Grammar / usage: Subject-verb agreement
Subtopic: Section D · Grammar
How to structure your answer
Rule: a verb agrees in number with its subject — singular subject, singular verb; plural subject, plural verb. Three common traps: (1) intervening prepositional phrases — the verb agrees with the head noun, not the nearest noun ('The bouquet of roses is on the table'); (2) collective nouns can take singular or plural depending on whether the group acts as a unit or as individuals ('The committee has decided' / 'The committee have disagreed among themselves'); (3) 'either … or' and 'neither … nor' take a verb that agrees with the nearer subject.
Approach: find the head noun of the subject before deciding the verb form. Strike out prepositional phrases mentally. For collective nouns, ask whether the group is acting as one or as many. For correlative conjunctions, the verb is decided by proximity.
What an examiner expects: the rule stated cleanly in one sentence; corrected sentences with the change underlined; a one-line justification per sentence.
Common pitfalls: (1) matching the verb to the nearest noun rather than the head noun; (2) over-correcting collective nouns to always-singular; (3) ignoring the proximity rule for correlatives.
Detailed model answer
121 words · target 100 words · 8 min
Rule: A verb agrees in number with its grammatical subject — singular subject, singular verb; plural subject, plural verb. Intervening prepositional phrases do not change the subject.
Worked examples: 'The bouquet of roses is on the table' (not are: the subject is bouquet, not roses). 'Neither the manager nor her assistants were informed' (verb agrees with the nearer subject, assistants). 'The committee has decided' (acting as one); 'The committee have disagreed' (acting individually).
Quick check:
- The list of candidates (is/are) on the noticeboard. is
- Either the captain or the players (was/were) at fault. were
- Each of the students (has/have) submitted the essay. has
- The number of applicants (was/were) lower this year. was
- A jury of twelve citizens (deliver/delivers) the verdict. delivers
What an examiner expects to see
- Rule: subject and verb must agree in number.
- Trap 1 — intervening phrase: ignore prepositional phrases between subject and verb.
- Trap 2 — collective nouns: singular when acting as one, plural when acting as individuals.
- Trap 3 — either/or, neither/nor: verb agrees with nearer subject.
- 'Each', 'every', 'everyone', 'nobody' take singular verbs.
- 'A number of' takes plural; 'the number of' takes singular.
- Quantities and distances treated as a unit take singular ('Ten miles is a long way').
- Titles of books and names of companies treated as singular ('Great Expectations is on the syllabus').
- Compound subjects joined by 'and' usually take plural unless they refer to one thing ('bread and butter is on the table').
- Practice sentences for the examinee to correct.
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- Wrong: 'The bouquet of roses are on the table.' Right: 'The bouquet of roses is on the table.' (head noun = bouquet, singular.)
- Wrong: 'Neither the principal nor the teachers was informed.' Right: 'Neither the principal nor the teachers were informed.' (verb agrees with nearer subject — teachers.)
- Wrong: 'A number of students was absent.' Right: 'A number of students were absent.' ('A number of' = plural.)
- Wrong: 'The committee are unable to take a decision yet.' Right: 'The committee is unable to take a decision yet.' (acting as one unit, hence singular.)