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Subject-Verb Agreement

Match subjects with correct verb forms: singular subjects with singular verbs, plural with plural

What is Subject-Verb Agreement?

The verb must agree with the subject in number. Singular subjects take singular verbs; plural subjects take plural verbs.

Examples: "She works" (singular) vs. "They work" (plural)

Basic Rules

Singular subjects → singular verbs (add -s/-es):

  • He works here.
  • She likes coffee.
  • The dog barks loudly.
  • John studies hard.

Plural subjects → plural verbs (no -s):

  • They work here.
  • The dogs bark loudly.
  • Students study hard.
  • We like coffee.

Special Cases

Everyone, Everybody, Someone, Nobody, etc. (SINGULAR):

  • Everyone is here. (NOT are)
  • Somebody knows the answer.
  • Nobody wants to go.
  • Everything is fine.

Each, Every, Either, Neither (SINGULAR):

  • Each student has a book.
  • Every person needs water.
  • Either option is fine.
  • Neither answer is correct.

Compound subjects with AND (PLURAL):

  • John and Mary are friends.
  • The cat and the dog are sleeping.

Compound subjects with OR/NOR (agree with nearest):

  • Neither John nor his friends are coming. (friends is nearest)
  • Either the students or the teacher is wrong. (teacher is nearest)

Collective nouns (usually SINGULAR in US, can be PLURAL in UK):

  • US: The team is winning.
  • UK: The team are winning. (thinking of members)
  • The family is/are on vacation.
  • The committee has/have decided.

Amounts and quantities (SINGULAR):

  • $100 is a lot of money.
  • Five years is a long time.
  • Ten kilometers is far.

Tricky Cases

There is/are (agree with noun after):

  • There is a problem. (singular)
  • There are problems. (plural)

Subjects separated from verb (ignore words in between):

  • The book on the tables is mine. (book = singular)
  • The students in the class are smart. (students = plural)

Phrases with "of" (agree with first noun):

  • One of the students is absent. (one = singular)
  • Some of the water is gone. (water = uncountable singular)
  • Many of the books are old. (books = plural)

Common Mistakes

  • ❌ Everyone are here. → ✅ Everyone is here.
  • ❌ She don't like it. → ✅ She doesn't like it.
  • ❌ The students is smart. → ✅ The students are smart.
  • ❌ There's problems. → ✅ There are problems.
  • ❌ One of the students are... → ✅ One of the students is...

Practice Tips

  • 👤 Everyone = singular: All words ending in -one/-body are singular: everyone, someone, nobody.
  • 🔍 Find the real subject: Ignore prepositional phrases. "The book (on the tables) is mine" - subject is "book."
  • 📝 Third person -s: He/she/it takes -s on the verb in simple present: "he works," "she likes."
  • ⚡ There is/are: Look at the noun that follows: "There is a book" / "There are books."
  • 🎯 Compound with OR: The verb agrees with the NEAREST subject: "Either John or his friends are..."

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