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1. Subject-Verb Agreement

2. Agreement Present tense verbs in English should agree with the subject of the sentence Singular subjects use singular verbs Jack robs liquor stores (s on the verb) Plural subjects use plural verbs Bonnie and Clyde rob banks (no s on the verb) Most native speaker do this instinctively More complex problems require you to learn a few rules

3. Identify the Subject Ignore words that come between the subject and the verb Reduce sentences to their simplest form A good set of skis costs / cost hundreds of dollars A good set of skis costs / cost hundreds of dollars A good set of skis costs hundreds of dollars My boss, as well as her staff, leave / leaves early every Friday My boss, as well as her staff, leave / leaves early every Friday My boss, as well as her staff, leaves early every Friday

4. Compound Subjects using “And” Most compound subjects joined by “and” are plural Bert and Ernie is / are special friends Bert and Ernie is / are special friends (plural verb) Exception: If the words joined by “and” refer to a single thing, the subject is also singular War and Peaceis a very thick book (singular) My friend and co-worker is waiting to see you (singular)

5. Compound Subjects using “Or” When the subject is joined with “or” or “nor” the verb agrees with the words closest to the verb Neither the instructor nor the studentshas / have any control over the number of 8 o’clock classes Neither the instructor nor the studentshas / have any control over the number of 8 o’clock classes (plural verb) Either two credit cards or a membership is / are needed before you can rent movies Either two credit cards or a membership is / are needed before you can rent movies (singular verb) Note: While the above example is correct, it is usually better to place the plural word closer to the verb Either a membership or two credit cardsare needed before you can rent movies (plural verb)

6. Indefinite Pronouns Indefinite pronouns are singular every, everyone, everybody, each, neither, either, none, one, no one Every student has / have a unique student number Every student has / have a unique student number None of us admit / admits to sending the e-mail message None of us admit / admits to sending the e-mail message Ignore prepositional phrases coming between the subject and the verb Each of the five departments is / are hiring new instructors Each of the five departments is / are hiring new instructors

7. Collective Nouns Words such as jury,committee, or herd will be singularwhen everyone in the group is acting together The juryis / are deciding the fate of the accused The juryis / are deciding the fate of the accused Collective nouns will beplural when the members of the group are not acting together The juryis / are undecided on the guilt of the accused The juryis / are undecided on the guilt of the accused

8. Here, There, and It When the sentence begins with Here or There, the subject follows the verb and controls whether the verb is plural Here are my reasons for quitting (plural) There is no need to pay me next week (singular) It is always singular It was the long hours that bothered me (singular)

9. Words Ending in S Words such as economics, AIDS,physics and news are singular Economicsis fun and exciting The newsis usually broadcast live Words such as scissors, eyeglasses and pants that name things with two parts are plural My glasseswere broken when I did a face plant

10. Money and Measurement Units of time, money, distance, and weight use singular verbs Twenty kilometresis a long distance to skate to work each day Eight dollars an houris a poor rate The expression thenumber is singular The number of failures is decreasing The expression anumber is plural A number of people are leaving

11. Titles The title of a movie, book or magazine requires a singular verb Lost Horizonsis a book about a utopia The Simpsonsis my favourite TV show

12. Interactive Exercises Click on the button below to get to the interactive exercises No disk is required