form. With the verb be, use is/was for singular and are/were for plural. The helping verbs has/does are singular; have/do are plural.

Remember that the s on a verb shows singular, while the s on a noun usually shows plural. “The girl sings” (one girl) but “The girls sing” (more than one).

The pronouns I and you never take the s/es form, even when they mean one person: “I go”, “I have”, “You go”, “You have”. With be, the forms are special: I am, I was and you are, you were. So “I is”, “I has” and “you was” are always wrong.

2. Subjects joined by “and”, “or” and “nor”

• Two subjects joined by and usually take a plural verb: “Ram and Sita are cousins.”
• When two nouns joined by and refer to one person or thing, the verb is singular. Notice that the article is used only once: “The poet and singer is coming today” (one person). Fixed pairs seen as one idea also take a singular verb: “Bread and butter is Ram’s usual breakfast” (one dish).
• With either … or, neither … nor, or and nor, the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it: “Either the teacher or the students are responsible.” “Neither the students nor the teacher is responsible.”
• Words like as well as, along with, together with, with, besides and in addition to do not join subjects. The verb agrees with the first subject: “The minister, as well as his secretaries, was present.”

3. Each, every, either, neither and indefinite pronouns

• Each, every, either and neither take a singular verb: “Each of the players has a number.” “Every man and woman has the right to vote.”
• Many a is followed by a singular noun and a singular verb: “Many a student has failed this paper.”
• Indefinite pronouns such as everyone, everybody, someone, somebody, anyone, nobody, no one, nothing and everything take a singular verb: “Everybody likes the new principal.” “Nobody was absent.”

4. Collective nouns

A collective noun names a group: team, committee, family, class, army, jury, audience.

• When the group acts as one unit, use a singular verb: “The committee has taken its decision.” “Our team is strong this year.”
• In British usage, when the members act separately or disagree, a plural verb may be used: “The jury are divided in their opinions.”

Some group nouns are always plural: police, people, cattle. “The police are searching for the thief.” “Cattle are grazing near the river.”

5. Uncountable nouns and nouns ending in -s

Uncountable nouns have no plural form and take a singular verb: information, advice, furniture, luggage, equipment, news, scenery, machinery.

• “The information is correct.” (not informations)
• “All the furniture was sold.” (not furnitures)
• “The news is good.” (news looks plural but is singular)

Subjects such as mathematics, physics, economics and the name of the disease measles end in s but take a singular verb: “Mathematics is my favourite subject.”

Some nouns are always plural because they name things made of two parts: trousers, scissors, spectacles, jeans. “These scissors are sharp.” But “A pair of scissors is on the table” because the subject is “a pair”.

6. Special phrases

There is / There are: the real subject comes after the verb, so the verb agrees with that noun.

• “There is a temple on the hill.”
• “There are many temples in Bhaktapur.”

One of the + plural noun takes a singular verb, because the subject is “one”:

• “One of my friends lives in Janakpur.”

A number of means “many” and takes a plural verb; the number of means “the total” and takes a singular verb:

• “A number of tourists visit Pokhara every autumn.”
• “The number of tourists has increased this year.”

Words between subject and verb do not change the agreement. Find the true subject first:

• “The box of mangoes is heavy.” (subject: box)
• “The price of vegetables has gone up.” (subject: price)
• “The books on the shelf are new.” (subject: books)

7. Titles, amounts and distances

• The title of a book, film or poem is singular, even if it looks plural: “Muna Madan is a famous poem by Laxmi Prasad Devkota.”
• An amount of money, time, distance or weight seen as one total takes a singular verb: “Ten thousand rupees is a big sum for a student.” “Five kilometres is a long walk for a child.” “Two hours is enough for this test.”

8. Common errors and corrections