Exercise #1 : Subject and Verb Agreement Exercise 6.
6. The presence of certain bacteria in our bodies are one of the factors
Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject.
1. Annie and her brothers (is, are) at school.
2. Either my mother or my father (is, are) coming to the meeting.
3. The dog or the cats (is, are) outside.
4. Either my shoes or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.
5. George and Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that movie.
6. Benito (doesn't, don't) know the answer.
7. One of my sisters (is, are) going on a trip to France.
8. The man with all the birds (live, lives) on my street.
9. The movie, including all the previews, (take, takes) about two hours
to watch.
10. The players, as well as the captain, (want, wants) to win.
11. Either answer (is, are) acceptable.
12. Every one of those books (is, are) fiction.
13. Nobody (know, knows) the trouble I've seen.
14. (Is, Are) the news on at five or six?
15. Mathematics (is, are) John's favorite subject, while Civics (is, are)
Andrea's favorite subject.
16. Eight dollars (is, are) the price of a movie these days.
17. (Is, Are) the tweezers in this drawer?
18. Your pants (is, are) at the cleaner's.
19. There (was, were) fifteen candies in that bag. Now there (is, are)
only one left!
20. The committee (debates, debate) these questions carefully.
21. The committee members (leads, lead) very different lives in private.
22. The Prime Minister, together with his wife, (greets, greet) the press
cordially.
23. All of the CDs, even the scratched one, (is, are) in this case.
EXERCISE #2
A.
Underline the subject (or compound subject) and then identify the verb
that agrees with it.
Everyone in the telecom focus group (has/have) experienced problems
with cell phones
1. Your friendship over the years and your support (has/have) meant a
great deal to us.
2. Hamilton Family Center, a shelter for teenage runaways in San
Francisco, (offers/offer) a wide variety of services.
3. The main source of income for Trinidad (is/are) oil and pitch.
4. The chances of your being promoted (is/are) excellent.
5. There (was/were) a Pokémon card stuck to the refrigerator.
6. Neither the professor nor his assistants (was/were) able to solve the
mystery of the eerie glow in the laboratory.
7. Many hours at the driving range (has/have) led us to design golf balls
with GPS locators in them.
8. Discovered in the soil of our city garden (was/were) a button dating
from the Civil War dating from the turn of the century.
9. Every year, during the midsummer festival, the smoke of village
bonfires (fills/fill) the sky.
10. The story performers (was/were) surrounded by children and
adults eager to see magical tales.
EXERCISE 2: B
If a sentence is correct, write “correct.”
Jack’s first days in the infantry was gruelling
Jack’s first days in the infantry were gruelling
1. One of the main reasons for elephant poaching are the profits
received from selling the ivory tusks.
2. Not until my interview with Dr. Chang were other possibilities
opened to me.
3. Batik cloth from Bali, blue and white ceramics from Cambodia, and a
bocce ball from Turin has made Hannah’s room the talk of the dorm.
4. The board of directors, ignoring the wishes of the neighbourhood,
has voted to allow further development.
5. Measles is a contagious childhood disease.
that determines our overall health.
7. Leah is the only one of the many applicants who has the ability to
step into this job.
8. Neither the explorer nor his companions was ever seen again.
Exercise #3:
1. Everyone (has/have) done his or her homework.
2. Each of the students (is/are) responsible for doing his or her work.
3. Either my father or my brothers (is/are) going to sell the car.
4. Neither my sisters nor my mother (is/are) going to sell the house.
5. The samples on the tray in the lab (need/needs) testing.
6. Mary and John usually (plays/play) together.
7. Both of the dogs (has/have) collars.
8. Neither the dogs nor the cat (is/are) very hungry.
9. Either the girls or the boy (walk/walks) in the evening.
10. Either the boy or the girls (walk/walks) in the evening.
11. At the end of the fall (comes/come) the hard tests.
12. The slaughter of animals for their fur (has/have) caused
controversy.
13. The student, as well as his teacher, (was/were) going on the field
trip.
14. The hard tests (comes/come) at the end of the fall.
15. Both of my roommates (has/have) decided to live in the dorms.
Exercise #4: Subject and Verb Agreement Exercise
Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject.
1. Annie and her brothers (is, are) at school.
2. Either my mother or my father (is, are) coming to the meeting.
3. The dog or the cats (is, are) outside.
4. Either my shoes or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.
5. George and Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that movie.
6. Benito (doesn't, don't) know the answer.
7. One of my sisters (is, are) going on a trip to France.
8. The man with all the birds (live, lives) on my street.
9. The movie, including all the previews, (take, takes) about two hours
to watch.
10. The players, as well as the captain, (want, wants) to win.
11. Either answer (is, are) acceptable.
12. Every one of those books (is, are) fiction.
13. Nobody (know, knows) the trouble I've seen.
14. (Is, Are) the news on at five or six?
15. Mathematics (is, are) John's favorite subject, while Civics (is, are)
Andrea's favorite subject.
16. Eight dollars (is, are) the price of a movie these days.
17. (Is, Are) the tweezers in this drawer?
18. Your pants (is, are) at the cleaner's.
19. There (was, were) fifteen candies in that bag. Now there (is, are)
only one left!
20. The committee (debates, debate) these questions carefully.
21. The committee members (leads, lead) very different lives in private.
22. The Prime Minister, together with his wife, (greets, greet) the press
cordially.
23. All of the CDs, even the scratched one, (is, are) in this case.
Exercise #5
RULE 1 – A verb agrees with its subject in number. 
Singular subjects take singular verbs:  Bob and George are leaving. 

The car stays in the garage. The flower smells good.  Neither Bob nor George is leaving. 

There is an old saying: “Opposites attract.” The rule for singular and Neither Bob nor his friends are leaving. 
plural verbs is just the opposite of the rule for singular and plural nouns.
Remember this when you match subjects and verbs. You might guess RULE 6 – There and here are never subjects. In sentences that begin
that stays and smells are plural verbs because they end in s. They aren’t. with these words, the subject is usually found later on in the sentence. 
Both stays and smells are singular verbs. 
There were five books on the shelf. (were, agrees with the subject
RULE 2 – The number of the subject (singular or plural) is not changed book) 
by words that come between the subject and the verb. 
Here is the report you wanted. (Is agrees with subject report) 
One of the eggs is broken. Of the eggs is a prepositional phrase. The
RULE 7 – Collective nouns may be singular or plural, depending on
subject one and the verb is are both singular. Mentally omit the
their use in the sentence. 
prepositional phrase to make the subject verb-agreement easier to
make.  A collective noun is a noun used to name a whole group. Following are
some common examples: 
1. Your friend (talk-talks) too much. 
2. The man with the roses (look-looks) like your brother.  army crowd orchestra audience flock public class group swarm club
3. The women in the pool (swim-swims) well.  herd team committee jury troop 
4. Bill (drive-drives) a cab. 
5. The football players (run-runs) five miles every day.  United States 
6. That red-haired lady in the fur hat (live-lives) across the street. 
7. He (cook-cooks) dinner for his family.  The orchestra is playing a hit song. (Orchestra is considered as one unit
8. The boys (walk-walks) to school every day.  —singular.) 
9. The weather on the coast (appear-appears) to be good this The orchestra were asked to give their musical backgrounds. (Orchestra
weekend.  is considered as separate individuals—plural) 
10. The center on the basketball team (bounce-bounces) the ball too
high.  RULES FOR SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT 

RULES FOR SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT  RULE 8 – Expressions of time, money, measurement, and weight are
usually singular when the amount is considered one unit. 
RULE 3 – Some subjects always take a singular verb even though the
meaning may seem plural.  Five dollars is (not are) too much to ask. Ten days is (not are) not nearly
enough time. 
These subjects always take singular verbs: 
On occasion, however these terms are used in the plural sense: 
each someone either anyone neither nobody one somebody no one
anybody everyone everybody  There were thirty minutes to countdown. 

Someone in the game was (not were) hurt. Neither of the men is (not RULE 9 – Some nouns, while plural in form, are actually singular in
are) working.  meaning. 

RULE 4 – The following words may be singular or plural, depending Mathematics is (not are) an easy subject for some people. 
upon their use in a sentence, some, any, all, most. 
Physics is (not are) taught by Prof, Baldwin. 
Most of the news is good. (singular) Most of the flowers were yellow.
(plural) All of the pizza was gone. (singular) All of the children were mumps home economics social studies economics measles calisthenics
late. (plural)  statistics civics physics gymnastics phonics news acrobatics aesthetics
thesis mathematics 
Exercise# 7
RULE 10 – Don’t and Doesn’t must agree with the subject. Use doesn’t
1. Each of the girls (look-looks) good on skis.  after he, she, it. 
2. Everybody (was-were) asked to remain quiet. 
3. Neither of the men (is-are) here yet.  Doesn’t he (not don’t) know how to sail? They don’t (not doesn’t) make
4. (Is-Are) each of the girls ready to leave?  movies like that anymore. 
5. Several of the sheep (is-are) sick. 
6. Some members of the faculty (is-are) present. 
7. Nobody in the class (has-have) the answer. 
8. Each of the girls (observe-observes) all the regulations. 
9. All of the milk (is-are) gone. 
10. Most of the seats (was-were) taken. 

Exercise #9

RULES FOR SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT  SUBJECT-VERB EXERCISE IV 

RULE 5 – Subjects joined by and are plural. Subjects joined by or or Directions: Circle the correct verb in each of the sentences below. 
Nor take a verb that agrees with the last subject.  1. Mumps (is-are) one of the most uncomfortable diseases. 
2. One hundred dollars (is-are) not a lot of money to some people.  20._________________ Neither of us (is-are) going to work. 

3. She (doesn’t-don’t) look very well today.  21._________________ (Doesn’t-Don’t) they know when to quit? 

4. Twenty minutes (is-are) the amount of time it takes me to get home 22._________________ Thirty minutes (is-are) the time limit for the
from work.  test. 

5. It (doesn’t-don’t) seem so cold today.  23._________________ Measles (is-are) a disease most children
experience. 
6. Gymnastics (is-are) easy for Angela. 
24._________________ The class (is-are) turning in their registration
7. Interesting news (is-are) what sells our paper.  forms today. 
8. A pound of cookies (cost-costs) about a dollar.  25._________________ Beyond the mountains (is-are) a fertile valley. 
9. They (doesn’t-don’t) think they’ll win the game tonight. 

10. He (don’t-doesn’t) speak very well. 

Exercise 10
IT’S YOUR TURN 
Subject and Verb
PROGRESS CHECK ON SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT /No
EXERCISE: - In each sentence below, underline the verb that with its
answers provided
subject.
Directions: Write the correct verb in the blank to the left of each
sentence. See the instructor for answers.  1. The jug of water (is, are) in the fridge.
1._________________ Everybody (was-were) asked to be quiet.  2. The picture books (reminds, remind) me of when I was a child.
2._________________ In a marathon, few of the starters (finishes- 3. A chocolate chip cookie, as well as some ice cream, (is, are) a good
finish) the race.  dessert.
3._________________ Sixty days (is-are) not enough time to complete 4. Lions (lives, live) in the savanna.
the project. 
5. Rome, together with Florence, (has, have) great works of art.
4._________________ All of the workers (is-are) receiving their
bonus.  6. Color (enhances, enhance) the effect of the portrait.

5._________________ On our street (is-are) many tall trees.  7. Polar bears (roams, roam) freely in the arctic.

6._________________ It (don’t-doesn’t) make any difference.  8. Broccoli, in addition to kale, (is, are) very nutricious.

7._________________ The value of cars and motorcycles (has-have) 9. Many animals (rises, rise) when the sun comes up.
increased. 
10.The mystery novels (is, are) based on real crimes.
8._________________ The principal and her husband (is-are) honored
11. The plant on my windowsill (gets, get) watered every day.
guests. 
12.Isabella, along with her brothers, (wants, want) to learn to make
9._________________ Either the pitcher or the base runners (was-
pasta.
were) caught napping. 
13.My favorite pair of shoes (is, are) missing.
10._________________ One of my friends (believe-believes) in E.S.P. 
14.My uncle from the Georgia (loves, love) to bake.
11._________________ Have you ever heard the expression, “No new
(is-are) good news?”  15.Three of my friends (is, are) going to the beach.
12._________________ There (was-were) several dents in the car. 

13._________________ Louise (doesn’t-don’t) want to drive that long

distance. 

14._________________ Either Luis or Horace (pay-pays) the bills in

our house. 

15._________________ A boy and a girl (were-was) here to see you. 

16._________________ The box of apples (is-are) on the porch. 

17._________________ Some of the job applicants (is-are) expected to

pass the difficult screening test. 

18._________________ The army (is-are) conducting maneuvers in

March. 

19._________________ Here (come-comes) the family now.