Subject verb agreement

1. Subject-Verb
Agreement

2. Subjects-Verb Agreement
 You already know that subjects and verbs must agree in
number.
 For example:
I am a sports fan.
Many people are NBA fans.
My uncle likes the Portland Blazers.
 However, subject-verb agreement is sometimes confusing. The
rest of this presentation will highlight those times.

3. Subjects-Verb Agreement with “There is”
and “There are”
 When a sentence begins with There + the verb be,
the subject follows the be verb. Therefore, you must
look at what comes after the be verb to determine
whether to use are or is.

4. Subjects-Verb Agreement with
“There is” and “There are”
Choose the correct form of the be verb.
 There is/are a men’s NBA team in Portland.
 There is a men’s NBA team in Portland.
 There is/are two NBA teams in Los Angeles.
 There are two NBA teams in Los Angeles.

5. Subject-Verb Agreement with
Prepositional Phrases
 One or more prepositional phrases can come between a
subject and a verb, but they are not the subject.
 The price of NBA tickets is/are high.
 The price of NBA tickets is high.
 The fans at Reser Stadium is/are noisy.
 The fans at Reser Stadium are noisy.

6. Subject-Verb Agreement with
Prepositional Phrases
 The sale of T-shirts, hats and other Beaver products is/are also
good for business.
 The sale of T-shirts, hats and other Beaver products is also
good for business.
 Basketball games on television makes/make big profits for
the NBA.
 Basketball games on television make big profits for the NBA.

7. Subject-Verb Agreement with Multiple
Subjects
 Salt and pepper adds/add flavor to any meal.
 Salt and pepper add flavor to any meal.
 Baseball and football is/are popular sports in the U.S.
 Baseball and football are popular sports in the U.S.
 Susan and Michael likes/like to watch basketball.
 Susan and Michael like to watch basketball.

8. Subject-Verb Agreement with Multiple
Verbs
Note: the subject MUST agree with BOTH verbs.
 That instructor provides/provide clear instructions
and evaluates/evaluate papers fairly.
 That instructor provides clear instructions and evaluates papers
fairly.
 The students in the afternoon class listens/listen carefully to the
instructor and takes/take notes to remember key points of the
lecture.
 The students in the afternoon class listen carefully to the instructor
and take notes to remember key points of the lecture.

9. Subject-Verb Agreement with Words
that Are Always Singular
 One of the NBA’s biggest stars is/are Michael Jordan.
 One of the NBA’s biggest stars is Michael Jordan.
 Each of the NBA players is/are a well-trained athlete.
 Each of the NBA players is a well-trained athlete.
 Now each of the NBA games on Chinese television
attracts/attract millions of viewers.
 Now each of the NBA games on Chinese television attracts
millions of viewers.

10. Subject-Verb Agreement with
Indefinite Pronouns
 Pronouns that do not refer to any specific person or thing (anybody,
anything, each, either, everyone, nobody, nor, someone, something,
etc.) usually take singular verbs:
 Everybody in the study struggles/struggle with English
grammar.
 Everybody in the study struggles with English grammar.
 Each of the subjects has/have been screened.
 Each of the subjects has been screened.

11. Subject-Verb Agreement with
Collective Pronouns
 Nouns that represent a group (staff, committee, audience,
group, class, jury, etc.) are usually treated as singular in
American English.
 As the team rallies/rally, the crowd goes/go wild.
 As the team rallies, the crowd goes wild.
 The team members argues/argue a lot, but my family
does/do not.
 The team members argue a lot, but my family does not.

12. Subject-Verb Agreement with Words
that Are Always Plural
 Both of the Los Angeles NBA teams plays/play in the Staples
Center.
 Both of the Los Angeles NBA teams play in the Staples Center.
 Several of the Lakers is/are All Star players.
 Several of the Lakers are All Star players.
 Both of them is/are quite different from the traditional player.
 Both of them are quite different from the traditional player.

13. Subject-Verb Agreement with Words
that Are Singular or Plural
 A few words can be either singular or plural. In these cases, look at
the noun in the prepositional phrase.
 Some of the excitement at a Lakers game occurs/occur off the
basketball floor.
 Some of the excitement at a Lakers game occurs off the basketball
floor.
 Some of the fans finds/find the movie stars at Lakers games more
interesting than the games.
 Some of the fans find the movie starts at Lakers games more
interesting than the games.

14. Subject-Verb Agreement with
Either/Or; Neither/Nor
 With 2 singular subjects, the verb is singular:
 Neither the cathedral nor the castle interests/interest me.
 Neither the cathedral nor the castle interests me.
 With 2 plural subjects, the verb is plural:
 Neither the cathedrals nor the castles interests/interest
me.
 Neither the cathedrals nor the castles interest me.

15. Subject-Verb Agreement with
Either/Or; Neither/Nor
 With 1 plural and 1 singular subject, the verb agrees with the
subject that is nearest to the verb:
 Either my twin brothers or my sister was/were here.
 Either my twin brothers or my sister was here.
 Neither my sister nor my twin brothers was/were here.
 Neither my sister nor my twin brothers were here.