Subject-Verb Agreement

Errors with subject-verb agreement are often stigmatizing, which means many readers (especially professionals, such as professors and employers) will judge such errors more harshly than other grammatical errors. To add to this severity, subject-verb agreement errors are easy to make even when trying not to, such as changing some pronouns here and there during revision but forgetting to double-check their verbs. So it is vital that you become familiar with this error in order to identify and fix it.

Agreement

Agreement in sentence writing refers to the proper grammatical match between words and phrases. Parts of sentences must agree, or correspond with other parts, in number, person, case, and gender.

  • Number. All parts must match in singular or plural forms.
  • Person. All parts must match in first person (I), second person (you), or third person (he, she, it, they) forms.
  • Case. All parts must match in subjective (I, you, he, she, it, they, we), objective (me, her, him, them, us), or possessive (my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, their, theirs, our, ours) forms. For more information on pronoun case agreement.
  • Gender. All parts must match in male or female forms.

Subject-verb agreement describes the proper match between subjects and verbs.

Because subjects and verbs are either singular or plural, the subject of a sentence and the verb of a sentence must agree with each other in number. That is, a singular subject belongs with a singular verb form, and a plural subject belongs with a plural verb form.

Singular: The cat jumps over the fence.
Plural: The cats jump over the fence.

Regular Verbs

Regular verbs follow a predictable pattern. For example, in the third person singular, regular verbs always end in -s. Other forms of regular verbs do not end in -s. Study the following regular verb forms in the present tense.

Singular Form Plural Form
First Person I live. We live.
Second Person You live. You live.
Third Person He/She/It lives. They live.
.

Singular: I read every day.

Plural: We read every day.

In these sentences, the verb form stays the same for the first person singular and the first person plural.

 

Singular: You stretch before you go to bed.
Plural: You stretch before every game.

In these sentences, the verb form stays the same for the second person singular and the second person plural. In the singular form, the pronoun you refers to one person. In the plural form, the pronoun you refers to a group of people, such as a team.

 

Singular: My mother walks to work every morning.

In this sentence, the subject is mother. Because the sentence only refers to one mother, the subject is singular. The verb in this sentence must be in the third person singular form.

 

Plural: My friends like the same music as I do.

In this sentence, the subject is friends. Because this subject refers to more than one person, the subject is plural. The verb in this sentence must be in the third person plural form.

Tip

Many singular subjects can be made plural by adding an -s. Most regular verbs in the present tense end with an –s in the third person singular. This does not make the verbs plural.

Singular subject, singular verb: The cat races across the yard.
Plural subject, plural verb: The cats race across the yard.

 

Exercise 1

Select the correct verb form for each of the following sentences.

  1. I (brush/brushes) my teeth twice a day.
  2. You (wear/wears) the same shoes every time we go out.
  3. He (kick/kicks) the soccer ball into the goal.
  4. She (watch/watches) foreign films.
  5. Catherine (hide/hides) behind the door.
  6. We (want/wants) to have dinner with you.
  7. You (work/works) together to finish the project.
  8. They (need/needs) to score another point to win the game.
  9. It (eat/eats) four times a day.
  10. David (fix/fixes) his own motorcycle.

Irregular Verbs

Not all verbs follow a predictable pattern. These verbs are called irregular verbs. Some of the most common irregular verbs are be, have, and do. Learn the forms of these verbs in the present tense to avoid errors in subject-verb agreement.

Be

Study the different forms of the verb to be in the present tense. For more information, see the section To Be.

Singular Form Plural Form
First Person I am. We are.
Second Person You are. You are.
Third Person He/She/It is. They are.
Have

Study the different forms of the verb to have in the present tense.

Singular Form Plural Form
First Person I have. We have.
Second Person You have. You have.
Third Person He/She/It has. They have.
Do

Study the different forms of the verb to do in the present tense.

Singular Form Plural Form
First Person I do. We do.
Second Person You do. You do.
Third person He/She/It does. They do.

Exercise 2

Complete the following sentences by writing the correct present tense form of be, have, or do.

  1. I ________ sure that you will succeed.
  2. They ________ front-row tickets to the show.
  3. He ________ a great Elvis impersonation.
  4. We ________ so excited to meet you in person!
  5. She ________ a fever and a sore throat.
  6. You ________ not know what you are talking about.
  7. You ________ all going to pass this class.
  8. She ________ not going to like that.
  9. It ________ appear to be the right size.
  10. They ________ ready to take this job seriously.

Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement

Errors in subject-verb agreement are common in the following cases:

  • a sentence contains a compound subject
  • the subject of the sentence is distant from the verb
  • the subject of the sentence is an indefinite pronoun, such as anyone or everyone
  • the subject of the sentence is a collective noun, such as team or organization
  • the subject appears after the verb

Recognizing the sources of common errors in subject-verb agreement will help you avoid these errors in your writing. This section covers the subject-verb agreement errors in more detail.

Compound Subjects

A compound subject is formed by two or more nouns and the coordinating conjunctions and, or, or nor. A compound subject can be made of singular subjects, plural subjects, or a combination of singular and plural subjects.

Compound subjects combined with and take a plural verb form.

Two singular subjects: Alicia and Miguel ride their bikes to the beach.
Two plural subjects: The girls and the boys ride their bikes to the beach.
Singular and plural subjects: Alicia and the boys ride their bikes to the beach.

Compound subjects combined with or and nor are treated separately. The verb must agree with the subject that is nearest to the verb.

Two singular subjects: Neither Elizabeth nor Rianna wants to eat at that restaurant.
Two plural subjects: Neither the kids nor the adults want to eat at that restaurant.
Singular and plural subjects: Neither Elizabeth nor the kids want to eat at that restaurant.
Plural and singular subjects: Neither the kids nor Elizabeth wants to eat at that restaurant.
Two singular subjects: Either you or Jason takes the furniture out of the garage.
Two plural subjects: Either you or the twins take the furniture out of the garage.
Singular and plural subjects: Either Jason or the twins take the furniture out of the garage.
Plural and singular subjects: Either the twins or Jason takes the furniture out of the garage.

Tip

If you can substitute the word they for the compound subject, then the sentence takes the third person plural verb form.

Distance Between Subjects and Verbs

As you read or write, you may come across a sentence that contains a phrase or clause that keeps the subject distant from the verb. Often, prepositional phrases or dependent clauses add more information to the sentence and appear between the subject and the verb. However, the subject and the verb must still agree.

If you have trouble finding the subject and verb, cross out or ignore the phrases and clauses that begin with prepositions or dependent words. The subject of a sentence will never be in a prepositional phrase or dependent clause.

The following are each an example of a subject and verb separated by a prepositional phrase:

The students with the best grades win the academic awards.
The puppy under the table is my favorite.

The following are each an example of a subject and verb separated by a dependent clause:

The car that I bought has power steering and a sunroof.
The representatives who are courteous sell the most tickets.

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to an unspecified person, thing, or number. When an indefinite pronoun serves as the subject of a sentence, you will often use a singular verb form.

However, keep in mind that exceptions arise. Some indefinite pronouns may require a plural verb form. To determine whether to use a singular or plural verb with an indefinite pronoun, consider the noun that the pronoun would refer to. If the noun is plural, then use a plural verb with the indefinite pronoun. View the chart to see a list of common indefinite pronouns and the verb forms they agree with.

Indefinite Pronouns That Always Take a Singular Verb Indefinite Pronouns That Can Take a Singular or Plural Verb
anybody, anyone, anything All
each Any
everybody, everyone, everything None
much Some
many
nobody, no one, nothing
somebody, someone, something
Singular: Everybody in the kitchen sings along when that song comes on the radio.

The indefinite pronoun everybody takes a singular verb form because everybody refers to a group performing the same action as a single unit.

Plural: All the people in the kitchen sing along when that song comes on the radio.

The indefinite pronoun all takes a plural verb form because all refers to the plural noun people. Because people is plural, all is plural.

Singular: All the cake is on the floor.

In this sentence, the indefinite pronoun all takes a singular verb form because all refers to the singular noun cake. Because cake is singular, all is singular.

Collective Nouns

A collective noun is a noun that identifies more than one person, place, or thing and considers those people, places, or things one singular unit. Because collective nouns are counted as one, they are singular and require a singular verb. Some commonly used collective nouns are group, team, army, flock, family, and class.

Singular: The class is going on a field trip.

In this sentence, class is a collective noun. Although the class consists of many students, the class is treated as a singular unit and requires a singular verb form.

The Subject Follows the Verb

You may encounter sentences in which the subject comes after the verb instead of before the verb. In other words, the subject of the sentence may not appear where you expect it to appear. To ensure proper subject-verb agreement, you must correctly identify the subject and the verb.

Here or There

In sentences that begin with here or there, the subject follows the verb.

Here is my wallet!
There are thirty dolphins in the water.

If you have trouble identifying the subject and the verb in sentences that start with here or there; it may help to reverse the order of the sentence so the subject comes first.

My wallet is here!
Thirty dolphins are in the water.
Questions

When you ask questions, a question word (who, what, where, when, why, or how) appears first. The verb and then the subject follow.

Who are the people you are related to?
When am I going to go to the grocery store?

Exercise 3

Correct the errors in subject-verb agreement in the following sentences. If there are no errors in subject-verb agreement, write correct.

  1. My dog and cats chases each other all the time.

    ___________________________________________________________

  2. The books that are in my library is the best I have ever read.

    ___________________________________________________________

  3. Everyone are going to the concert except me.

    ___________________________________________________________

  4. My family are moving to California.

    ___________________________________________________________

  5. Here is the lake I told you about.

    ___________________________________________________________

  6. There is the newspapers I was supposed to deliver.

    ___________________________________________________________

  7. Which room is bigger?

    ___________________________________________________________

  8. When are the movie going to start?

    ___________________________________________________________

  9. My sister and brother cleans up after themselves.

    ___________________________________________________________

  10. Some of the clothes is packed away in the attic.

    ___________________________________________________________

Exercise 4

Correct the errors in subject-verb agreement in the following paragraph.

Dear Hiring Manager,
I feels that I am the ideal candidate for the receptionist position at your company. I has three years of experience as a receptionist in a company that is similar to yours. My phone skills and written communication is excellent. These skills, and others that I have learned on the job, helps me understand that every person in a company helps make the business a success. At my current job, the team always say that I am very helpful. Everyone appreciate when I go the extra mile to get the job done right. My current employer and coworkers feels that I am an asset to the team. I is efficient and organized. Is there any other details about me that you would like to know? If so, please contact me. Here are my résumé. You can reach me by e-mail or phone. I looks forward to speaking with you in person.
Thanks,
Felicia Fellini
Writing at Work

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