Subject - Verb Agreement
- Singular聽subjects聽take singular verbs, plural聽subjects聽take plural verbs.
- If the subject of the sentence is singular, match聽it聽with the correct verb.
- If the subject is plural, match聽迟丑别测听with the correct verb.
- Remember (for example): he, she, it聽walks. I, we, you, 迟丑别测听walk
Collective nouns, e.g. everybody, group, or family, usually take a singular verb.
If you have a long subject phrase it is easy to make mistakes - check carefully by mentally eliminating all descriptive phrases to the core subject and then relating this alone to the verb.
For example:
Which is the correct verb here?
A bowl of apples, oranges, apricots and peaches聽was/were聽placed on the table.
The 鈥榗ore鈥 subject is聽a bowl; the fruit is the descriptive part of the phrase. Therefore the verb must also be singular -聽was.
It is always important to determine what the subject of a sentence is. Another common error occurs in sentences such as this:
The most interesting part of university life聽is/are聽the students you meet.
The subject is聽the most interesting part聽therefore the verb must be singular -聽is.
Watch out for sentences where the subject does not appear at the beginning of the sentence!
Grammar Smart聽The Princeton Review sets out clear rules for matching verbs and subject on pages 80 - 83.
