In a sentence, the verb must agree in number with the subject. If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural. For example:
| subject | verb | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | He | is | Thai. |
| plural | They | are | Thai. |
In the very simple example above↑ it is clear that the subject He is singular and the subject They is plural. And it is clear that the verb agrees in each case. But in some sentences, it is not always so easy. The guidelines below will help you decide how to make a verb agree with its subject.
A compound subject has two or more simple subjects, usually joined by and or or.
If the compound subject is made from simple subjects joined by and, use a plural verb:
If the compound subject is made from simple subjects joined by or or nor, use a singular verb:
Don't be confused by words that come between the simple subject and the verb. The verb must agree with the simple subject, not with any words between them:
A few nouns can be used only as singular or as plural.
Some nouns are always singular, even though they end in -s and look plural. They must take a singular verb, for example: economics, maths, physics, gymnastics, aerobics, news
Some nouns have only plural form and always take a plural verb, for example: glasses, scissors, trousers, shorts, belongings, goods
Normal word order in English is subject-verb-object (SVO). Sometimes, however, the subject and verb are exchanged or inverted (VSO). This typically happens in questions and there is/are sentences. Be careful to identify the real subject.
Collective nouns are words that refer to a group of people, such as: team, committee, family, company. Generally, we treat collective nouns as singular to emphasize the single group, or plural to emphasize its individual members. (Note that some writers of American English routinely treat collective nouns as singular.)
Some indefinite pronouns are always singular and need a singular verb, for example: anyone, anything, everyone, no-one, someone
Some indefinite pronouns are always plural and need a plural verb, for example: both, few, many, others, several
Some indefinite pronouns can be singular when referring to an uncountable subject and plural referring to a countable subject, for example: all, any, more, most, none, some
Fractions (¾), percentages (%) and other parts of a whole follow normal countable/uncountable rules.
Uncountable nouns (always singular)
Contributor: Josef Essberger, founder of EnglishClub.com. Originally from London, England, Josef is the author of several books for learners of English including English Prepositions List and Learn English in 7.
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