Writer's Choice Grade 7

Unit 16: Subject-Verb Agreement

Overview

Unlike people, subjects and verbs must always agree. When subjects and verbs agree, a singular noun or pronoun, like villain, is accompanied by a singular verb, like cackles. Or, a plural noun or pronoun, like heroes, is accompanied by a plural verb, like rescue. So, subjects and verbs must always agree in number.

Sometimes it is hard to tell if a subject is singular or plural. Look at the following sentence. The hideout in the gardens contains a volcano. In this case, a prepositional phrase, in the gardens, comes between the subject and the verb. Hideout is the actual subject, not gardens. Hideout is a singular subject, and, as a result, it takes the singular verb form, contains.

There are other ways to determine if a subject is singular or plural. For instance, when a collective noun identifies a group as a whole, it is singular and, therefore, takes a singular verb: The audience sits in silence. When the collective noun identifies members of a group acting as individuals, it is plural, and takes a plural verb: The onlookers were throwing rocks at the villains.

Certain nouns, like mumps and mathematics, end in –s but are actually singular. A book title is always singular even if a noun in the title is plural. Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that do not refer to a specific person, place, thing, or idea. When an indefinite pronoun is the subject, the verb must agree in number with that indefinite pronoun. For example: Nobody was afraid. Nobody is a singular indefinite pronoun; therefore, the singular verb form is used.

Sometimes sentences have compound subjects, two or more subjects that have the same verb. Use the plural form of a verb when compound subjects are joined by and or by both…and. For example: Both Ramona and Cody were fighting the villain. However, if either…or or neither…nor is used to join the subjects, the verb must agree with the subject closest to it. Consider the following sentence. Neither Ramona nor Cody was afraid. The linking verb, was, is singular in this example because it must agree with the subject closest to it, Cody. What about this sentence? Neither Ramona nor Cody nor the other heroes were afraid. The subjects are Ramona, Cody, and heroes. The subject heroes is closest to the verb and is plural. Therefore, the plural form of the verb is used in the sentence.