Subject- Verb agreement

c) If the subject consists of many different subjects and is connected by

the conjunction "AND", then conjugate the verb in the plural form.
Example: Honor and glory are the rewards.
NOTE:
-> Some certain things always go together and are considered as one.
They often refer to a person, a dish, or a concept.
Example: Steak and eggs is my favorite dish.
President and CEO is Mr. Tung.

-> When "and" is used for addition (phép cộng), we conjugate the verb in the
singular.
Example: Two and three is five.

d) Subjects that start with an indefinite pronoun like each, each of, every one,
everybody, everything, someone, somebody, something, every + N ( every tree), the verb
always follows the singular subject.

Example: Everyone in my class is very intelligent.

1) If the subject is a gerund, the verb will be in the singular form.

Example: Voting is an important responsibility.

2) When the subject is joined by the conjunction "OR" or "NOR", “EITHER…. OR” or
“NEITHER …NOR” conjugate the verb according to the subject closest to the verb.
Example:

Our happiness or our sorrow is largely due to our actions.

Neither John nor his friends have seen this movie before.

3) When the subject is a phrase EITHER or NEITHER with OF, the verb is
always in the singular form.
Example: Neither of them works in this company.

Neither of the pets love mice

4) THE NUMBER OF và A NUMBER OF

If the subject is the structure THE NUMBER OF + N, the verb will be conjugated
in the singular form.
Example: The number of addicted people has increased recently.
- When you encounter the structure A NUMBER OF + N, conjugate the verb
in the plural form
Example: A number of special conditions are necessary for the formation of
a geyser.

5) When subjects are connected by conjunctions: as well as,

with, together with, accompanied by etc., the verbs are conjugated according to the first
subject.
Example:
The old man with his dogs passes my house every morning.
Mr. Robbins, accompanied by his wife and children, is leaving tonight.

6) When the subject includes THE + ADJECTIVE to refer to a group, conjugate the
verb in the plural form.
Especially, when following ‘THE’ are nouns like: people, police, army,
children, and cattle…, the verb is also used in the plural.
Example: The sick need special attention and care from others.
The young nowadays really care about the environment.

7) Some nouns have an "S" at the end but will conjugate the verb in the singular
form.
• Subjects: physics, mathematics, economics, politics...
• Sports: athletics, billiards, checkers…
• Names of diseases: Measles, rickets....
• Other nouns: news, the United States ...

8) When the subject is a phrase indicating money, distance, size, measure and
time, the verb is singular.
Example: Five dollars is a good price for a meal.
70 kilograms is too heavy for me.
9) For subjects that contain fractions and percentages, we conjugate the verbs
according to the nouns after "OF".

23 % of students fail the exam

Example: Two third of the students in my class are girls.

Fifty percent of the pie has disappeared.

10) MAJORITY OF, SOME OF, ALL OF, MOST OF + uncountable nouns -> singular verb

MAJORITY OF, SOME OF, ALL OF, MOST OF + countable nouns -> plural verb

Example: Some of my friends are very bad at English.

Most of the water is polluted.

11) If "NO" or "NONE OF" is followed by a singular (countable) or uncountable noun,

conjugate
the verb in the singular form.
Example: No meat was cooked in this special day.

No apple is in the fridge

12) When the subject is a noun such as: pants, trousers, glasses, shorts,
shoes, scissors, pliers, tongs, then the verb conjugation is in the plural, be
cause they always come in pairs.

Example: The shoes are on the shelf.

NOTE: When there is “a pair of” before the nouns above, then
the verb is in singular form.

A pair of shoes is on the shelf

13) When two nouns are joined by OF, conjugate the verb according to the noun in
front.
Example:
The effects of global warming are becoming clearer and clearer.

The advantages of playing video games are numerous.

14) When the subject is the title of a movie, music, etc., the verb is in the singular
form.
Example: “Tom and Jerry” is my childhood.

15) When the subject is collective nouns like: family, staff, team, group, conference, crowd, and
committee:
• Actions of each member are conjugated in the plural.
Example: The staffs are working really hard.
• The feature of that collective as a unit is conjugated in the singular.
Example:

My family is very conservative.

My family are prepairing the tet celebration.

16) If the pseudo-subject "IT" is used, the verb will be conjugated according to the
main subject, and usually singular.
Example: It is her dog that often bites people -> Her dog often bites people.

1. The English (be) ………. famous for their calmness.

2. The money that (spend) …………. on education every year (be) ………not enough.

3. The number of employees who (not, finish) …has finished………. their work yet (have)
……has…. . to work on the weekend.

4. The office (close) closes…………on the weekend.

5. The office (try) ………a lot to win the boss’s heart recently.

6. Five kilos of gold (steal) ………. . from the bank yesterday.

7. Physics (cause) …………you any trouble at school.

8. Yesterday, neither you nor I (choose) …was choosen………. to deliver the speech. So who
(choose) …was choosen……. ?- Daisy and Ann (be) …were choosen……

9. Ten miles (be) ……is…. a very long distance for us to walk.

10. The keys of the house (have) …have……. been lost.