The basic concept of subject-verb agreement is that verbs
must agree in person and in number with their subjects. Agreement in number
means that singular subjects must be followed by singular verbs, and plural
subjects by plural verbs.
Strategies
1. Use
singular verbs for singular verbs and plural verbs for plural subjects.
A
union has been
formed
Boxes were strewn all over the floor
2. Be
careful of verbs after collective nouns. Collective nouns take singular verbs
when referred to as a unit and take plural verbs when referred to different
members of a unit.
The
group has chosen
a representative
The
team were
putting on their jerseys
3. Be
careful with some nouns with –s endings; they are sometimes singular and take
singular verbs
Measles,
also known Rubeola or Morbilli, is
an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus.
Macroeconomics is the
branch of economics concerned with aggregates, such as national income,
consumption and investment.
4. Pay
attention to the nouns that follow the pronouns such as some, any, most, half, all, none (of the) since the subjects can be
singular or plural.
Most
of the information has
been distorted
Half
of the tables are
occupied.
5. Use
singular verbs for the pronouns no, any, some,
every ending in –body, -one, or –thing. The pronouns each(of the), either(of the), neither(of the), another(of the), and one(of
the) also take singular verbs.
If anybody
wants to succeed in corporate
life, he or she has to know the rules of the game.
Everyone in
the room smells the disgusting
odor.
6. The
verb agrees with the subject in the construction there-verb-subject or in the
inverted verb-subject construction after an adverbial phrase.
Over the city roam
the horde of wild men.
Between an active volcane and a beautiful beach lays the famous resort everyone to visit.
7. The
phrase the number of takes a
singular verbs, while a number of
takes a plural verb.
The
number of students registered in the class is 20.
A
number of employees were present in the stock holder meeating.
A
number of birds nest
in the big tree near our house.
The
number of students atteding Psychology 101 decreases.
8. Use
plural verbs for the paired conjuctions both...
and
Both Jim and Peter are
attending the conference in New York this weekend.
Both Allison and her youngest brother
go to the same school.
9. The
paired conjunctions not only ... but also, either ... or and neither... nor
take a singular or plural verb depending on the nouns nearer the verb.
Not
only
the waiter but also the cook and busboy
work for tips.
Either John
or his brother is
going to make dinner.
Neither the
windows nor the door needs
to be pointed.
Neither the
lecturer nor the students want
to reschedule the class.
10. The
verb should agree with the subject, not with certain phrases that came between
the subject and the verb.
The
boy, as well as his
parents, enjoys the
dinner.
The
service charge, including
the prices of the spare parts, is
reasonable.
Source: LIA Preparation Course for the TOEFL Test 4
student book
