THE CHILD PLAYS THE WHOLE DAY.

CHILDREN PLAY THE WHOLE DAY.

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

RULES ON SUBJECT -VERB AGREEMENT

TITLES OF LITERARY WORKS TAKE A

SINGULAR VERB.

THE CAPTAIN AND I IS AN INTERESTING

STORY.

A SINGULAR SUBJECT MUST HAVE A

SINGULAR VERB.

THE CHILD PLAYS THE WHOLE DAY

A PLURAL SUBJECT MUST HAVE A PLURAL

VERB.

CHILDREN PLAY THE WHOLE DAY

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS THAT TAKE SINGULAR

VERBS.

EACH, EITHER, NEITHER, EVERYONE, ANYONE, SOMEONE,

ANYBODY, SOMEBODY, EVERYBODY

EACH HAS HIS OWN IDEAS ON THE MATTER.

SOMEONE IS USING THE PHONE.

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS THAT ARE PLURAL

SEVERAL, FEW, BOTH, MANY

MANY WERE SURPRISED AT THE

RESULTS OF THE CONTEST.

THE WORDS SOME, ANY, NONE, ALL, AND MOST MAY BE SINGULAR OR PLURAL.

MOST OF THE BOOKS WAS INTERESTING.

MOST OF THE BOOKS WERE INTERESTING.

WORDS THAT COME AFTER THE SUBJECT DO

NOT AFFECT THE NUMBER OF THE

SUBJECT

THE PERFORMANCE OF THE STUDENTS IS

COMMENDABLE.

THE TREMORS, ACCORDING TO THE SCIENTISTS, ARE

CAUSED BY ERUPTING VOLCANO.

COMPOUND SUBJECTS JOINED BY AND TAKE A SINGULAR VERB WHEN THE SECOND SUBJECT IS NOT MODIFIED BY AN ARTICLE.

THEY TAKE PLURAL VERB IF THE SECOND SUBJECT IS MODIFIED

BY AN ARTICLE.

THE MANAGER AND COACH OF THE TEAM EXPECTS US TO

FOLLOW THE RULES.

THE MANAGER AND THE COACH OF THE TEAM WANT

ALL OF US TO BE PRESENT AT THE CONFERENCE.

WHEN THE COMPOUND SUBJECTS ARE JOINED BY

OR OR NOR THE VERB AGREES WITH THE NEARER SUBJECT

NEITHER THE WORKERS OR THEIR SUPERVISOR IS INTERESTED IN THE

PROJECT.

EITHER ANDREI OR HIS COUSINS ARE COMING.

EXPRESSIONS STATING AMOUNT [TIME, MONEY, MEASUREMENT, WEIGHT, VOLUME] ARE USUALLY SINGULAR WHEN THE

AMOUNT IS CONSIDERED AS A UNIT.

SEVEN METERS IS ENOUGH FOR THE

UNIFORM.

FIVE HOURS IS TOO LONG TO WAIT.

HOWEVER, WHEN THE AMOUNT IS CONSIDERED A SEPARATE NUMBER OF UNITS, A PLURAL VERB

IS USED.

THE LAST FIVE YEARS HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTING.

THREE OLD COINS ARE IN EACH OF THE BOXES.

SOME NOUNS LIKE NEWS, MEASLES, ECONOMICS,

PHYSICS, AEROBICS, APPENDICITIS, ETC. ARE

PLURAL IN FORM BUT SINGULAR IN MEANING. THEY TAKE SINGULAR

VERBS.

NEWS ABOUT THE WAR MAKES US NERVOUS.

PHYSICS IS AN INTERESTING SUBJECT

SOME NOUNS LIKE PANTS, SCISSORS, TWEEZERS,

TONGS, SHEARS, SHORTS, AND TROUSERS, TAKE

PLURAL VERB ALTHOUGH THEY REFER TO ONLY ONE

SUBJECT.

THE SCISSORS ARE SHARP.

SHORTS ARE COMFORTABLE TO

WEAR.

WHEN THE SUBJECT IS A FRACTION, THE VERB

AGREES WITH THE NOUN IN THE OF-

PHRASE

TWO-THIRDS OF THE PROPERTY BELONGS TO

ME.

ONE-HALF OF THE GLASSES IN THE BOX ARE CRACKED.

A VERB AFTER A RELATIVE PRONOUN AGREES WITH THE NOUN BEFORE THE

RELATIVE PRONOUN.

WE MET THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THE

TELEVISION SHOW.

DON’T PULL UP THE PLANT THAT STANDS

NEAR THE GATE.

WHEN THE SUBJECT FOLLOWS THE VERB, AS IN

QUESTIONS AND IN SENTENCES BEGINNING WITH HERE AND THERE,

DETERMINE THE SUBJECT AND MAKE SURE THAT THE

VERB AGREES WITH IT.

THERE ARE THREE BOOKS IN THE SHELF.

HERE ARE A PENCIL, A BOOK AND A NOTEBOOK.

WHEN THE SUBJECT AND PREDICATE NOMINATIVE

ARE DIFFERENT IN NUMBER, THE VERB AGREES WITH THE

SUBJECT, NOT WITH THE PREDICATE NOMINATIVE.

THE MOST APPRECIATED GIFT

WAS THE TOYS THAT YOU SENT.

A COLLECTIVE NOUN TAKES A PLURAL VERB WHEN THE SPEAKER IS THINKING OF

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF THE GROUP; IT TAKES A SINGULAR VERB WHEN THE SPEAKER IS

THINKING OF THE GROUP AS A UNIT.

THE TEAM RANKS FIRST.

THE TEAM ARE TALKING ABOUT SOME NEW

STRATEGIES.

END