What is Subject Verb Agreement in Grammar?

What is subject-verb agreement?

Subject verb agreement sounds like a mouthful, but it’s an inescapable aspect of English. As a broad rule of grammar, it requires that verbs match the subject number.

Just like how nouns change by singular and plural, verbs also take on different spellings to indicate number. we l singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs. Getting this right makes your sentences clear and grammatically correct.

What's a subject in grammar?

A sentence subject is the person, place, thing, or idea that the sentence is about. In the sentence, "The teacher reads every morning," the teacher is the sentence subject and performs the action (of reading).

How to use subject-verb agreement

Answer: Number or count. Verbs, like nouns, use different forms for singular and plural subjects.

Singular: There is a dog barking on the street.

Plural: There are dogs barking on the street.

Remember: The number of subjects in a sentence determines the verb form; not the other way around. Identify the subject (not nearby nouns) and match the verb accordingly.

Subject-verb agreement in practice

Most of the cake has disappeared.

Incorrect: Most of the cake have disappeared.

Cake, in this context, functions as a singular subject, so it requires the singular verb has. When quantifiers are used (like most, some, or all), whether the verb is singular or plural depends on the noun that follows (e.g., "Most of the students are" vs. "Most of the cake has").

Auxiliary verb agreement with irregular verbs

Auxiliary verbs (have, be, do, and modal auxiliaries) must also agree with their subjects in number. Irregular verbs and compound structures (like "either...or", "neither...nor", collective nouns, and phrases between subject and verb) can complicate agreement, so be sure to locate the true subject before choosing the verb form.

I or they may have gone to the store to buy groceries.

He or she has gone to the store to buy groceries.

Rules of subject-verb agreement

Rule #1: Verbs take after the sentence subject in number.

Singular: He runs every morning.

Singular: Most of the cake has disappeared.

Plural: We are excited for the trip.

Plural: Dogs bark loudly.

Rule #2: Sentences that include two or more nouns or pronouns connected with and use plural verbs.

The doctoral student and the advisor are preparing the presentation

Rule #3: Words that appear between a subject and a verb do not change the verb form; the verb still agrees with the subject.

The bittersweet flavor of youth—its trials, its joys, its adventures—remains vivid.

The girls, along with their classmates, are volunteering today.

Rule #4: Singular subjects conjoined by either, or, or neither/nor take singular verbs; when subjects differ in number, the verb agrees with the nearer subject.

Neither Ashley nor Maya is available right now.

Either the students or the teacher is responsible for the announcement.

Rule #5: Use singular verbs after indefinite pronouns such as each, either, everyone, everybody, neither, nobody, someone, anyone.

Each student is required to hand in an assignment on the topics covered.

Rule #6: Noncount or mass nouns (e.g., information, furniture, cake, politics) use singular verbs.

Politics is a complicated field.

This might all sound tedious, but subject-verb agreement is a fundamental rule of English grammar. Mastering these patterns will make your writing clearer and more professional.

Practice: Subject-verb agreement

FAQs

Sources

1. P.C. Wren, High School English Grammar and Composition.