Sentence Correction - Subject Verb Agreement

Front 1

And Vs. Additive Phrases

Back 1

And always takes in plural verb since its makes a compound object.

Joe AND his friends ARE going to the beach.

Additive phrases do not form compound subjects. Rather, additive phrases function as
modifiers and therefore cannot change the number of the subject.

Joe, as well as his friends, IS going to the beach.
Mathematics, in addition to history and science, IS a required subject.

Front 2

Or, Either... Or, & Neither... Nor

Back 2

Occasionally, a subject may include a phrase such as or, either... or, or neither... nor. Such phrases link two nouns.

If one of the nouns is singular and the other noun is plural, what verb form should be used?

The answer is simple: find the noun nearest to the verb, and make sure that the verb agrees in number with this noun.

Neither the coach nor the players ARE going to the beach.
Neither the players nor the coach IS going to the beach.

In the first example, the plural subject players is nearest to the verb, so the verb takes the plural form are.

In the second example, the singular subject coach is nearest to the verb, so the verb takes the singular form is.

Front 3

Collective Nouns: Almost Always Singular

Back 3

A Collective Noun is a noun that looks singular (it usually does not end with an -s) but can refer to a group of people or objects.

Some examples include the following:
People: agency, army, audience, class, committee, crowd, orchestra, team
Items: baggage, citrus, equipment, fleet, fruit, furniture

The CROWD in the stands IS cheering loudly as the home TEAM TAKES the field.

Our ARMY of a hundred thousand soldiers IS attacking the enemy.

Front 4

Indefinite Pronouns: Usually Singular

Back 4

An Indefinite Pronoun is not specific about
the thing to which it refers. Anyone is an example of an indefinite pronoun.

There are, however, 5 indefinite pronouns that can be either singular or plural depending on the context of the sentence.

You can remember these 5 by the acronym SANAM.
THE SANAM PRONOUNS: Some, Any, None, All, More/Most

They can be singular or plural depending on the context and the number of the subjects.

Front 5

Each and Every: Singular Sensations

Back 5

Every dog HAS paws.
Every dog and cat HAS paws.
Each of these shirts IS pretty.

You may think that the subjects of the second and third sentences are plural. However, in each case, the subject is preceded by each or every.

Therefore, the subject is considered singular.

Note that each following a subject has no bearing on the verb form.

They each ARE great tennis players.
Here, the plural subject they requires the plural verb form are.

Front 6

Quantity Words and Phrases

Back 6

The phrase THE number of takes a singular verb, but A number of takes a plural verb.

The number of hardworking students in this class IS quite large.

This sentence follows the normal rule: eliminate the middlemen {of hardworking students in this class).

The subject is the number (singular), which agrees with the singular verb is.

A number of students in this class ARE hard workers.
On the other hand, a number o f is an idiomatic expression. In modern English, it has become equivalent
to some or many.

As a result, we consider students the subject