Subject-Verb Agreement

There are many grammatical rules in English. One of the most basic would
be subject-verb agreement.
The basic principle:

Singular subjects need singular verbs.

Plural subjects need plural verbs.

A subject is a person, animal or thing that does a particular action. A verb is

an action or activity that the subject does.

The subject and verb in a sentence would have to 'agree' and complement
each other to be grammatically correct.

1. When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or

pronouns connected by and, use a plural verb.

2. When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or nor,

use a singular verb.

3. When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or

pronoun joined by or or nor, either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also, the
verb should agree with the part of the subject that is nearer to the verb.

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4. Do not be misled by a phrase that comes between the subject and the
verb. The verb agrees with the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the
phrase.

5. If two or more subjects are preceeded by each, each one, everyone,

everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody, somebody, someone, or no one, the verb
is singular.

6. A collective noun referring to a group may take a singular verb.

For example: civics, mathematics, dollars, and news

Mathematics is an easy subject.

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Note: the word dollars is a special case. When talking about an
amount of money, it requires a singular verb, but when referring to
the dollars themselves, a plural verb is required.

7. Nouns such as scissors and trousers require plural verbs.

(There are two parts to these things.)

8. In sentences beginning with there is or there are, the subject

follows the verb. Since there is not the subject, the verb agrees
with what follows.
?
?

9. Expressions such as with, together with, including, accompanied

by, in addition to, or as well do not change the number of the
subject. If the subject is singular, the verb is too.

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10. Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person but
that are considered singular and take a singular verb, such as:
group, team, committee, class, and family.

* In very few cases, the plural verb is used if the individuals in the
group are thought of and specifically referred to.

Exercises: Subject-Verb Agreement

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Underline the correct verb in each of the following sentences:

1. Mr. Tan (is, are) carrying a baby.

2. They (has,have) fun.
3. Siew Hwa and Latifah (is, are) in the same school.
4. Neither Hassan nor his father (play, plays) football.
5. Neither the boys nor the girls (is, are) in the field.
6. Rama, together with his wife, (is, are) going up the hill.
7. Either he or we (is, are) going.
8. Both Peter and Jane (jogs, jog) every morning.
9. Each man and woman (has, have) something to do.
10. Mr. Wong, my friend and advisor, (is, are) a teacher.
11. The horse and carriage (was, were) an old form of transport.
12. The crowd (is, are) large but orderly.
13. The pack of rascals (gives, give) the teacher a lot of problems.
14. Neither he nor we (was, were) in school yesterday.
15. Hassan, as well as his brothers, (works, work) hard.
16. The class (does, do) not always agree on everything.

Exercises : Subject-Verb Agreement

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The extract below contains 10 errors, excluding the example, in subject-verb
agreement. Identify these errors and correct them as shown in the example.

Robot Device Mimics Human Touch

Has you ever imagined the existence of more realistic robotic hands? A device
which pave the way for robotic hands that can replicate the human sense of touch has
been unveiled. U.S. scientists have created a sensor that “feel” the texture of
objects to the same degree of sensitivity as a human fingertip.

The team said the tactile sensor could, in the future, aids minimally invasive
surgical techniques by giving surgeons a “touch-sensation”.

Professor Ravi saraf, an engineer from the University of Nebraska in Loncoln,

U.S., explained, “ If you look at the current status of these tactile sensors, the
frustration have been that the resolution of almost 100% of all these devices is in the
range of millimeters. The solution of human fingertip is about 40 microns, about half
the diameter of a human hair. This has affected the performance of these devices.”

However, the team was able to attain this high level of sensitivity by creating a
very thin film. This film consists of layers of metal and semiconducting nanoparticles
which is flanked at the top and bottom by electrodes.

When the film touches a surface, any pressure of stress squeeze the layers of
particles together. This causes the current in the film to change and light is emitted
from the particles, an effect known as “electroluminescence,” which are then
detected by a camera.

The film is also flexible and robust enough to be used repeatedly. He also said
that the device have medical applications. He added that now he would like to see if
he could create a device that detect temperature change as well as texture, enabling
it to closely mimic the sensations humans can feel.
Exercises : Subject-Verb Agreement

The extract below contains 10 errors, excluding the example, in subject-verb

agreement. Identify these errors and correct them as shown in the example.

Answers

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 Robot Device Mimics Human Touch

Have you ever imagined the existence of more realistic robotic hands? A
device which paves the way for robotic hands that can replicate the human sense
of touch has been unveiled. U.S. scientists have created a sensor that “feels” the
texture of objects to the same degree of sensitivity as a human fingertip.

The team said the tactile sensor could, in the future, aids minimally invasive
surgical techniques by giving surgeons a “touch-sensation”.

Professor Ravi saraf, an engineer from the University of Nebraska in

Loncoln, U.S., explained, “ If you look at the current status of these tactile
sensors, the frustration has been that the resolution of almost 100% of all these
devices is in the range of millimeters. The solution of human fingertip is about 40
microns, about half the diameter of a human hair. This have affected the
performance of these devices.”

However, the team was able to attain this high level of sensitivity by
creating a very thin film. This film consists of layers of metal and semiconducting
nanoparticles which are flanked at the top and bottom by electrodes.

When the film touches a surface, any pressure of stress squeezes the layers
of particles together. This causes the current in the film to change and light is
emitted from the particles, an effect known as “electroluminescence,” which is
then detected by a camera.

The film is also flexible and robust enough to be used repeatedly. He also
said that the device has medical applications. He added that now he would like to
see if he could create a device that detects temperature change as well as
texture, enabling it to closely mimic the sensations humans can feel.

Exercise 1: Subject Verb Agreement

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The extract below contains 10 errors in subject-verb agreement. Identify these errors and
correct them as shown in the example.
1 Pearls is tiny wonders of nature. The only gem created by a living
organism, pearl is the most magical and feminine of all gems. They have
always been considered the most romantic jewellery gifts. The variety(if-
varieties) of colours, shapes, sizes and origin make (makes) pearls most
5 fascinating. Whatever your taste or budget, there are(were)[is] sure to be
cultured pearl jewellery that will thrill you. Chosen carefully and treated
with care, pearls will be a treasure for a lifetime. A pearl is a hard, lustrous
rounded concretion produced by certain animals, primarily molluscs such
as oysters.
10 A pearl is formed when a foreign material, usually a sharp object
such as a fragment of rock, a sand grain or parasite enter(entering) the
oyster or clam and cannot be expelled. This(these) irritate(irritates) the
mollusc and to reduce irritation, the mollusc coats the intruder with the
same secretion it uses for shell-building, i.e. nacre. This results in coating
15 the foreign material with layer upon layer of shell material. In this way, a
pearl are(is) formed. In the beginning, pearl hunting was the only means
known for harvesting pearls. A little before the start of the 20th century,
divers manually pulled oysters from ocean floors and river bottoms and
checked each one of them individually for pearls. However, not all natural
20 oysters(oyster) produces(produce) pearls. In fact, in a haul of three tonnes,
only three or four oysters will produce perfect pearls.
Eventually the process of culturing pearls were(was) discovered.
Nowadays, almost all pearls used for jewellery are cultured by planting a
core or nucleus into pearl oysters. Normally, it take(took)[takes] three years
25 after the planting for the pearls to be ready for harvesting, but it may take
up to six years also before the pearls are produced and ready. This
mariculture process was first developed by Kokichi Mikimoto in Japan,
who were(was) granted a patent for the process in 1896. The nucleus is
usually a polished bead made from mussel shell. This, along with a small
scrap of mantle tissue from another oyster to serve as an irritant, are(is)
surgically implanted inside the oyster.

Adapted from: Fashion Jewellery. What Are Pearls?.(n.d.). Retrieved May

16, 2007 from <http://www.interesting-articles.com/Article/What-Are-
Pearls/7>
History of Pearls. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2007 from
<http://www.interesting-articles.com/Article/History-of-Pearls/8>

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Exercise 2: Subject Verb Agreement
The extract below contains 10 errors in subject-verb agreement. Identify these errors and
correct them as shown in the example.

Example: Line Error Correction

1 have has
1 The recent amendment on marital rape to the Penal Code have met 1
with a mixed reaction. The Bar Council support(supports) the move, but the
response from Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) was lukewarm.
Effective last Friday, rape under the Penal Code include(includes) husbands
who use violence to force sex on their wives. The penalties are up to 20 5
years’ jail and whipping. Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan said
the Bar Council disapproves all forms of whipping but welcome(welcomes)
2 the government’s move.
The provision are(is) a step towards recognising marital rape as an
10
offence and the Bar Council supports it. However, like all rape cases, the
burden of proof would be the victim’s, and they would have to show that
they were assaulted by physical signs of struggle and injury. It is easy to
dismiss marital rape in court because it is a case of his word against hers,
3
and it normally crop(crops) up in divorce cases. Still, this should not deter
15
our legislative system from dealing with the fact that rape occurs in
marriages too.
The WAO, however, is less convinced. For the past 25 years, the
non-governmental organisation has been supporting victims of domestic
violence, setting up the first shelter for battered women in the country, and
along with other women’s groups, have(has) played a role in the advocacy 20
4 for legal protection against gender-based violence. Programme officer Chin
Oy Sim said the amendment to the Penal Code are(is) a small, limited step
forward. It should also be considered marital rape if the husband use(uses)
threats to force his wife to submit, for example, threatening her with
divorce, taking her children away or telling her he will go to a prostitute. 25
Should husbands only be charged with rape if they use violence to
force sex on their wives? There do(does) not seem to be a political will to
criminalise marital rape itself. This is reflected in the fact that no minimum
jail sentence had been imposed. The offender will know that he can get
away with it, as such an offence allow(allows) him freedom after a one or
two-week sentence.

Adapted from Mixed reaction to marital rape reform (2007, September 15).
New Straits Times: Prime News, p. 6.

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Exercise 3: Subject -Verb Agreement
The extract below contains 10 errors in subject-verb agreement. Identify the verb errors and
correct them as shown in the example.

Example: Line Error Correction

1 have has
1 Everything have(has) a market. If you could go back in time 30 years 1
and tell someone that people would be buying water in 2005 for prices
higher than gasoline, you would probably be severely ridiculed. You should
go back 15 years and tell someone that you would be able to buy air in an
oxygen bar and they would think you had been hitting the sauce a bit more 5
liberally than allowed to. Water and oxygen is(are) interesting products as
2 they are readily available, free, and vital for life. There have(has) been a
demand created for them out of, well, thin air.
The basic principle of selling air or water are(is) the same as selling an
entry-level career in which you have no experience. Entry-level workers
10
3 is(are) cheap, plentiful and easily found. As a new graduate or entry-level
worker with little or no real experience, what can you do to sell your
experience to employers? You needs(need) to package it well, market it
effectively, and create a demand.
Packaging your budding entry-level career is the first and most 15
4 important step to getting you jumpstarted. How you present your
background and education in an entry-level resume are(is) the make-or-
break point. You have 35 to 60 seconds to pique the interest of the
employer in your non-experience. The entry-level resume should be hard-
hitting and aggressively written to gain that attention. 20
5 The key are(is) to find your point of individuality and play on it. Do
you have an exceptional academic record that can be highlighted in your
entry-level resume? Do you have an internship that add(added) value to
your degree? Have you worked your way through school and financed your
education? There is something in everyone’s background that is notable and 25
can be used to advantage in an entry-level resume.
Another key is to do a little research on employers, their goals and the
work opportunities they offers(offer). This will assist you in being more
focused in your hunt for that first ‘real’ job. It also provide(provides)
30
insight on how best to approach a company.

Adapted from Marketing your entry-level career. (2007). New Straits Times:
Appointments, p.N59.

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Exercise 4: Error Analysis (5 marks)

Instructions: The following extract contains 5 errors of Subject-Verb Agreement.

Identify
the errors and correct them as shown in the example.

Example:
No. Line Error Correction
0 1 die dies

This Necklace Contains All of the World’s Languages

1 It has been said that a language die every fourteen days, a loss that can 1
wipe out an entire culture’s collective wisdom. What would happen if you
could help preserve those dying languages with something you wear around
your neck? With nanotechnology and fashion, it is now possible to wear a
piece of jewellery, which contain(s) all of the world’s languages. 5
2 The Rosetta Wearable Disc is a wearable archive of more than 1,000
languages compressed into a pendant less than an inch wide. It is the
brainchild of the Rosetta Project, a language library initiative of the Long
Now Foundation, a non-profit body that fosters long-term thinking.
Embedded on the tiny disc within the necklace is(are) over 1,000 microscopic 10
pages printed on nickel using the latest nanotechnology. The preamble to
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 327 languages, along
with basic vocabulary lists for 719 languages, form(forms) part of the content.
The disc also includes a book about time that serves as the foundation’s
3 manifesto and a clock designed to run continuously for 10,000 years. 15
The concept of preserving all of the world’s languages, as well as the
cultures attached to them, are(is) not new. It has been centuries since the
Rosetta Stone, an ancient object that was inscribed with text, helped
scholars decipher the languages of the ancient world. Since then, many have
tried their hands at translating the same phrases into a variety of different 20
4 languages to help preserve them.
Unfortunately, endangered languages are dying more quickly than ever
before. For spoken languages, although a wearable disc cannot stop their
disappearance that have(has) picked up speed in recent years, it reminds us of
the importance of committing ourselves to saving endangered languages. 25

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Adapted from Blakemore, E. (2017, January). This necklace contains all of the world’s languages.
Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/necklace-contains-all-worlds-
languages-180961876/

Exercise 5: Error Analysis (5 marks)

Instructions: The following extract contains 5 errors of Subject-Verb Agreement.

Identify the errors and correct them as shown in the example.

Example:

No. Line Error Correction

0 1 trigger triggers

The Power of Music: How it can Benefit Health

1 We can all think of at least one song that trigger an emotional response when we 1
hear it. It might be a song that accompanied the first dance at your wedding, for example,
or a song that always remind(reminds) you of a difficult break-up or the loss of a loved
one.
2 “We have such a deep connection to music because it is ‘hardwired’ in our brains and 5
bodies,” Barbara Else, senior advisor of policy and research at the American Music
Therapy Association told Medical News Today. “The elements of music is(are) echoed in
our physiology, functioning and being.”
3 Given the deep connection we have with music, it is perhaps unsurprising that
numerous studies have shown it can benefit our mental health. A 2011 study by researchers 10
from McGill University in Canada found that listening to all types of musical songs
increase(increases) the amount of dopamine produced in the brain – a mood-enhancing
chemical, making it a feasible treatment for depression.
4 According to some researchers, music may help alleviate stress by lowering the
body’s cortisol levels – the hormone released in response to stress. However, the review by 15
Dr. Levitin and colleagues suggests that this stress-relieving effect, with relaxing music
found most likely to lower cortisol levels, are(is) dependent on what type of music one
listens to.
5 Earlier this year, Medical News Today reported on a study published in The
Lancet Psychiatry. The study suggested that listening to hip-hop music, particularly by 20
Kendrick Lamar, may help individuals to understand mental health disorders. However,
increasingly, researchers find that the health benefits of music goes(go) beyond mental
health, and as a result, some health experts are calling for music therapy to be more widely
incorporated into health care settings.

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 Adapted from Whiteman, H. (2015, November 19). The power of music: How it can benefit
health.
Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/302903.php

Exercise 6: Error Analysis (5 marks)

Instructions: The following extract contains 5 errors of Subject-Verb Agreement. Identify

the errors and correct them as shown in the example.

Example:
No. Line Error Correction
0 1 sees see

Gender Differences: More Fiction than Fact?

1 We sees gender differences everywhere – in the psychology, thoughts and 1

behaviour of men and women. However, the inclination to see differences
make(makes) us blind to the overwhelming similarities of men and women, and
we are easily fooled into seeing dissimilarities that do not exist.
2 Some differences are real, but some are illusory. However, we are so 5
inclined to believe in the dissimilarities of men and women that we even make
them up. Around the world, men and women are artificially distinguished from
one another by hairstyles, clothing and body adornments.
3 Gender differences therefore runs(run) all the way from undeniable fact to
complete fiction. We might ask, “Which differences seem real but are merely 10
imagined?” The answer to this question is important because our beliefs affect our
behaviour. The judgements and limits imposed on men and women based on
beliefs about differences are real, even if the presumed gender differences are not.
Hence, what evidence would justify a claim that a difference is real? Science
struggle(struggles) to clarify the situation. 15
4 Scientists are looking for gender differences in an untold number of
medical and other scientific studies. A search on “gender difference” in Google
Scholar, for instance, return(returns) about 30,000 articles. What is missing from
this list is the untold number of studies where no difference was found because
these studies are not usually published. 20
5 Science tends to rely on statistical significance rules to separate real from
fictional difference, but simplistic reliance on the arbitrary rules are(is)
misleading. If 100 studies examine a gender difference where there is none, about
five per cent can be expected to return a “statistically significant” difference. This
is the false alarm rate or Type I error in statisticians’ language. 25

Adapted from Holden, S. (2013, April 12). Gender differences: More fictions than fact?
Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/gender-differences-more-fictions-than-fact-11725

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Exercise 1 Subject Verb Agreement

Line Error Correction

1. 4 make makes
2. 5 are is
3. 10 enter enters
4. 11 irritate irritates
5. 14 are is
6. 18 produces produce
7. 20 were was
8. 22 take takes
9. 25 were was
10. 28 are is

Exercise 2 Subject Verb Agreement

Line Error Correction

1. 2 support supports
2.. 4 include includes
3. 7 welcome welcomes
4. 8 are is
5. 13 crop crops
6. 18 have has
7. 20 are is
8. 21 use uses
9. 25 do does
10. 28 allow allows

Exercise 3 Subject Verb Agreement

Line Error Correction

1. 6 is are
2. 7 have has
3. 9 are is
4. 10 is are
5. 13 needs need
6. 16 are is
7. 20 are is

14
8. 22 add adds
9. 27 offers offer
10. 28 provide provides

Exercise 4: ERROR ANALYSIS (5 MARKS)

For this task, award ½ mark for identifying the error and line number and ½ mark for the corrections.

Line Error Correction

5 contain contains
10 is are
12 form forms
16 are is
23 have has

Exercise 5: ERROR ANALYSIS (5 MARKS)

For this task, award ½ mark for identifying the error and line number and ½ mark for the corrections.

Line Error Correction

3 remind reminds
8 is are
12 increase increases
17 are is
23 goes go

Exercise 6: ERROR ANALYSIS (5 MARKS)

For this task, award ½ mark for identifying the error and line number and ½ mark for the corrections.

Line Error Correction

2 make makes
9 runs run
15 struggle struggles
18 return returns
22 are is

15