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Identify which of the following errors you made. Find the verb(s) in your sentence and identify the corresponding subject(s).
Few errors sound more awkward to English speakers:
WRONG: Angry rebels storms the palace.
RIGHT: Angry rebels storm the palace.
The most common errors occur when words intervene between subject and verb:
WRONG: One of the babies cry.
RIGHT: One of the babies cries.
WRONG: Babies who are hungry cries.
RIGHT: Angry rebels storm the palace.
GRAMMAR TIP: Subject-Verb Agreement
GRAMMAR TIP: Subject-Verb Agreement
When you are proofreading to check for agreement, remember that the subject of a verb can never appear in a prepositional phrase (in the sentences above, “of the babies”).
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Three errors are common. Determine which rule you violated.
1. When two or more subjects are linked by “and,” the verb is plural:
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are basic human rights.
2. When “or” or “nor” links subjects, the verb agrees with the subject closest to it:
Either they or I am wrong.
Either you or she is wrong.
Neither he nor they skate.
Neither they nor he skates.
3. If a phrase like “as well as” joins two nouns, the verb agrees with the noun(s) before the interrupting phrase:
SINGULAR: Salad as well as a choice of desserts is complimentary with the meal.
PLURAL: My parents, especially my father, approve of my decision.
SVI: Inversion. If the subject follows the verb, they still must agree.
SVI: Inversion. If the subject follows the verb, they still must agree.
The error is most common in “there is” and “there are” constructions.
There goes my GPA.
There go my hopes of graduating.
Never has she seen such talent.
Never have they seen such talent.
SVP: Indefinite pronouns (“any,” “each,” “none,” etc.).
SVP: Indefinite pronouns (“any,” “each,” “none,” etc.).
Some pronouns that may seem plural are singular: “any,” “anyone,” “each,” “either,” “every,” “everyone,” “neither,” “no one,” “none.” Errors often occur when an “of” phrase intervenes between the pronoun and the verb. If you are uncertain, try saying the sentence without the intervening phrase.
WRONG: None of us are going.
RIGHT: None of us is going.
A few (“all,” “any,” “some”) can be singular or plural, depending on the word to which they refer:
PLURAL: All of the students eat pizza.
SINGULAR: All of the pizza is gone.
SVC: Complements.
SVC: Complements.
If a linking verb joins two noun phrases, the verb agrees with the subject.
Sometimes linking verbs (such as “is,” “were,” and other forms of “to be”) join a subject and a complement that differ in number; one may be singular and the other plural. In such a case, the verb agrees with the subject (the phrase that comes before the verb):
PLURAL: Candy bars are his favorite food.
SINGULAR: His favorite food is candy bars.
GRAMMAR TIP: Complements
GRAMMAR TIP: Complements
Linking verbs do not take direct objects. A noun or noun phrase after a linking verb is called the “predicate noun,” “predicate nominative,” or “complement” (because it completes the subject).
SUBJECT: A yardang
VERB: is
COMPLEMENT: a streamlined hill carved from bedrock by erosion.
Complements can be adjectives too:
SUBJECT: Timbuktu, China’s Flaming Mountains, and Iran’s Lut Desert
VERB: are
COMPLEMENT: hot.
An objective complement is one that is equated with the direct object. In the sentences below, the complements (one a noun phrase, one a modifying phrase) are equated with the direct objects:
Scientists consider the Lut Desert one of the driest spots on earth.
SUBJECT: Scientists
VERB: consider
DIRECT OBJECT: the Lut Desert
OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT: one of the driest spots on earth. [noun phrase]
Wind erosion makes yardangs hard and oddly shaped.
SUBJECT: Wind erosion
VERB: makes
DIRECT OBJECT: yardangs
OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT: hard and oddly shaped. [adjectives]
Yardangs in the Lut Desert.
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SV.Col: Collective nouns, numbers, and titles.
SV.Col: Collective nouns, numbers, and titles.
Some phrases that may seem plural are not:
COLLECTIVE NOUNS: The news is good. The data is incomplete.
NUMBERS: Ten dollars is a good price.
TITLES: War and Peace is Tolstoy’s masterpiece.
Some phrases can be collective or individual. The context determines which is right:
SINGULAR: The majority rules.
PLURAL: The majority vote without understanding the issues.
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