Subject Verbs Agreement: Definition, Rules and Examples

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English Language is an important section and can easily fetch you some good marks if you are well-versed in the rules and regulation of grammar. The ideal way to have a good command over grammatical rules is to practice them as much as you can. In this article, we will be providing you rules related to Subject-Verb-agreement, a topic on which maximum questions are asked in different government jobs exams. Go through all the rules and regulations related to Subject-Verb-Agreement.

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Definition of Subject-Verb Agreement

In English,the basic structure of a sentence is as follows:

“Subject+Verb+Object”

Now, for a sentence to be grammatically correct, the verb must agree with the subjecr. In other words, the verb used must be in accordance with the person & number of subject.

Example- Ram, writes a letter

Here, singular verb is used with singular subject

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Rules of Subject-Verb Agreement

Rule 1-Words like anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody are always singular and, therefore, require singular verbs.

Everyone has done his or her work.
Someone has left her purse.

Rule 2– Words like all, some are singular or plural depending on what they’re referring to.

All of the beads are missing.
Some of the water is gone.

Rule-3 If the subject of the sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and, we use a plural verb.

Example: Ravi and Rakesh are playing

Rule 4– If subjects are joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the part of the subject that is closest to the verb. This rule is also called the rule of proximity.

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Example: Rahul or Ram members write every day.

Example: The members or the student writes every day.

Rule 5– Collective nouns always take singular verbs. Some examples are group, team, committee, family, and class.

Example: The children meets every week.

Example: The group agrees on the quality of the writing.

Rule 6– If following expressions are followed by uncountable noun. We use singular verb with them. Most of, Half of, Some of, Enough of, Plenty of, A lot of,

Example– Some milk is needed

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Rule 7– Similarly if following words are followed by countable noun we use plural verbs with them ” Most of/Half of, Some of, enough of, plenty of, a lot of”

Example- Some questions are difficult

Rule 8- More than one is followed by singular countable noun and singular verb

Example- More than one boy was absent.

Rule 9- Following expressions are followed by plural noun and plural verb. Words like “A large number of, A great number of, Large number of”

Example– A large number of cows are grazing in the field.

Rule 10- We use plural subjects and plural verb with the following, “Many, A great many, A good many, Many of, A great Many of, A good many of, both, several, various, Both of , several of, Various of, Few , a few, a few of, very few of”

Example- Many boy are absent today.

Rule 11– If we use “the” before any adjective then plural verb is used

Example- The poor are generally hardworking

Rule 12- ‘One of the’ is always followed by uncountable noun or countable noun, singular verb is used.

Example- Nothing but milk is sold.

Rule 13- If there is any definite unit/distance/height, etc. followed by the construction: Numeral+ Plural noun, then the verb is always singular.

Example- Ten thousand rupees is a good amount

Rule 14- Some nouns like Scenery, Poetry, Furniture, Hair, Business, Mischief, Information, Luggage, Work, Traffic, Stationary, Equpiment, Evidence, Electricity, Behaviour etc. are uncountable. Hence, singular verb is used with them

Example- The scenery of switzerland mesmerises everyone.