Present . . Past .
singular plural singular plural
I walk We walk I walked We walked
You walk You walk You walked You walked
He/she walks They walk He/She walked They walked
It walks It walked
Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject-verb agreement refers to a change in the form of a verb depending on its subject. The subject of a verb may be singular or plural and it may be first-person (I, we) second-person (you [singular], you [plural]), or third-person (he/she/it, they).
In English a verb changes form only when its subject is third- person singular (he/she/it) and only in the present tense. The following chart illustrates this relationship.
|
Present . . Past . |
|
singular plural singular plural |
|
I walk We walk I walked We walked |
|
You walk You walk You walked You walked |
|
He/she walks They walk He/She walked They walked |
|
It walks It walked |
| Rule 1: in the present tense, a verb with a third-person singular subject must always end in -s. |
| Rule 2: The past tense form is the same regardless of its subject. |
| Rule 3: A third-person singular subject is any person or thing that can be replaced with one of the pronouns he, she, or it. |
GLORIA M. Arroyo [she] gained power when the people [they] revolted against the elected government of Joseph Estrada. Estrada [he] was charged with plunder for stealing millions of dollars from the government, but the poor [they] still support him. Even though the Supreme court [it] has declared her President, Arroyo [she] is going to have a difficult time staying in power. The opposition group [it] has already tried to overthrow her government by force. It is also reported Estrada [he] and Arroyo [she] have faced at least one assassination attempt. Senator Enrile [he] was accused of plotting to kill Arroyo and Estrada [them] to claim the presidency for himself. It seems that no one [he/she] is safe in the dirty world of manila politics. Perhaps it is because most politicians [they] are more interested in power than in the needs of the people.
There are several sentence constructions that may make it difficult for you to determine whether the main verb should have an -s ending.
1.
When Words Separate the Subject from Its Verb.
Words that come between a subject and its verb do not affect the number (singular or plural) of the subject. You must determine which word is the sentence's subject and then use it to decide whether the verb needs an -s ending.
| The color of the curtain looks faded |
| The colors of the curtain look faded |
| A student with good grades deserves special consideration |
| Students with good grades deserve special consideration |
Sometimes words that come between a subject and its verb may contain a complete clause with a subject and verb of its own. Most often this will be a relative clause, beginning with who, which, that or, less often, where or when. This can be confusing because it's hard to tell which verb goes with which subject. Remember, a subject and verb need only agree when they are in the same clause.
| A woman who has a career and a family has very little time for herself. |
Relative pronouns may be either singular or plural, depending on what noun they refer to. Therefore the verb of a relative clause must agree with the noun that it is referring to.
| A woman who has a career can still be a good mother. |
| Women who have careers sometimes wait to have children. |
Be particularly careful editing subject-verb agreement when the words that separate a singular subject from its verb sound like they are making the subject plural. These words include expressions such as in addition to, as well as, including, and together with. These expressions do not function like the word and. In other words, they do not make the subject plural even though they sound like they do.
| A microcomputer, as well as a mainframe, uses silicon chips. |
| A microcomputer and a mainframe use silicon chips. |
| The processing unit, together with all of its types of memory, forms the heart of the machine. |
| The processing unit and the various types of memory form the heart of the machine. |
| The memory, including the ROM and RAM, performs the computer's operations. |
| The memory unit and the ROM and RAM perform the computer's operations. |
2.
When the Subject Comes after Its Verb
In some sentences, you may reverse the order of a subject and its verb in order to achieve an interesting effect. In other sentences, you may want to begin with the words There or Here. These sentence openers move the true subject to a position after its verb. When you are editing your verbs, make sure that you check these sentences very carefully to find the subject and to determine the correct form of the verb.
| At the end of the list is the single woman. |
| At the end of the list are single women. |
| There is one significant reason why women do not marry. |
| There are many reasons why women do not marry. |
However, remember that when you write a sentence that begins with the word “it”, you must always use the singular form of the main verb (which usually ends in -s).
| It seems that politicians are more interested in power than in serving the people. |
| It does not mean that all politicians are bad. |
| It appears that politicians and criminals may have a lot in common. |
3.
When Two or More Subjects are Joined by Or or Nor
When two or more subjects in a sentence are joined by or or nor, the verb form is usually determined by the subject that is closest to the verb.
| Neither that woman nor her friends are willing to participate. |
| Neither those women nor this one is willing to participate. |
| It is true that a career or children affect a woman's happiness. |
| It is true that children or a career affects a woman's happiness. |
4.
When the Subject is a Singular Pronoun
When used as a subject, the following pronouns are always considered singular and need verbs with -s endings on them in the present tense: each, either, neither, every, everybody, everyone, everything, anybody, anyone, anything, somebody, someone, something, nobody, no one, nothing.
| Everything contributes to the problem. |
| Someone who was raised in a loving family is likely to give love in return |
| Nobody has all of the answers. |
In terms of subject-verb agreement, the most troublesome pronouns on the list above are everybody, everyone, either, neither, every, and each. Everybody and everyone sound like groups but grammatically they behave like singular subjects.
| Everybody has to be concerned about corrupt politicians. |
| Everyone who deals with politics sees these problems. |
Either, neither, each, and every are always singular subjects unless they are used with or or nor.
| Neither is going to happen soon. |
| Either her mother or her brothers are going to file the complaint. |
| Each politician member has control over his or her decisions . |
5.
When Words Separate a Singular Pronoun Subject from Its Verb
When a singular pronoun, such as either, neither, each, or every is separated from its verb by other words, it is easy to get confused about the form of the verb. Remember that words that come between a subject and its verb do not affect the number of the subject or the form of the verb.
| Either of the politicians is going to succeed. |
| Neither politician is going to succeed. |
| Each of the politicians has to control their followers. |
Each and every cause subject-verb agreement confusion when they are separated from their verbs by the phrase of them or by two nouns joined by and.
| Each of them seems to be happy. |
| Each of their children has a good attitude. |
| Every girl and boy has to be careful. |
The pronouns some, none, any, and most can be either singular or plural subjects depending upon the words that follow them. For example, some can mean "more than one," in which case the subject is plural, or it can mean "a part of one," in which case the subject is singular.
| Some of the problems are caused by watching too much television. |
| Some of the problem is caused by watching too much television. |
| Most of our politicians remain unwilling to stop corruption. |
| Most of the information comes from corrupt politicians. |
6.
When the Subject is a Collective Noun
A collective noun is the name of a group that usually functions like a single unit. Some examples include family, class, audience, crowd, committee, team, jury, orchestra and group. If you are referring to the group as a single unit, then the noun is a singular subject (and needs an -s ending on its verb). If you are referring to the individual members of the group, then the noun is a plural subject.
| The team of scientists monitors earthquakes in Mindanao. |
| The team of scientists disagree about what causes earthquakes. |
| This group of scientists is known as the Earthquake Watchers. |
| That group of scientists have started their own religion which worships earthquakes. |
There is one collective noun that does function like the others listed above: the word number. When it is used in the phrase the number of, it is always a singular subject, and when it is used in the phrase a number of, it is always a plural subject.
| A number of politicians are fighting corruption. |
| The
number of corruption-fighting politicians is growing. |
7.
When the Subject is a Quantity
Like collective nouns, words that state a quantity or an amount usually function like singular subjects, but they can function like plural subjects when they refer to a part of something, not the whole thing. Usually in this case, the quantity is followed by the word of. Words of quantity include amounts of time, money, height, length, width, space, and weight.
| One hundred thousand pesos is an extremely large amount of money. |
| Three million pesos is the cost of the average home in Manila. |
| Two-thirds of their income goes for food. |
8.
When the Subject Looks Plural But is Singular in
Meaning can be the only way to determine subject-verb agreement. There are many subjects that look plural (in other words, that end in -s) but are singular in meaning. These include the names of school subjects--mathematics, linguistics, physics, economics, civics--and the names of some diseases--measles, mumps, AIDS, and herpes. They also include miscellaneous words like politics and news.
| Mathematics is the study of numerical relationships. |
| Herpes is a skin disease for which there is no cure. |
| The news about Joseph Estrada seems unbelievable. |
| Politics makes people act in strange and unpredictable ways.. |
9.
When the Subject is a Title
Even when a title is plural (like The New York Times), it functions like a singular subject, and it needs an -s ending on its verb.
| The New York Times follows the political events in Asia closely. |
| Principals of economics explain why third world countries get fewer opportunities. |
10.
When the Subject is a Verbal Phrase
Sometimes an -ing or to + infinitive verb form is used as a noun. A phrase containing one of these forms may appear as the subject of a sentence. In these cases, the subject is always singular.
| Learning how to do something well takes practice and determination. |
| To see is to believe. |