This is the first lecture of Lesson 7.

The lecture defines and explains how to avoid errors in

subject-verb agreement.
Subject-verb agreement (SVA) is really quite a simple concept. Subject-verb
agreement means that the verb must be conjugated to the form required by its
subject.

Subject-verb agreement (SVA) is most commonly a problem with verbs written in

the present tense when the subjects are third person singular and plural.

Subject-verb agreement is usually a matter of deciding whether the subject

requires the verb to be in the base form or in the –s form.

For all verbs other than be, if the subject is third person singular (represented
by the pronouns he, she, and it), the verb in the present tense needs to be written
in the –s form. Here are example sentences: “The coffee tastes good.” “Isabella
drinks a lot of coffee.”

For all verbs other than be, if the subject is third person plural (represented by
the pronoun they), the verb in the present tense needs to be written in the base
form. Here are example sentences: “The muffins taste good.” “The customers eat
a lot of muffins.”

The problem with SVA usually occurs when it is difficult to see whether the
subject is singular or plural in the third person. When the subject is in the first or
second person singular or plural (I, you, we), deciding the verb form is not a
problem, so those subjects will not be addressed in most of the examples in this
presentation.

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Subject-verb agreement must also be considered when the verb be is in the simple
present or past tense. Be is a very irregular verb.

When the verb be is in the present tense and the subject is third person singular
(represented by the pronouns he, she, and it), the verb form is is, as in the sentence
“Alberto is a great cook.”

When the verb be is in the present tense and the subject is third person plural
(represented by the pronoun they), the verb form is are as in the sentence “Alberto and
his wife are now living in Boise, Idaho.”

When the verb be is in the past tense and the subject is third person singular
(represented by the pronouns he, she, and it), the verb form is was, as in the sentence
“Alberto was making crème brulée for dessert.”

When the verb be is in the past tense and the subject is third person plural (represented
by the pronoun they), the verb form is were, as in the sentence “Alberto and Isabella
were culinary students in Italy.”

More information about the verb be is discussed in the second lecture of Lesson 7.

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Subject-verb agreement is mostly a matter of deciding whether the subject is plural
or singular in the present tense and in the present and past tense with the verb be.

This presentation will show you how to determine if a subject is singular or plural in
the following situations:

• With compound subjects

• With collective nouns
• With indefinite pronouns
• When words come between the subject and verb
• When the subject follows the verb
• When the sentence has a subject complement
Errors often occur when the subject is compound. This slide shows an example of a
sentence with a compound subject. “The mayor and the city manager back the new policy.”

It is easy to see that the subject is plural: two people, the mayor and the city manager,
perform the action of the verb back, which is written in the base form in the present tense.
If the compound subjects are joined by or or nor, the verb agrees with the subject closest to
it.

For example, in “Neither the mayor nor the council members back the new policy,” the
subject closest to the verb is the plural members, so the verb must be back, in the base
form.

In “Either the sculptures or the painting goes in the lobby,” the subject closest to the verb is
the singular painting, so the verb must be goes, in the –s form.

The final sentence illustrates subject-verb agreement when the first person subject
influences the verb. In “Neither Joe nor I am going to attend the auction,” the subject
closest to the verb is I. Since the verb be is irregular, its first person form is am, which
matches the first person singular subject I that is closest to it.
When neither and either are indefinite pronouns as subjects, they are singular.

Both of the sentences on this slide need the verb to be written in the –s form to match the
subject:

“Of the two budget proposals, neither takes into account unforeseen expenses.”

“Of the two budget proposals, either results in higher taxes.”

Compound subjects are also considered singular if they are preceded by each or every, as
in the two examples on this slide. In both sentences, the verb must be in the –s form to
match the singular subject:

“Each boy and girl plays a musical instrument.”

“Every parent and teacher enjoys the student concerts.”

Sometimes a plural subject actually comprises one concept, as in these examples.

“Iced tea and lemon quenches your thirst on a hot day.” The subject Iced tea and lemon
consists of two items, but collectively, the two items together form the singular concept of
what quenches our thirst. Therefore, the verb quenches is correctly written in the -s form.

“Five thousand dollars was raised for the charity.” When we write about five thousand
dollars, we are thinking about the collective unit or sum of money, not of the plurality of
all the dollars. We consider five thousand dollars to be a singular subject, so the verb
was is needed to match the singular subject.
Subject-verb agreement may be problematic when the subject is a collective noun.

When the collective noun focuses on the group as a single unit, it is a singular subject, so
the verb must agree, as in “My family hikes every summer in Yosemite.”

However, if the writer wants to show that the members of a group identified by a
collective noun are acting individually, the plural verb is used. For example, take this
sentence: “My family travel from all over the country to meet for this hike.” Here the
emphasis is on each member traveling independently from the other members of the
family, so the collective noun is plural, and the verb travel in the base form matches that
plural subject.

If you are not sure whether a collective noun should be considered singular or plural, you
can revise the sentence for clarity. “The family members travel from all over the country
to meet for their hike” now has a clear plural subject, members.
Some nouns end in s but are singular in meaning. Words like mumps, news, physics, and
politics are singular. Here are two examples of sentences in which the subjects end in s,
but they are singular nouns, so the verbs match in the –s form.

“The mumps is a dangerous disease, especially when contracted by an adult.”

“The news says that the rate of unemployment increased last quarter.”
Names of countries, institutions, and companies are singular.

“The United States is a member of the United Nations.” Here the subject is the name of one
country, the United States, so it is a singular subject matched by the verb is.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a report about the measles
outbreak.” Here the subject is the name of one institution, so the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention is a singular subject matched by the verb has released.
When number of is preceded by the indefinite article, a, it is plural, as in “A number of
participants are medical doctors.” The verb are agrees with the plural subject.

When number of is preceded by the definite article, the, it is singular, as in “The number
of participants is growing.” The verb is agrees with the singular subject.
Some subjects can be considered either singular or plural and the writer needs to make
a conscious decision about how that noun is perceived.

With words that indicate portions, such as words that represent fractions or percentages,
you may look at the object of the preposition of to determine whether a singular or plural
verb is appropriate.

If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb, as in “Two-thirds of the city
is flooded.”

If the object of the preposition is plural, use a plural verb, as in “Ninety percent of the
residents were evacuated.”

When the subject is a number or indicates a range, you need to decide whether it is
singular or plural. Look at this sentence: “The doctor knows that 73 mg/dL is within the
standard range for an HDL cholesterol test.” The measurement 73 mg/dL represents one
unit, the result of the test, and so is singular, matched by the verb is.

In the sentence “One to five people are coming over tonight,” One to five people is the
complete subject. Even though there is a possibility that just one person will come over
tonight, the sentence implies that the writer expects more than one person. Also, the
plural word people next to the verb makes the plural are appropriate.
The rules that apply to indefinite pronouns and subject-verb agreement are similar to
those we learned about in pronoun-antecedent agreement.

Most indefinite pronouns are singular, such as another, each, everybody, nobody, or
everyone.

Here is a sentence that uses a singular indefinite pronoun as the subject, and the verb
feels in the –s form agrees with the pronoun: “Everyone feels sticky because of the
humidity.”
The indefinite pronoun none can be considered either singular or plural. The
difference is subtle.

None agrees with a singular verb when you are focusing on the singular concept
of “not one,” as in this example: “We have learned many life lessons during our
marriage, but none is as powerful as the Golden Rule.” That is, not one lesson is
as powerful as the Golden Rule.

None agrees with a plural verb when you are focusing on the plural concept of
“not any of them,” as in this example: “The farmer says that all his vegetables are
organically grown and none contain pesticides.” That is, not any of all those
vegetables have pesticides.
Something that causes problems with subject-verb agreement is when a prepositional
phrase comes between the subject and verb.

In both sentences on this slide the subject and verb are interrupted by a prepositional
phrase.

When the object of the preposition is directly next to the verb, as in these cases, the
writer may be influenced by the number of that object, rather than by the true subject of
the sentence.

In the first sentence, “The stack of books is very dusty,” the subject of the sentence is
stack, a singular noun, and so it agrees with the verb is. However, the word books, the
object of the preposition, is right next to the verb, so it is easy to have that plural noun in
mind and incorrectly use the verb are instead.

The second sentence is similar to the first. Here the subject of the sentence is the plural
books, and it agrees with the verb belong in the base form. The singular object of the
preposition, table, should not be mistaken for the subject of the sentence.

One thing to remember is that the object of a preposition may not be the subject of a
verb. The object of a preposition does not control the verb, except in certain exceptions
when the subject is a portion of something, as discussed on slide 14 of this lecture.
It is easy to think that along with and as well as are conjunctions that create plural
subjects and so you might think that the verb needs to be written as plural, in the base
form. However, along with and as well as are actually prepositional phrases that are
interruptions between the subject and verb, not part of a plural subject.

The subject in this first example is teacher, and it is followed by the interrupting phrase
as well as her students. Teacher is the grammatical subject. It is singular and so the verb
needs agree in the –s form.

In the second example the grammatical subject, students, is plural and so the verb work
needs to agree by being written in the base form. You should understand, however, that
the word “professor” is not a second subject in this sentence. It is just part of the
interrupting phrase.

If you want to emphasize both nouns as a plural compound subject of the sentence, you
should restructure it by using the word “both.” That is, you could write Both the teacher
and her students find . . . , or Both the students and their professor work . . . .The word
Both becomes the subject of the sentence, and it is matched with a plural verb (base
form).
When a sentence contains a relative pronoun that acts as the subject of an adjective
clause, the verb of the clause must agree with the antecedent of the pronoun, as in “We
like the car that has leather seats.” The relative pronoun that refers to its antecedent, car,
which is singular. Therefore, the verb in the adjective clause is has.

Agreement with relative pronouns is trickier if one of the comes before the antecedent. If
one of the comes before the antecedent, the pronoun may be plural or singular: “We
decided to buy one of the cars that have / has leather seats.” The verb may be
seen to refer to the singular antecedent one or to the plural antecedent cars. You
should know that the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, says that the plural is
preferred after one of the. However, the choice is yours because both plural and
singular are correct.

If the only one of the comes before the antecedent, the verb is singular: “The Accord is
the only one of the Hondas that comes in the color we like.” The only one of means that
there is only one car in that color, so the singular comes is the correct form of the verb.
The most common English sentence construction is the one in which the subject is first,
followed by the verb, for example, “The airplane flew at 35,000 feet above the earth.”

However, there are times when the subject comes after the verb, but the subject must
agree with the verb no matter what the subject’s position in the sentence is.

You need to look ahead to see if the subject is singular or plural before you write the form
of the verb.

Common constructions in which the subject comes after the verb are There is /There are/
or Here is/ here are, or in the past, there was or were or here was or were.

In the sentence “There is only one window seat left” the subject is the singular one
window seat, which follows the verb phrase There is. The verb must be is to agree with
the singular subject.

In the sentence “Here are your boarding passes,” the subject is the plural boarding
passes, so the plural are is needed in the verb phrase Here are.

The final sentence, “Above the earth float soft pillows of clouds” inverts the standard
subject plus verb order to verb plus subject order. The plural subject, pillows, agrees with
the verb in the base form, float. Using inverted order of the subject and verb is usually
done for stylistic purposes.
A subject complement is a noun that comes after a linking verb (e.g., be, become). The
noun after the verb renames the subject.

The problem occurs when the subject does not agree with the complement in number.

In “The elderly man’s greatest comfort is his children,” the subject is the singular comfort
but the subject complement is the plural children. It may sound logical for you to connect
them with the plural verb are.

Remember that the grammatical subject of the sentence is what controls the form of the
verb. The subject complement, whether singular or plural, does not affect the verb.
Therefore, in this sentence, the verb is is correct.

Similarly, if the sentence is restructured so that the subject is plural and the complement
is singular, the verb must still agree with the subject, not the complement, as in this
sentence: “His children are the elderly man’s greatest comfort.”
This has been the first lecture of Lesson 7.

There is a Pause & Process section to look at next, which contains a “Check Your
Knowledge” exercise.

The second lecture of Lesson 7 explains verb forms and verb tenses.

If you have any questions, please post them in the Discussion Board “Ask the
Instructor” forum.