English — Subject-Verb Agreement: Rules and Exceptions — BAC Literary Stream

Subject-Verb Agreement: Rules and Exceptions

The subject and verb must agree in number (singular or plural). This is a fundamental grammar rule in English.

Basic Rules

• Singular subject → singular verb: “The student studies.”
• Plural subject → plural verb: “The students study.”

Special Cases

• Collective nouns (team, family) can be singular or plural.
• Indefinite pronouns (everyone, somebody) are singular: “Everyone is here.”
• Either/neither + singular verb: “Neither of them is ready.”
• The + adjective = plural: “The rich are getting richer.”

Common Mistakes

• Each of the students ___ (has/have) a book → has.
• The number of students ___ (is/are) large → is.
• A number of students ___ (is/are) absent → are.

Exercises

1. Correct: “Everyone have their own opinion.”
2. Choose: “The committee ___ (has/have) made its decision.”
3. Fill: “Neither the teacher nor the students ___ (is/are) here.”

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