Subject Verb Agreement
Subject-Verb Agreement
The following are common rules on subject-verb agreement:
1. Nouns in plural form but singular in meaning take a singular verb.
a. Statistics is my favorite subject. b. Measles attack the whole town.
2. Plural titles of the books, periodicals, films, and the like take a singular verb.
a. Great Expectations is our favorite. b. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is my favorite book.
3. Use do for plural subjects and does for singular subjects. But be sure that the main verb of the sentence is in its base form.
a. She doesn’t even want salt and sugar to scatter all over the pantry. b. Does your office have any frame or design? c. We don’t have any hi-tech office equipment.
4. Fractions and percentage attached to noncount nouns take a singular verb; fractions and percentage attached to count nouns take a plural verb.
a. Half of the land was given to my brother. b. Only a fraction of those desks are brought in Hong Kong. c. Two-thirds of the sand is not enough. d. Two-thirds of the units have exploded. e. Sixty percent of the registered voters are expected to vote this coming election. f. Sixty percent of the land is forest.
5. Periods of time, measurement, rate, amount price, and weight take a singular verb.
a. Its size is 12 square meters. b. Six days is too short for this project. c. Three hundred pesos per hour is my rate in the tutorial service. d. Fifteen thousand pesos is very inexpensive for this table. e. This is ten kilos of sugar. f. I think 40 hours was spent to complete this year’s sales report.
6. Collective noun regarded as one unit or acting as one takes a singular verb. Collective nouns regarded as separate units or acting separately takes a plural verb.
a. The board has decided to fire the corporate secretary. (as one unit) b. The board have argued about the issue of firing
The following are common rules on subject-verb agreement:
1. Nouns in plural form but singular in meaning take a singular verb.
a. Statistics is my favorite subject. b. Measles attack the whole town.
2. Plural titles of the books, periodicals, films, and the like take a singular verb.
a. Great Expectations is our favorite. b. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is my favorite book.
3. Use do for plural subjects and does for singular subjects. But be sure that the main verb of the sentence is in its base form.
a. She doesn’t even want salt and sugar to scatter all over the pantry. b. Does your office have any frame or design? c. We don’t have any hi-tech office equipment.
4. Fractions and percentage attached to noncount nouns take a singular verb; fractions and percentage attached to count nouns take a plural verb.
a. Half of the land was given to my brother. b. Only a fraction of those desks are brought in Hong Kong. c. Two-thirds of the sand is not enough. d. Two-thirds of the units have exploded. e. Sixty percent of the registered voters are expected to vote this coming election. f. Sixty percent of the land is forest.
5. Periods of time, measurement, rate, amount price, and weight take a singular verb.
a. Its size is 12 square meters. b. Six days is too short for this project. c. Three hundred pesos per hour is my rate in the tutorial service. d. Fifteen thousand pesos is very inexpensive for this table. e. This is ten kilos of sugar. f. I think 40 hours was spent to complete this year’s sales report.
6. Collective noun regarded as one unit or acting as one takes a singular verb. Collective nouns regarded as separate units or acting separately takes a plural verb.
a. The board has decided to fire the corporate secretary. (as one unit) b. The board have argued about the issue of firing