Subject Verb Agreement

What is Subject Verb Agreement?

Subject verb agreement or subject verb concord in grammar is the agreement of the subject with the verb in number and person.

The verbs in Sentences (a) and (b) demonstrate the agreement rule. In Sentence (a), the subject ‘The dog’ is singular. Hence, a singular verb ‘growls’ is used. In Sentence (b), the subject ‘The dogs’ is plural. Hence, the plural verb ‘growl’ is used. This relationship between the noun and the verb is called subject verb agreement.

The bee flutters by the flower.

The bees flutter by the flower.

The group of women was arrested by the police.

The groups of women were arrested by the police.

The sheep jumps over the fence.

The sheep jump over the fence.

All the troupes have performed.

The troupe has performed.

Rules of Subject Verb Agreement

Uncountable nouns and material nouns will agree with singular verbs.

In a noun phrase, the head word (either a noun or a pronoun) agrees with the verb.
Some collective nouns always agree with plural verbs.
While dealing with collective nouns, one should determine whether the verb refers to the collection or the members within the collection. If the verb refers to the collection, the verb is singular. If the verb refers to the actions of individual members of the collective noun, the verb is plural.
The nature of the action of the members in the collection nouns also determines whether the verb will be singular or plural. If the action is in unison, the verb is singular. If the action is not in unison, the verb is plural.
Indefinite pronouns always agree with singular verbs.

Someone has been here.

Much was wasted.

Nothing is impossible.

Everything is illuminated.

None of this makes sense.

Something is crawling under the rug.

Gerunds always agree with singular verbs.

In the case of compound subjects joined by the conjunction ‘and’, the verb will be plural.

Amit and Raghu have completed their assignments.	Bones and teeth are excavated from the ruins of the ancient city.
The purse and all its contents were missing.	Krishna and Balarama are brothers.

Sometimes, the compound subject may represent a single idea, notion or thing. In such cases, the subject will agree with a singular verb.

Law and order was restored.

(The words ‘law’ and ‘order’ represent the same idea.)

Ramu, the gardener and cook, was absent today. (‘Ramu’, ‘gardener’ and ‘cook’ is the same person.)

The horse and carriage has arrived.

(‘Horse’ and ‘carriage’ are parts of the same unit.)

Peace and prosperity prevails.

(‘Peace’ and ‘prosperity’ represent the same idea.)

Phrases such as ‘along with’ and ‘as well as’ and ‘together with’ connect two nouns like the conjunction ‘and’.
The verbs in these cases will agree with the first noun.
When two nouns are connected by correlatives either…or and neither…nor, the verb agrees with the noun which is closest to it.
When distributive pronouns are in the subject, the verb will be singular.
When units of measurement are used in the subject, the verb will be singular.
When pronouns such as ‘there’ and ‘here’ are used, the verb will agree with the noun which follows it.

There are two reasons for this phenomenon.

Here is a flowery hat.

Here are your books.

There goes my balloon.

Some nouns may end in ‘-s’ and may seem plural, but they agree with singular verbs.

Economics is my favourite subject.

The news is not very good.

Measles is a disease.

Physics is taught by Dr Desai.

Some nouns are always in the plural form and will agree with plural verbs. These words may sound awkward in their singular form. Many of them operate in pairs. Examples: Jeans, scissors, shorts
Some nouns do not have a plural form. These words may be singular or plural.
Fractional expressions may agree with singular or plural verbs depending on their number.
The phrase ‘…is one of the’ will be followed by a plural verb.
Sometimes, a modifier may distance the subject from the verb. In such cases, the modifiers should not affect subject verb agreement in any way.