Explanation
The subject/s and verb/s in a sentence have both singular and plural forms. It is very important that both the forms match with each other to make the sentence meaningful. That is, they should be in agreement with each other, and this is called “Subject Verb Agreement”. Below we will go through various possible agreements between subject/s and verb/s with help of suitable examples.
In Subject Verb Agreement, the singular or plural form of the Subject/s should match with the singular or plural form of the verb/s. For example, consider the below statement by a father on his son-
“My son likes to play football” – correct
In the statement – ‘son’ is the subject and is in singular form; therefore, ‘s’ is augmented to the verb ‘play’. It would be incorrect to say-
“My son like to play football” – Incorrect
Likewise, consider the same sentence for plural subjects, like-
“My sons like to play football. – Correct
Therefore, for plural subjects the‘s’ in the verb is omitted. Hence it would be incorrect to say-
“My sons likes to play football.” – Incorrect
Some more examples-
Oliver ride a horse. – Incorrect
Oliver rides a horse. – Correct
Oliver and friends goes to school. – Incorrect
Oliver and friends go to school. – Correct
Now that you have got an idea of Subject Verb Agreement, it’s time to move onto the rules of subject Verb Agreement.
As you already know that the nouns and verbs in present tense have their own singular and plural forms. But, some pronouns like – I, you and ‘to be’ verbs have their own rules. We will go through the rules of Subject Verb agreement for singular, plural, Special case (I, you) subjects and ‘to be’ verbs, one by one.
Singular Subjects/Nouns must have singular verbs. Singular subjects don’t have‘s’ like- Oliver, Kitty, dog, Father, Friend etc, but singular verbs do have‘s’. Got through the following examples-
The subjects/Nouns in the above statements are in singular form; therefore, the base form of the verb is augmented with a -‘s’.
While representing the Plural subjects, the verb remains in its base form (no‘s’ is added to the verb)-
The verbs in the above statement remains in their base (plural) forms – write, go, ride, love and use; since the subjects are plural.
Personal pronouns like – I, me and you, require plural verbs (verbs with no‘s’); but there is different rule for pronouns – he and she. It will be easier to understand the differences, by tabulating some verbs against these pronouns-
PRONOUN | VERB (like) | VERB (ride) |
I | like | ride |
you | like | ride |
he | likes | rides |
she | likes | rides |
we | like | ride |
they | like | ride |
Note that – I and you, despite being singular pronouns, need verb in its plural form i.e. without‘s’.
Go through the following tables to understand the ‘Subject Verb Agreement’ with the verbs ‘to be’.
PRONOUN/NOUN | PRESENT “to be” | PAST “to be” |
friend | is | was |
friends | are | were |
I | am | was |
you | are | were |
He/she | is | was |
we | are | were |
they | are | were |
There is different type of situations where a specific rule is followed between the subject and the verb. We will go through all such types of ‘Subject Verb Agreement’ with help of suitable Examples.
a) Singular subjects joined by ‘or’ and ‘nor’
A compound subject formed by joining two singular subjects by either ‘or’ or ‘nor’; need singular verbs. For example, go through the following sentences-
The verbs in the above sentences takes the singular form (with‘s’) – likes, cooks, loves and plays.
Now considering the pronouns-
But if we interchange the position of subjects; the verb form also gets changed-
In the above cases, the verbs take the form of the closest subject.
b) Compound or Singular Subjects Joined by ‘and’ Are Always Plural
c) For Mixed Subjects in neither/nor, either/or situations
If the subjects are in mixed form, i.e. one subject is plural and the other is singular in neither/nor or either/or situations, then the verb agrees to the noun or pronoun closest to it. Go through the below examples-
The subject closes to the verb – ‘like’ is plural- ‘friends’; therefore, the verb also takes the plural form – ‘like’. Now if we interchange the subjects, the verb will take the singular form, because the closest subject (he) is singular.
Some more examples-
d) When the Subject precedes ‘of’
When the subject is followed by ‘of’ as in – box of cookies, ocean of opportunities, bouquet of roses etc; the verb takes the form of the Subject. Go through the following example sentences, and carefully note the singular/plural forms of the subject and the corresponding changes in their verbs.
If we change the subject to plural, the verb will also take the plural form-
Some more examples-
e) Subjects and Verbs with Phrases/Clauses in Between
Some sentences have the subjects and verbs separated by a clause or a phrase. The verb in such cases has to agree with the main subject. We will further understand this with help of examples.
From the examples it is evident that the verb takes the form of the main subject. i.e. – bucket – was; buckets – were; dog – was; dogs – were; glass – breaks; glasses – break.
f) Use Of ‘Does not’ and ‘Do Not’
‘Does not’ or ‘Doesn’t’ can only be used with singular subjects and ‘Do not’ or ‘don’t’ can only be used with plural subjects, as shown in the examples below-
g) Collective Nouns
Collective nouns take singular verbs, but if they are broken down into members, the verbs take the form of the main subject. For example consider the below sentences-
h) Special Words
Some special words sound like plural, but they need singular verbs. Such words are- each, everyone, everybody, anyone, somebody, nobody, someone, each one, neither, either, and anybody. All these words need singular verbs as shown in the sentences below-
Each of the above sentences has singular forms of verbs or auxiliary verbs.
Fill In The Blanks Exercises/Worksheet/Activities On Subject Verb Agreement With Answers:
Complete the following sentences by choosing the correct words from the choices given. You can cross check your answers with the answers given in the end of the exercise.
1) Singular Verbs related to singular nouns ________ be followed by‘s’.
2) Many plural verbs _______ need ‘s’.
3) While representing plural subjects, ‘s’ is ________ to the verb.
4) My friend _________ to be on time for the meeting.
5) My teachers ________ in the assembly together.
6) I _________ to walk in the rain.
7) He ________ faster than his father.
8) _______ like to be cuddled.
9) My brother and his friends _______ going to the party.
10) Oliver _________ earned enough to live decently.
11) My school and all the other schools ________ to improve their sports activities.
12) My father and grandfather ________ going together.
13) Oliver and Peter ________ to office together.
14) Neither Oliver nor Peter _______ a bike.
15) Either the Principal or the class teacher _______ coming for the lecture.
16) Neither she nor her class ________ part in the assembly.
17) Either my parents or friend _______ calling me.
18) Neither the officer nor the subordinates ________ responding.
19) Either my cat or the dogs ________ milk.
20) Box of chocolates ________ delicious.
21) The collection of coins ______ a good hobby.
22) Boxes of chocolates ________ delicious.
23) Collections of jewelry ________ on display.
24) The cat with lots of hairs _______ difficult to maintain.
25) The cats with lots of hairs _________ difficult to maintain.
26) The teacher as well as the children ______ to play.
27) The soldiers __________ disobey orders.
28) An officer _______ like to be disobeyed.
29) The students of the Don Bosco school ________ good in academics.
30) The leader of the pride of lions _______ a healthy male.
Answers- 1)a, 2)b, 3)c, 4)b, 5)a, 6)a, 7)b, 8)b, 9)b, 10)a, 11)b, 12)b, 13)a, 14)c, 15)a, 16)b, 17)a, 18)b, 19)a, 20)b, 21)b, 22)a, 23)b, 24)b, 25)a, 26)b, 27)a, 28)a, 29)b, 30)a
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