SUBJECT-VERB

AGREEMENT
Subjects and Verbs have to agree with
each other.
◦ Singular Subject = Singular Verb
◦ If the Subject is singular, the verb has to be
singular. Vice versa.
If the Subject is singular, you have to add
‘s’ or ‘-es’ at the end of the Verb used.
If the Subject is plural, the Verb remains
Two or more subjects connected by ‘and’
require a plural verb
◦ My brother and sister live in Boston
◦ My brother, sister and cousin live in Boston
Two singular subjects connected ‘or’,
‘either/or’ or ‘neither/nor require a singular
verb
◦ My brother or my sister is arriving by train today
◦ Neither Juan nor Carmen is available today
What if one part of the compound subject
is singular and the other part is plural
◦ Ranger and campers
◦ If the individual parts of the compound subject
are joined by and, always use a plural verb.
Ifthe individual parts of the compound
subject are joined by or or nor, use the
verb form (singular or plural) which will
agree with the subject closer to the verb.
Modal Verbs
The verb that comes after the use of can, could, shall,
should, may, might, will, would, must’, will remain plural
verb.

◦ The girl can really bake a good cake

◦ He could ask me if he doesn’t know the answer
◦ Jack shall give you the notes later
◦ Lily should give her the textbook
◦ They may watch the television later
◦ Liara might forget what day it is
◦ The cats will wander around if we do not feed them
◦ He would take that kid to the playground
◦ She must finish the assignment
Other examples
The subject-verb agreement rules apply to
all personal pronouns except I and you,
which, although SINGULAR, require
PLURAL forms of verbs.

Just remember, ‘You and I’ special

Group nouns can be quite tricky
Students often are confused whether to use
singular or plural of verb form
Eg of group nouns
◦ Club, company, team, government, army, family,
group
Ifwe refer to the group as a whole and,
therefore, as a single unit, we consider the
noun singular.  In this case, we use a singular
verb. 
On the other hand, we are actually
referring to the individuals within the
group, then we consider the
noun plural.  In this case, we use a plural
verb.
Some nouns are plural in form, but
singular in meaning
◦ News, measles, Mathematics, politics,
economics