Start here · the first lesson of Subject-verb agreement
Subject-verb agreement
Grammar: Voice, Narration, Tenses + Rule Bank · for IPMAT Indore, IPMAT Rohtak and JIPMAT
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The idea
A verb must agree with its subject in number (singular or plural) and person (I / you / he-she-it / we / they). Most exam items hide the real subject: they put a plural noun between the subject and the verb, add "along with" or "as well as", use a pronoun such as "each" or "neither", or start the sentence with "there". Find the true subject first and the item is solved. Rohtak and JIPMAT test it through spot-the-error and sentence improvement; Indore through underlined-part correction and "choose the correct sentence".
Textbook vs exam method
Textbook method
| Rule | Right | Wrong |
|---|---|---|
Person and number (sva-basic-person): he/she/it + -s in the simple present; I/he/she was, they were | She doesn't know the way. | She don't know the way. |
Phrase in between (sva-intervening-phrase, sva-plural-subject): the head noun decides | The quality of the mangoes has improved. | The quality of the mangoes have improved. |
As well as / along with / together with / accompanied by (sva-as-well-as): verb of the first subject | The captain, along with his players, was honoured. | …were honoured. |
Either…or / neither…nor / not only…but also (sva-either-or-nearer): verb of the nearer subject | Neither the manager nor the clerks were present. | …was present. |
Each, every, either, neither, everyone, somebody, nobody (sva-each-every): singular | Each of the boys has a bicycle. | Each of the boys have… |
Collective noun as one unit (sva-collective-noun): singular verb and "its" | The committee has given its report. | The committee have given its report. |
X and Y (sva-compound-and): plural, unless one idea or one person | Rice and dal are cheap; bread and butter is my breakfast. | Rice and dal is cheap. |
A number of / the number of (sva-number-of) | A number of students were absent; the number of absentees was small. | A number of students was absent. |
One of + plural noun (sva-one-of): singular verb | One of my friends lives in Pune. | One of my friends live… |
There is / there are (sva-there-is): agrees with the noun after it | There are two reasons. | There is two reasons. |
Amounts of money, time, distance as one sum (sva-amount-unit) | Five thousand rupees is too much. | Five thousand rupees are too much. |
Either / neither / both = two; any / none / all = three or more (determiner-two-vs-many) | Any of the three roads leads to the fort. | Either of the three roads… |
Two more points:
- "Every boy and girl was given a book": each / every before nouns joined by "and" makes the verb singular.
- "She is one of those players who never give up" (plural, because "who" stands for "players") is the formal rule, but informal English often uses the singular, so it is treated as contested: an item should not hang on it alone.
Exam method
- Underline the verb. of each clause (in spot-the-error, usually part B or C).
- Find its subject. Strike out "of…", "along with…", "as well as…" phrases and relative clauses.
- Classify the subject. each/every/one of/the number of/amount → singular; a number of/X and Y → plural; either…or → nearer noun; there → noun after the verb.
- Check the pronoun too. a singular collective noun takes "its", not "their".
- If every verb agrees, look elsewhere (tense, pronoun, preposition), or choose "No error".