Submitted to: Ms. Maria Bambi Billanes

Submitted by: Angel Rose Lepaña

10 Subject-Verb Agreement

Rules

1. A subject made up of nouns joined by and takes a

plural subject, unless that subject’s intended sense is singular.

Examples:

She and I run every day.

Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite sandwich.

2. When a subject is made up of nouns joined by or, the verb agrees with the last noun.

Examples: She or I run every day.

Potatoes, pasta, or rice pairs well with grilled chicken.

3. Collective nouns (team, couple, staff, etc.) take

either a singular or plural verb, depending on whether the emphasis is on the individual units or on the group as whole.

Examples: The football team is practicing night and day for the Super

Bowl.

Boston’s school committee disagree about what to cut from the school budget.

4. Connectives, phrases such as combined with,

coupled with, accompanied by, added to, along with, together with, and as well as, do not change the number of the subject. These phrases are usually set off with commas.

Examples:

Oil, as well as gas, is a popular heating choice.

Peanut butter combined with bread and jelly is a tasty snack.

5. Collecting noun phrases (a bunch of, a group of, a

set of, etc.) take either a singular or plural verb, depending on whether the emphasis is on the individual units or on the group as whole:

Examples:

A group of boys were digging in my flower beds!

A set of 12 dishes is all you need for the dinner party.

6. Each takes a singular verb.

Examples: Each boy is excited about the meet; each is well prepared.

Each fruit is nutritious.

7. None takes a singular verb if what it refers to is singular and a plural verb if its referent is plural.

Examples:

None of the peas are left on Sean’s plate.

None of the book is reproducible without permission.

8. With fractions, the verb agrees with the whole.

Examples:

One-fourth of the books are gone.

One-fourth of the sand is white.

9. With money, if the amount is specific, use a singular verb; if the amount is vague, use a plural verb.

Examples:

Within a year, $5 million was spent on building a new factory, and millions more were spent on training future

factory workers.

I spent 1000 php shopping for groceries and hundreds more were spent to buy some of my school supplies.

10. The phrase more than one takes a singular verb (yes, I know that doesn’t sound logical; try to remember that one is followed by something, whether explicitly or implicitly).

Examples:

More than one box is sitting in the hallway.

More than one is sitting in the hallway.