A sentence is made up of 2 parts:
SUBJECT that tells us what the sentence is about. It can be either a noun (book,cars,Mary, etc)or a pronoun(they,she,etc).It can be either singular or plural.
VERB represents the action of a sentence (is, went, will place, have taken, etc)
How to make the subject and verb agree:
1.Identify the subject of the sentence.
2.Decide if the subject is singular or plural.
3.Lastly,decide which verb form will match with the subject.
Example:
The quality of the apples were not good.
In this,subject is the “quality of the apples” and the the verb is ‘were’.
Since the subject “the quality of the apples” is singular, the singular verb ‘was’ should have been used instead of ‘were’.
So the correct sentence is:
The quality of the apples was not good.
10 rules of Subject Verb Agreement
RULE1: The subject and verb must agree in number: both must be singular, or both must be plural.
Example:The car belongs to my brother.(SINGULAR)
They also play football.(PLURAL)
RULE2: The number of the subject (singular or plural) is not changed by words(or a phrase) that come in between the subject and the verb.
Example: One of the boxes is open.
Here,the subject “one” and the verb “is” are both singular.
RULE3: Some subjects always take a singular verb even though the meaning may seem plural.
Example: Someone in the game was (not were) hurt.
RULE4: The following words may be singular or plural, depending upon their use in a sentence: some,any, all, most.
Example: Most of the news is good. (singular)
Most of the flowers were yellow. (plural)
RULE5: Subjects joined by “and” are plural. Subjects joined by “or” or “Nor” take a verb that agrees with the last subject.
Example: Bob and George are leaving.
Neither Bob nor George is leaving.
RULE6: “There” and “here” are never subjects.In sentences that begin with these words, the subject is usually found later on in the sentence.
Example: There were five books on the shelf. (were, agrees with the subject “book”)
RULE7: Collective nouns may be singular or plural, depending on their use in the sentence.
Examples: The orchestra is playing a hit song. (Orchestra is considered as one unit—singular)
The orchestra were asked to give their musical backgrounds. (Orchestra is considered as separate units-plural)
RULE8: Some nouns, while plural in form, are actually singular in meaning.
Example: Mathematics is (not are) an easy subject for some people.
RULE9: “Doesn’t” is a contraction of “does not” and should be used only with a singular subject.”Don’t” is a contraction of “do not” and should be used only with a plural subject.
Example: He doesn’t(does not) like it.
RULE10:Nouns such as ‘civics’, ‘mathematics’,‘dollars’, and ‘news’ require singular verbs.
Eg.A million dollars is needed to renovate that building.
Subject-verb agreement is one of the most basic parts of English Grammer and commonly repeated in exams. Reviewing and practicising above rules alongwith few questions for each will help you fully- understand subject-verb agreement and avoid many of the common mistakes that occurs in the exam.
10 must know rules for Subject Verb Agreement – Grammar
Subject Verb Agreement is a very important concept in English grammar. Now, don’t get worried and don’t be like “Why do I need to learn this? How is this going to help me? Many of the MBA entrances including CAT test students on the questions based on the concepts of Subject Verb Agreement. Hence, it makes more sense to brush up what you so happily left behind in school! This post will give you ALL that you need to know about english grammar rules for subject verb agreement and how to use them in your exams:
A sentence is made up of 2 parts:
SUBJECT that tells us what the sentence is about. It can be either a noun (book,cars,Mary, etc)or a pronoun(they,she,etc).It can be either singular or plural.
VERB represents the action of a sentence (is, went, will place, have taken, etc)
How to make the subject and verb agree:
1.Identify the subject of the sentence.
2.Decide if the subject is singular or plural.
3.Lastly,decide which verb form will match with the subject.
Example:
The quality of the apples were not good.
In this,subject is the “quality of the apples” and the the verb is ‘were’.
Since the subject “the quality of the apples” is singular, the singular verb ‘was’ should have been used instead of ‘were’.
So the correct sentence is:
The quality of the apples was not good.
10 rules of Subject Verb Agreement
RULE1: The subject and verb must agree in number: both must be singular, or both must be plural.
Example:The car belongs to my brother.(SINGULAR)
They also play football.(PLURAL)
RULE2: The number of the subject (singular or plural) is not changed by words(or a phrase) that come in between the subject and the verb.
Example: One of the boxes is open.
Here,the subject “one” and the verb “is” are both singular.
RULE3: Some subjects always take a singular verb even though the meaning may seem plural.
Example: Someone in the game was (not were) hurt.
RULE4: The following words may be singular or plural, depending upon their use in a sentence: some,any, all, most.
Example: Most of the news is good. (singular)
Most of the flowers were yellow. (plural)
RULE5: Subjects joined by “and” are plural. Subjects joined by “or” or “Nor” take a verb that agrees with the last subject.
Example: Bob and George are leaving.
Neither Bob nor George is leaving.
RULE6: “There” and “here” are never subjects.In sentences that begin with these words, the subject is usually found later on in the sentence.
Example: There were five books on the shelf. (were, agrees with the subject “book”)
RULE7: Collective nouns may be singular or plural, depending on their use in the sentence.
Examples: The orchestra is playing a hit song. (Orchestra is considered as one unit—singular)
The orchestra were asked to give their musical backgrounds. (Orchestra is considered as separate units-plural)
RULE8: Some nouns, while plural in form, are actually singular in meaning.
Example: Mathematics is (not are) an easy subject for some people.
RULE9: “Doesn’t” is a contraction of “does not” and should be used only with a singular subject.”Don’t” is a contraction of “do not” and should be used only with a plural subject.
Example: He doesn’t(does not) like it.
RULE10:Nouns such as ‘civics’, ‘mathematics’,‘dollars’, and ‘news’ require singular verbs.
Eg.A million dollars is needed to renovate that building.
Subject-verb agreement is one of the most basic parts of English Grammer and commonly repeated in exams. Reviewing and practicising above rules alongwith few questions for each will help you fully- understand subject-verb agreement and avoid many of the common mistakes that occurs in the exam.
A sentence is made up of 2 parts:
SUBJECT that tells us what the sentence is about. It can be either a noun (book,cars,Mary, etc)or a pronoun(they,she,etc).It can be either singular or plural.
VERB represents the action of a sentence (is, went, will place, have taken, etc)
How to make the subject and verb agree:
1.Identify the subject of the sentence.
2.Decide if the subject is singular or plural.
3.Lastly,decide which verb form will match with the subject.
Example:
The quality of the apples were not good.
In this,subject is the “quality of the apples” and the the verb is ‘were’.
Since the subject “the quality of the apples” is singular, the singular verb ‘was’ should have been used instead of ‘were’.
So the correct sentence is:
The quality of the apples was not good.
10 rules of Subject Verb Agreement
RULE1: The subject and verb must agree in number: both must be singular, or both must be plural.
Example:The car belongs to my brother.(SINGULAR)
They also play football.(PLURAL)
RULE2: The number of the subject (singular or plural) is not changed by words(or a phrase) that come in between the subject and the verb.
Example: One of the boxes is open.
Here,the subject “one” and the verb “is” are both singular.
RULE3: Some subjects always take a singular verb even though the meaning may seem plural.
Example: Someone in the game was (not were) hurt.
RULE4: The following words may be singular or plural, depending upon their use in a sentence: some,any, all, most.
Example: Most of the news is good. (singular)
Most of the flowers were yellow. (plural)
RULE5: Subjects joined by “and” are plural. Subjects joined by “or” or “Nor” take a verb that agrees with the last subject.
Example: Bob and George are leaving.
Neither Bob nor George is leaving.
RULE6: “There” and “here” are never subjects.In sentences that begin with these words, the subject is usually found later on in the sentence.
Example: There were five books on the shelf. (were, agrees with the subject “book”)
RULE7: Collective nouns may be singular or plural, depending on their use in the sentence.
Examples: The orchestra is playing a hit song. (Orchestra is considered as one unit—singular)
The orchestra were asked to give their musical backgrounds. (Orchestra is considered as separate units-plural)
RULE8: Some nouns, while plural in form, are actually singular in meaning.
Example: Mathematics is (not are) an easy subject for some people.
RULE9: “Doesn’t” is a contraction of “does not” and should be used only with a singular subject.”Don’t” is a contraction of “do not” and should be used only with a plural subject.
Example: He doesn’t(does not) like it.
RULE10:Nouns such as ‘civics’, ‘mathematics’,‘dollars’, and ‘news’ require singular verbs.
Eg.A million dollars is needed to renovate that building.
Subject-verb agreement is one of the most basic parts of English Grammer and commonly repeated in exams. Reviewing and practicising above rules alongwith few questions for each will help you fully- understand subject-verb agreement and avoid many of the common mistakes that occurs in the exam.Join us MBA CET 2025
