Subject Verb Agreement Examples
Rule 1: If a
subject is singular, its verb must also be singular.
Example: My brother lives in Delhi. Therefore, in this example, brother is a singular subject, hence its
verb lives
is also singular.
Let's take some examples:
1. A boy is in the laboratory.
2. My father wears glasses.
3. Komal is at home.
4. A boat floats.
In the above example: boy, father,
Komal and boat are singular subjects. Therefore, their respective verbs: is, wears, is and floats are also singular.
Rule 2: If a subject is plural, its verb must also be plural.
Example: My brothers live in Delhi. Therefore, in this
example, brothers is a plural
subject, hence its verb live is also plural.
Some more examples are:
1. Boys are in the
laboratory.
2. Fruits are good for
health.
3. Toddlers cry when
they are hungry.
4. Boats float.
Note: In the present tense, nouns and verbs form plurals in
opposite ways. Nouns form plural by adding -s to its singular form and verbs form
singular be adding -s to its base form.
Rule 3: When two or more subjects are connected by and then they require a plural verb.
Examples:
1. Yogesh and Komal are at home.
2. My mother, father, brother and sister live in
Delhi.
Rule 4: Words such as Every and Each always take singular nouns. In this case, when there are two
or more nouns connected by and, the
verb is singular.
Examples:
1. Every man and women is
protected under law.
2. Each boy and girl in the tenth-grade class has to do a project.
3. Every boy and girl is
present.
4. Each boy and girl has
his or her own locker in the gym.
Rule 5: Gerunds (verb + -ing) used as the subject of the
sentence take a singular verb.
Examples:
1. Eating vegetables is
good for health.
2. Watching comedy movies is
fun.
3. Getting to know people from different countries is one of the best parts of my job.
Rule 6: Words such as one of, each of and every one of take singular verbs.
one of, each of, every one of + plural
noun = singular verb
Examples:
1. One of my friends is
coming to visit me.
2. Each of the girls in the class is present.
3. Every
one of the
students in the class is present.
Rule 7: None of when used as a subject takes a singular verb.
Examples:
1. None of the story is
interesting.
2. None of the stories is
interesting.
3. None of the girls is
present.
4. None
of the furniture is broken.
Rule 8: In most of the expressions, the verb is determined by the noun or pronoun that follows of.
some of + singular noun =
singular verb
some of + plural noun = plural verb
some of + plural noun = plural verb
a lot of + singular noun
= singular verb
a lot of + plural noun = plural verb
a lot of + plural noun = plural verb
two-thirds of + singular noun
= singular verb
two thirds of + plural noun = plural verb
two thirds of + plural noun = plural verb
most of + singular noun =
singular verb
most of + plural noun = plural verb
most of + plural noun = plural verb
Examples:
1. Some of the fruit is
rotten.
2. Some of the bananas are
rotten.
3. A lot of that movie is
funny.
4. A lot of movies are
funny.
5. Two-thirds of the furniture is
broken.
6. Two-thirds of the girls are
here.
7. Most of the movie is
funny.
8. Most of the movies are
funny.
Rule 9: When words such as the number of and a number of is used then:
The number of + plural noun
= singular verb
Example:
1. The number of computers in my company is thirty.
2. The
number of
employees in my company is eighty.
When a number of means a lot of
then it is followed by a plural noun and a plural verb.
Examples:
1. A number of employees are
on leave today.
Subject Verb Agreement Examples
Reviewed by Komal Ganjoo
on
February 26, 2017
Rating: