In this lesson, we will look at subject-verb agreement and specifically rules which which you might not be familiar.
Please look at these sentences and choose the correct answer.
Every book (is/are) checked out.
Economics (is/are) an interesting field of study.
Either John or his brothers (is/are) going to make dinner.
A number of foreign visitors (is/are) surprised by tipping customs.
$3.00 (is/are) not a lot of money.
None of the workers (receives/receive) a tip.
Waiters, in addition to others who work for tips, (is/are) generous tippers.
Half of the tables (is/are) occupied.
20% (is/are) preferable.
The majority of the customers (is/are) happy.
France, as well as other European countries, (has/have) a tip-included policy.
The number of customers (is/are) 75.
Five miles (is/are) an average distance for me to run.
Neither the host nor his guests (was/were) happy.
The police (carries/carry) guns in the U.S.
The family (arrives/arrive) together at 7:00.
The poor (is/are) always with us.
There (is/are) some news that I have to tell you.
Ninety pounds (is/are) not a lot to weigh.
Everybody in this room (has/have) to fill out this form.
So how did you do?
Here are the answers:
Every book (is/are) checked out.
John (studies/study) English every day.
There (is/are) a lot of students in the class.
Economics (is/are) an interesting field of study.
Either John or his brothers (is/are) going to make dinner.
A number of foreign visitors (is/are) surprised by tipping customs.
$5.00 (is/are) not a lot of money.
None of the workers (receives/receive) a tip.
Waitresses, in addition to others who work for tips, (is/are) generous tippers.
Half of the chairas (is/are) occupied.
20% (is/are) preferable.
The majority of the passengers (is/are) happy.
France, as well as other European countries, (has/have) a tip-included policy.
The number of students in the classroom (is/are) 75.
Five miles (is/are) an average distance for me to run.
Neither the flight attendant nor her passengers (was/were) happy.
The police (carries/carry) guns in the U.S.
The family (arrives/arrive) together at 7:00.
The poor (is/are) always with us.
There (is/are) some news that I have to tell you.
Two hundred pounds (is/are) not a lot to weigh.
Everybody in this room (has/have) to fill out this form.
Please look over the ones you missed and look at the rules below to find out why you made the mistakes.
Vocabulary
SINGULAR
Each and every
One of/each of/every one of
The number
False plurals – the news/mathematics/physics
Diseases – diabetes/measles/mumps/rabies/rickets/shingles
Time, money and distance – eight hours/eight dollars/eight miles
English with no the (refers to the language and not the people)
The United States, the Philippines (proper nouns are typically one and therefore, singular.
The majority/the minority
PLURAL
A number
Those/these
The police/cattle/fish
The English/the Chinese/the poor/the rich/the blind/the deaf/the elderly/the disabled
DEPENDS on the noun closest to the verb
Some of/a lot of/two-thirds/most of
The majority of/the minority of
Depends on the noun after the verb
There/here
BOTH – doesn’t matter
None of
Please remember those rules covered very specific subject-verb agreement rules. Most of the subject-verb agreement problems I see are with problems that you already know the rules for like this one:
John study engineering every day.
Obviously, the answer should be “John studies engineering every day.”
How can you edit for these mistakes?
1.Enable grammar check on your computer. If you aren’t sure how to do that, just google enable grammar check and the type of computer you have.
2.Another way is to let me look at samples of your writing and I can tell you what types of mistakes you make.
3.For the more sophisticated rules, you can do more practice like the exercise below:
Ten miles (is/are) a long way to walk.
15% (is/are) what some people tip.
Every student in the class (needs/need) to finish his/her homework.
Mathematics (takes/take) a lot of time to master.
Either Susan or her sister (is/are) going to make dinner.
John as well as his wife and two children (is/are) taking a long vacation.
Half of the students in this school (is/are) F-1 visa students.
The number of students in the class (is/are) 20.
Waiters, in addition to others who work for tips, (is/are) generous tippers.
Neither of the two brothers (smokes/smoke)
The majority of the customers (is/are) happy.
France, as well as other European countries, (has/have) a tip-included policy.
Five hours (seems/seem) very long for an exam.
Each of the boys (takes/take) a music class.
Neither the host nor his guests (was/were) happy.
The police (carries/carry) guns in the U.S.
Everybody in this room including all the children (has/have) to fill out this form.
The poor (is/are) always with us.
There (is/are) some news that I have to tell you.
Ninety pounds (is/are) not a lot to weigh.
I would be happy to give you the answers if you turn it in to me or let me know you did it.