Agreement between subject and verb
Subject-verb agreement - one of the most important grammar points, often appears in multiple-choice tests and can be applied in IELTS.
1. General rules:
The subject is a singular or uncountable noun with a singular verb and a plural subject with a plural verb.
However, sometimes the subject also harmonizes with the verb depending on the idea expressed or the noun/pronoun comes first according to certain rules. Here are some basic rules about the agreement between subject and verb.
2. When two nouns are connected by "and", the verb is plural
For example:
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My sister and I like listening to classical music.
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Karen and Lisa go to school together every morning.
Note: If the two nouns before and after “and” refer to the same individual, we use a singular verb. (There are some things that take on 2 roles, 2 definitions,...); For Addition, a singular verb is also used.
For example:
- The professor and businessman are working in New York.
→ Professor and businessman here are two different people.
- The professor and businessman is working in New York.
→ 1 person but plays 2 roles
- Two and three is five. (2 + 3 = 5)
“Each, Every, Many a…. ” goes with singular verbs
Since these words are translated as “each,” it is not surprising that the noun after them is singular.
For example:
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Each person is allowed 20kg of luggage.
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Every student is told about the changes of the timetable.
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Many a politician has promised to make changes.
To infinitive/Ving” goes with singular verbs
For example:
- To jog/ Jogging every day is good for you.
Noun clauses take singular verbs
Noun clauses starting with Wh- or That are considered a subject, so the verb will be singular.
For example:
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What you have said is not true.
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That trees lose their leaves is a sign of fall.
Movie/book/newspaper titles always take singular verbs
For example:
- “Tom and Jerry” is my son’s favorite cartoon.
Nouns ending in “s” but but take singular verbs
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Subject name noun: Physics, Mathematics, Economics, Linguistics, Politics, Genetics, Phonetics, ...
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Sport name noun: Athletics, Billiards, Checkers, Darts, Dominoes…
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Noun names of diseases: Measles, Mumps, Diabetes, Rabies, Shingles, Rickets….
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Noun phrases indicating size and measurement: Two pounds is….
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Noun phrases indicating distance: Ten miles is….
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Noun phrases of time: Ten years is …
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Noun phrases indicating amounts of money: Ten dollars is….
- Noun phrases that name some countries and cities: The United States, the Philippines, Wales, Marseilles, Brussels, Athens, Paris….
All of the above words have "s" but do not indicate plural but are simply proper names, so the verbs take the singular form.
For example:
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5 minutes is too little for me to finish the task.
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Phonetics is probably the most challenging course to me.
Nouns that do not end in "s" but are plural take a plural verb
Some plural nouns do not have “s” at the end but are changed into other words. In this case, we still use plural verbs: People, cattle, police, army, children, women, men, teeth, feet,…
For example:
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My feet are weary after a long day.
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The children are playing with their new toys.
The + adj = N (people) plural verb
For example:
- There are more of the poor than the rich.
Two nouns are connected by the structure: “either … or, neither… nor, not only….. but also”, the verb divides according to the subject closest to the verb.
For example:
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Neither she nor her children were inherited from the will.
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Either they or their son is not allowed to come in.
- Not only she but also her friends are going to the cinema.
Nouns connected by: as well as, with, together with, along with, accompanying by conjugate the verb according to the noun before it.
For example:
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She, as well as I, is going to university this year.
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Mrs. Smith together with her sons is away for holiday.
Two nouns joined by “of”
Two nouns connected by "of" are divided according to the noun in front, but if the noun in front is "some, all, most, majority, enough, minority, half, fraction, percent".... then it must be divided according to the noun that follows.
For example:
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The study of how living things work is called philosophy.
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Some of the students are late for class. (See before the word "of" meets "some", so dividing according to the word after is students)
- Most of the water is polluted, (the front is most so it is divided according to the main noun followed by water)
Note: If the above words stand alone, you must think about which noun it represents. If the noun is countable, use the plural, otherwise use the singular.
For example:
- The majority think that... → we infer that to "think" one must be "human". So this sentence means “the majority People think that…"
“A number of” và “The number of”
A number of + N (plural) goes with plural verbs; And The number of + N (plural) + singular verb
For example:
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A number of students are going to the class picnic.
- The number of days in a week is seven.
Some nouns refer to collections
Include words like: “family, staff, team, group, congress, crowd, committee …”If you refer to the actions of each member, use a plural verb; if you refer to the nature of the group as a unit, use a singular verb.
For example:
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The family are having breakfast.
- The family is very conservative.
In the structure with "there", we conjugate the verb according to the noun closest to the verb.
For example:
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There is a book on the table. (divided by “a book”)
- There are two books on the table. (divided by “books”)
Note: There is a book and two pens on the table. (still divided by "a book" because it is closer to the verb "is")
For possessive pronouns, conjugate the verb according to the noun mentioned before.
When encountering possessive pronouns such as mine, his, hers, yours; ours, theirs, we have to see whether something of those person(s) / things is singular or plural.
For example:
- Lend me your scissors. Mine … very rusty.→ We infer that mine here means my scissors: plural conjugation in plural → Mine are very rusty)
Nouns are always plural
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Some words like “pants” (pants in the US, underwear in the UK), “trousers”, “pliers”, “scissors”, “shears” (large scissors – used to shear sheep, trim hedges), “tongs” takes a plural verb.
- However, when the words "A pair of/ Two pairs of..." come before these nouns, standing as the subject, the verb is singular.
For example:
-
The scissors are very sharp.
- A pair of scissors was left on the table.
With indefinite pronouns, the verb is singular.
Indefinite pronouns (Only general, not stating who the subject is) include: Some one, any one, no one, every one, something, anything, everything, nothing,...
For example:
-
Everything seems perfect.
- Nobody loves me.
With the subject there is No/None
If "no" is followed by a singular noun, the verb is singular. If "no" is followed by a plural noun, the verb is plural.
For example:
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No money has been invested for this company for 2 months.
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No lessons were given to us by our teacher this morning.
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None of us like to drink this.
Inversion structure with adverbial phrases of place
When an adverbial phrase of place is placed at the beginning of a sentence, the verb harmonizes with the noun (phrase) that follows the verb.
For example:
- On the top of the hill is a temple.
After either of/neither of , the verb will be conjugated according to the subject closest to the verb.
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Either/neither + noun + or/nor + singular noun + singular verb
- Either/neither + noun + or/nor + plural noun + plural verb
For example:
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Neither John nor his friends are going to the beach today. (The word "friends" is closer to the verb so it is divided into "are))
- Either John or Bill is going to the beach today. (Bill is a person so the verb "is").
Hopefully through this article, EnglishTop has helped you clearly understand the rules of Subject-Verb Agreement to "compactly" solve difficult questions that often appear in exams. Wish you all good study!