Two singular nouns or pronouns separated by either … or or neither … nor take a singular verb. Plural subjects separated by either…or or neither … nor,both …and, and all but take a plural verb. Another problem that users of English face is this: does the verb in a sentence agree with the noun subject before it or the noun or adjective after it complement?
Subject-Verb Agreement. Match your noun with the correct verb. Concorde or Subject-Verb Agreement Have you ever wondered why we say, She looks very pretty and not She look very pretty?
How do you recognise a singular or plural verb? Jack singular noun enjoys singular verb playing golf every Sunday. The mm plural noun enjoy plural verb playing golf every Sunday.
We plural pronoun think plural verb that she singular pronoun is singular verb innocent. However, there are exceptions to the rules mentioned earlier. If the two nouns joined by and represent a singular idea, then the verb is singular. Bread and butter is available on request. Fish and chips is my favourite meal. The girls or their father collects the newspapers every morning. In this example, the singular verb, collects agrees with the noun closest to it, the singular noun, father.
Should we say, The football team are plural verb ready for their photograph? Correct: The arrival of new fall fashions has excited all the back-to-school shoppers.
Incorrect: Twenty-five rules is a lot to digest. Correct: Twenty-five rules are listed on the notice. And then there is the fact that English just refuses to follow its own rules. If English can contradict itself, it will. She and I run every day. Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite sandwich. When a subject is made up of nouns joined by or , the verb agrees with the last noun.
She or I run every day. Potatoes, pasta, or rice goes well with grilled chicken. The football team is practicing night and day for the Super Bowl. Some of these verbs include:. Some verbs add -es when changed to a singular form from the base form. These verbs typically end in -ch, -o , -s, -sh, -x, or - z. They include:. Verbs that end in a consonant and -y change to -ies in singular form. For example:. There is a small group of verbs that end in -y but don't change to -ies.
That's because they end in a vowel and -y , not a consonant and -y. In these cases, you only add an -s. These rules work well for regular verbs, but what about irregular verbs? Irregular verbs are verbs that change form in the past tense , such as "catch" caught and "swim" swam. Most of these verbs do follow the above rules, but there are a few that also change form in the singular present tense. These verbs include:. There are only a few verbs that fall into this category, but they're very important.
The verbs "to be" and "to have" are fundamental to the other verb tenses in English. Deciding whether a verb is plural or singular mostly happens when you're writing in the present tense. Regular past tense verbs and most irregular past tense verbs are the same for both singular and plural subjects. When you're writing in the progressive or perfect tenses, the main verb doesn't change with singular or plural subjects — but the linking verb does.
For example, in the progressive tenses, the verb "to be" changes with the subject:. In the present perfect tense and the present perfect progressive tense, the verb "to have" must match the singular or plural subject:. Sentences in the past perfect tense and the past perfect progressive tense use "had" along with the main verb, no matter whether the subject is singular or plural.
Using the correct verb form for subject-verb agreement makes your writing easier to understand. With words that indicate portions—e. If the noun after of is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb. Examples: A lot of the pie has disappeared. A lot of the pies have disappeared. Fifty percent of the pie has disappeared. Fifty percent of the pies have disappeared. A third of the city is unemployed. A third of the people are unemployed.
All of the pie is gone. All of the pies are gone. Some of the pie is missing. Some of the pies are missing. Some teachers, editors, and the SAT testing service, perhaps for convenience, have considered none to be strictly singular. However, authorities agree that none has been both singular and plural since Old English and still is. If in context it seems like a singular to you, use a singular verb; if it seems like a plural, use a plural verb.
When none is clearly intended to mean "not one," it is followed by a singular verb. Rule 8b. With collective nouns such as group , jury , family , audience , population , the verb might be singular or plural, depending on the writer's intent. Examples: All of my family has arrived OR have arrived.
Most of the jury is here OR are here. A third of the population was not in favor OR were not in favor of the bill. Anyone who uses a plural verb with a collective noun must take care to be accurate—and also consistent. It must not be done carelessly. The following is the sort of flawed sentence one sees and hears a lot these days:. The staff is deciding how they want to vote. Careful speakers and writers would avoid assigning the singular is and the plural they to staff in the same sentence.
Consistent: The staff are deciding how they want to vote. Rewriting such sentences is recommended whenever possible. The preceding sentence would read even better as:.
Rule 9.
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