Subject-Verb Agreement

Adapted from Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon

Be sure subjects and verbs agree.

Subjects and verbs agree when they are

both singular or both plural.

A singular subject needs a singular verb.

A plural subject needs a plural verb.

Watch out!
Words between the subject and the verb often confuse people:

Colonel Mendoza, along with his assistants, is running

headquarters very efficiently.

It might appear that the singular verb “is” should be the plural
verb “are” because the plural noun “assistants” is directly
adjacent to the verb.
However, “along with his assistants” is a prepositional phrase
between the subject “Colonel Mendoza” and the verb “is.”
Ignore the prepositional phrase. The basic sentence is,
“Colonel Mendoza is running headquarters very efficiently.”
Deal with disruptive word groups.
Find the subject to determine whether each sentence requires “is” or
“are.”

The people who listen to that genre of music are few.

Subject: “the people” (plural) Verb: “are” (plural)

The team captain, as well as his players, looks anxious.

Subject: “the team captain” (singular) Verb: “looks” (singular)

The book, especially all the chapters in the first section, is boring.

Subject: “the book” (singular) Verb: “is” (singular)

Look for the word “and.”
When several subjects are connected by “and,” use a plural verb.
item 1 item 2
The pen and pencil are in the drawer.

While it is true that there is only one pen and one pencil in the
drawer, what matters is that there are ultimately two items in the
drawer. Use the plural verb “are,” not the singular verb “is.”

thing 1 thing 2 thing 3

The soft sand, crystal-clear water, and warm sun attract
many tourists.

Because the three subjects are connected by “and,” use the

plural verb “attract,” not the singular “attracts.”
Look for the words “or” and “nor.”
When nouns or pronouns are connected by “or” or
“nor,” the verb agrees with the closest subject.

The host or her guests are expected to leave the tip.

“The guests” is the closer subject; since “guests” is

plural, use the plural verb “are.”

The guests or the host is expected to leave the tip.

“The host” is the closer subject; since “host” is

singular, use the singular verb “is.”
Pay attention to indefinite pronouns.

These words are always singular:

words ending in -body, -one, or -thing
(e.g. anybody, someone, nothing)
either, neither, another
each, every, one
Pay attention to indefinite pronouns.
Everybody loves cupcakes.

“Everybody” is tricky because it seems plural, but it considers

only one person at a time: each person loves cupcakes
individually. The people in “everybody” are not acting as a group
but as a collection of single subjects.

Neither of the teams has ever won a championship game.

The word “teams” can make the plural “have” seem like the right
choice, but you need the singular “has” because you are
considering “neither one” of the teams. “Neither” indicates that
you are considering one at a time, not both at once, so the
singular verb is appropriate.
Pay attention to indefinite pronouns.
These words are always plural:
Both, many, several

Here is an example of a plural indefinite pronoun.

Several students were at the game.

Plural indefinite pronouns are typically followed by plural

nouns like “students,” so agreement with plural indefinite
pronouns is not usually problematic. Here, we’re talking
about several students considered as a group, so the
plural “were” is appropriate.
Pay attention to indefinite pronouns.
Some indefinite pronouns can be either singular or plural:
none, some, all, most, many, any

Here are some examples of indefinite pronouns that

can be either singular or plural.
Some of the letters were at the post office.

Words like “some” depend on their prepositional phrases. Here, the

word “letters” is plural, so the plural “were” is appropriate.

Some of the mail was at the post office.

“Mail” is a mass noun – we’re talking about the whole pile of mail, not
individual letters. “Mail” is singular, so we use the singular “was.”
Be careful with measurements.
This rule applies to time, distance, weight, and money.
When referring to individual units, use a plural verb:

Dollars are America’s national currency.

Miles are part of the imperial system of measurement.

When referring to an amount, use a singular verb:

One hundred dollars is not a lot of money.

Twenty miles is a long distance to run daily.

Think of “twenty miles” or “one hundred dollars” as a single unit.

Be careful with “here” and “there.”
“Here’s” means “here is.” “There’s” means “there is.”
We might say,

There’s a million things I need to do before my trip.

Here’s some examples of my work.

We really mean,

There are a million things I need to do before my trip.

Here are some examples of my work.

Note: Neither “there” nor “here” can be the subject of a

sentence. When these words open a sentence, look for the
subject following the verb. “Things” and “examples” are
plural subjects, so the plural “are” is appropriate.
Pay attention to collective nouns.
Collective nouns are nouns that include or
imply more than one person but act as a
unified group:

a group of tourists
a team of mules
a class of students
a family of people from Pace
a jury of your peers
a band of robbers
a herd of cattle
a crew of pirates
Pay attention to collective nouns.
If the members of a collective noun are working
together or are being referred to as a whole, the
word takes a singular verb:

The jury has reached a verdict.

The crew is making its plans.

The members of the jury are acting as a single unit,

so “jury” takes a singular verb. Likewise, the
members of the crew are acting as a single unit, so
“crew” takes a singular verb.
Pay attention to collective nouns.
If the group members are not acting together
or you are referring to individual effort within
the group, the word takes a plural verb:

The jury have disagreed throughout the trial.

The crew are preparing the ship.

Here, the members of the jury are acting

separately, and the members of the crew are
performing separate actions within the group.
Watch out for gerunds.
A gerund is an –ing verb acting as a noun.

Finding qualified candidates seems difficult.

Ignore the object of the gerund, “qualified candidates,”

and make your verb agree with the singular gerund
“finding.”

Dwelling on past disappointments is unhealthy.

The plural word “disappointments” might make “are”

seem correct, but the subject of the sentence is actually
the gerund “dwelling,” so the singular verb “is” is correct.
Know the inclusion/exclusion rule.
Exclusion – the subject is not part of the group, so use a
singular verb:

Jason is the only one of the students who smokes.

The key to this rule is the word group “the only one.” The word
“only” tells us that Jason smokes but no one else in the group
does. Jason is singular, so the singular verb “smokes” is
correct.
Inclusion – the subject is part of the group, so use a plural verb:

Henry is one of the students who smoke.

Here, the subject is “one of” rather than “the only one.” The
words “one of” indicate that Henry is included in a group of
students who all smoke. “Students” is plural, so the plural verb
“smoke” is correct.
Be careful with “number of”
Subjects preceded by “a number of” or “a percentage of” always
require a plural verb:

A number of UWF’s students are returning to college after having

been in the workforce for years.

Subjects preceded by “the number of” or “the percentage of”

always require a singular verb:

The percentage of female college students has exceeded the

percentage of male students since the late 1970’s.

Think of “a number of” as general, and therefore plural – you could

be referring to any number. “The number of,” on the other hand, is
specific – only one number – so use a singular verb.
Make verbs agree with borrowed nouns.
Some English words borrowed from other languages can be confusing because
their plural forms do not end in —s.

The media are not invited.

One endangered medium is print news.

We are used to referring to “media” as singular, like a collective noun, but it is

actually the plural of “medium.” Using the plural verb will sound odd, but since
media is in fact plural, do so in formal writing.

No new data are available.

Each datum shows one person’s survey response.

“Data” is even harder to recognize as plural than is “media” because its

singular form “datum” is not a word we use frequently, or indeed at all. A datum
is a single point of information, and data are the collected points of information.
You will never be an alumni!
“Alumni” is another word English borrowed from Latin. It has two gendered plural
forms and two gendered singular forms.

Alumnus is singular and masculine: Alumna is singular and feminine:

He is an alumnus of UWF. She is an alumna of UWF.

Alumni is plural and masculine: Alumnae is plural and feminine:

The three men are alumni The three women are alumnae
of UWF. of UWF.

For a mixed group, we traditionally default to the masculine:

The graduates are alumni of UWF.