Rule Example Subject Remarks

1 Singular subject takes singular verb and He is a boy He 1st,2nd person singular subje
Plural subject takes plural verb
I am busy I
We are tired We
I go to market I
They are good They
students want to study Students
My pants were torn. Pants
ertain nouns are always used in singular and
followed by singular verbs. These are not
used in the plural sense and do not take on hair, issue, advice, informati
plural verbs Her hair has turned grey now. abuse, furniture, land, busin
The scenery of Kasauli is beautiful.
Is there any information in this regard?

2 The number of the subject (singular or
plural) is not changed by words that
come between the subject & verb
One of the eggs is broken One
The dog, who is chewing on my
jeans, is usually very good.
That red-haired lady in the fur hat lives Lady
across the street.
Carlos is the only one of those students the only
who has lived up to the potential one
described in the yearbook.
A variety of pleasing objects catches the
eye.
The quality of these apples is very poor.

3 Sometimes the subject is separated The politician, along with the along with, as well as, in addi
from the verb by such words as along newsmen, is expected shortly. togather with, like,
with, as well as, besides, not,in
adition to etc. These words and
phrases are not part of the subject.
Ignore them and use a singular verb
when the subject is singular.
Excitement, as well as
nervousness, is the cause of her
shaking.

4 Parentheses are not part of the Joe (and his trusty mutt) was always
subject. welcome.
5 Some subjects always take a singular
verb even though the meaning may
seem plural.
6 Some words that are often used as
subjects are always plural
7 With words that indicate portions—
e.g., a lot, a majority, some, all we
are guided by the noun after of. If the
noun after of is singular, use a
singular verb. If it is plural, use a
plural verb.
any, all, most.
Some indefinite pronouns can be
singular when referring to an
uncountable subject and plural
referring to a countable subject, for
example: all, any, more, most, none,
some
none plural
none singular
8 Subject joined by and are plural.
Someone in the game was hurt. Someone Each,every, no, either, neithe
nobody, somebody, anybody,
everything Many a, much
Neither of the men is working. Neither
Every boy and girl was ready to take the
test.
Many achild dreams about becoimg
famous one day
Several of the staff understand the idea both, several, few, Others, ma
of an attendance policy.
Most of the news is good none, some, any, all, most.,m
Most of the flowers are yellow
All of the pie is gone.
All of the pies are gone.
All of the milk is gone
All of the children were good
Most of the milk has gone bad. Six
gallons of milk are still in the refrigerator.
None are helpless because they When none means or suggest
can always try. plural form of the verb.
None of them is able to do that job. When none means no one or
Bob and Sam are leaving Bob, Sam exception: Breaking and ent
breaking and entering is co
Breaking and entering is against the Exception
law. (because breaking and entering
is compound noun)
She, my friends, and I are not going to
the festival.
My friend and partner has come. My is the common possesive
My friend and my partner have come
 If the subject has two singular nouns
connected by AND; and both are about
the same person / thing, then the verb
remains singular.
If two subject togather express one idea
then it takes singular verb
9 Subjects joined by or or Nor take a verb
that agrees the last subject with
10
11 There and here are never subjects. In
sentences that begin with these words,
the subject is
12 Collective nouns may be singular or
plural, depending on their use in the
sentence.
My best friend and roommate is going to
US for a vacation.
rice and beans as single unit
Rice and bean is my favourite dish.
two words together express “
Bread and butter is what anyone needs. itssingular form:
Slow and steady wins the race.
My aunt or my uncle is arriving by aunt, or, nor, either/or, neither/no
train today. uncle
Neither Juan nor Carmen is available.
Either Kiana or Casey is helping today
with stage decorations.
Neither Bob nor Sam is leaving Bob, sam paired conjunction such as no
Neither Bob nor his friends are leaving Bob,
friends
Neither the teacher nor the students are teacher,
in class this morning. students
Are either my brothers or my father
responsible?
There were five books on the shelf. books
Here is the report you wanted. report
There are a dog, a cat, and a bird in the dog,cat
garage. and bird
Here into the main ring of the circus elephants
come the trained elephants.
The orchestra is playing a hit song orchestra
The orchestra were asked to give their orchestra
musical backgrounds.
The family are occupied with their family
individual problems.
A large number of voters still vote along Number
straight-party lines.
The jury has awarded custody to the
grandmother
The jury members have been arguing for
five days
 Certain collective nouns, those who are
singular in form, are always used in the plural
sense and take a plural verb. For e.g. gentry,
cattle, poultry, alphabets, offspring etc. hese poultry are ready for sale.
There are 26 alphabets in English.
The cattle are grazing near the canal.

13 Expressions of time, money, Five dollars is (not are) too much to ask. five
measurement, and weight are usually dollars
singular when the amount is considered
one unit.
Ten days is (not are) not nearly enough ten days
time.
There were thirty minutes to countdown. thirty exception
minutes
Six gallons of milk are still in the exception
refrigerator.
14 Some nouns, while plural in form, are Mathematics is (not are) an easy subject Singular athletics, acrobatics, asthetics
actually singular in meaning. for some people. gymnastics,home social stud
physics, phonics, thesis, stati

To an outsider, the economics of this plural exception

Plural form of subject with singular
meaning takes singular verb
Plural form of subject with singular or
plural meaning takes singular or plural
verb verb
country seem to be in disarray.
Mumps is a contagious disease
Politics is an interesting subject Singular
The politics of the situation were Plural
complicated

15 The word were replaces was in I wish it were Friday.

sentences that express a wish or are
contrary to fact:
She requested that he raise his hand.

16 Fractional expressions such as half of, a A large percentage of the older

part of, a percentage of, a majority of are population is voting against her.
sometimes singular and sometimes plural,
depending on the meaning. (The same is
true, of course, when all, any, more,
most and some act as subjects.) Sums and
products of mathematical processes are
expressed as singular and require singular
verbs. The expression "more than one"
(oddly enough) takes a singular verb: "More
than one student has tried this."

17 If your sentence compounds a positive
and a negative subject and one is plural,
the other singular, the verb should
agree with the positive subject.
18 If two infinitives are separated by and they
take the plural form of the verb.
19 When gerunds are used as the subject
of a sentence, they take the singular
verb form of the verb; but, when they
are linked by and, they take the plural
form.
20 Titles of books, movies, novels, etc. are
treated as singular and take a singular verb.
company name may be singular or plural
according to th meaning
21 A relative pronoun ("who," "which," or
"that") used as a subject of an
adjective clause takes either a singular
or plural verb in order to agree with its
antecedent.
The sentences containing phrases ‘one of Mary is one of the students who have
those who’ or ‘one of the things that’, a plural
verb is required.
Two-fifths of the troops were lost in
the battle.
Two-fifths of the
vineyard was destroyed by fire.
Two and two is four.
Four times four divided by two is eight.
Two-thirds of the money goes to charity.
The department members but not the
chair have decided not to teach on
Valentine's Day.
It is not the faculty members but the
president who decides this issue.
It was the speaker, not his ideas,
that has provoked the students to riot.
To walk and to chew gum require great
skill.
Standing in the water was a bad idea.
Swimming in the ocean and playing
drums are my hobbies.
The Burbs is a movie starring Tom singular books, movie, novel, organisa
Hanks.
Mudra and corporation have retained the plural
goodwill of their customers.
The oil corporation is located at Nariman singular
Point, Mumbai.
A vegetable that contains DDT can be (Adjective clause modifying th
harmful.
Vegetables that contain DDT can be (Adjective clause modifying th
harmful.
plural (Adjective clause modifies the
done honor to the college. antecedent of "who."

In simple form, one of or one of the, a
singular verb is used.
22 When the word number is
preceded with the word a, use a
plural verb. When the
word number is preceded with
the word the, use a singular verb.
23 Nouns which have two parts take plural
verbs.
However, when regarded as apair take
singular verb
23 Noun that do not have singular form
always take plural verb
Mary is the only one of our students singular In this case, "one," not "stude
who has achieved national recognition. students, Mary is the only on
A number of people are waiting to plural
see you.
The number of stars in the singular
sky seems countless.
More than one in five Britons are now
classed as obese.
More than one bathroom in the
home is definitely an asset.
The scissors are on the table.
My spectacles are missing.
These scissors need sharpening.
My pair of spectacles is missing.
This pair of scissors needs sharpening.
The proceeds of the magic show are to be
given to the fund for soldier’s welfare.
The goods are being dispatched today by
goods train.