The entire meaning of your sentence often hinges on whether you choose a singular or a plural verb (the primary word in a predicate). Learning the rules of subject-verb agreement will help you write clear, unambiguous sentences.

 

Subjects and verbs must agree in number. That is, they are about one person, place, thing, or idea (singular) or MORE THAN one person, place, thing, or idea (plural). You'll learn how to form both the singular and plural of subjects and predicates.

 

You'll also practice identifying both simple and complete subjects and both simple and complete predicates. You'll also learn to identify compound subjects and predicates.

 

After you master these basics of subject-verb agreement, you'll learn to choose the correct verbs for subjects in these situations:

• Collective nouns
• Plural in form but singular in meaning
• Time, money, quantities
• Either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also
• Understood "you"
• Inverted sentences
• Indefinite pronouns
• Separated subjects and verbs
• Verb complements
• Relative pronouns
• Other special cases