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Subject Verb Agreement Rules in English Grammar :
Subject Verb Agreement Rules in English Grammar : Friends! This is an important topic to understand in English Grammar. Students often have confusion about which verb should come with singular or plural subject.
Today we are explaining to you through very easy rules. After knowing these rules, you will be able to use the correct agreement between subject and verb. So let’s learn something new.
Subject Verb Agreement Rules :
Rule 1.
A Verb must be according to its Subject in Number and Person. Verb must be singular for singular subject and Plural for Plural Subject.
| Subject Singular | Verb Singular |
| Subject Plural | Verb Plural |
For Example :
| No. | Incorrect Sentence | Correct Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| I | He Play Cricket. | He plays cricket. |
| II | They plays cricket. | They Play Cricket. |
- In I Sentence, Subject ‘He‘ is Singular. So ‘Plays‘ is used as the Singular form of Verb ‘Play‘.
- In II Sentence, Subject ‘They‘ is Plural. So ‘Play‘ is used as the Plural form of Verb ‘Play‘.
Rule 2.
If two or more than two singular subjects are connected by ‘And‘ then the verb must be Plural.
For Example :
| No. | Incorrect Sentence | Correct Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| I | Ram and Shyam has purchased a new car. | Ram and Shyam have purchased a new car. |
- Here, Two Singular subjects (Ram and Shyam) are connected to “And“, making sense of the Plural subject. So, in this sentence, the Plural verb ‘Have‘ must be used instead of Singular verb ‘Has‘.
Rule 3.
If two singular subjects connected by ‘And‘ refers to the same thing or person then the verb must be Singular.
For Example :
| No. | Incorrect Sentence | Correct Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| I | My Class teacher and Guide are always respectful for me. | My Class teacher and Guide is always respectful for me. |
| II | The Actor and Singer have allowed to sing a song. | The Actor and Singer has allowed to sing a song. |
- In I Sentence, ‘The class teacher and Guide’ are both the same person. Both of these singulars are making sense of singular despite being connected to the noun ‘And’. Hence the verb will be Singular.
- In II Sentence, ‘Actor and Singer‘ are connected to the ‘And‘ and Article ‘The‘ is used only before the Actor. It means that the person is the same but he is also an ‘Actor and Singar’; So, the verb will be Singular.
– Note that if Article ‘The‘ is used before both ‘The Actor and The Singer‘. It means that both are different person.
So, the verb will be Plural. After watching the use of article carefully, use the verb in any sentence.
Rule 4.
If two or more than two Personal Pronouns (such as I, We, You, They, He, She, It etc. ) are joined by ‘And‘
then the verb must be Plural.
For Example :
| No. | Incorrect Sentence | Correct Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| I | She and I am reading a book today. | She and I are reading a book today. |
- In I Sentence, Two Personal Pronouns (She and I) are connected to “And“, making sense of the Plural subject. So, Plural verb should be used as per rules.
- Remember that the verb here will not be according to its nearest or second pronoun. In this sentence, ‘are‘ must be used instead of ‘am‘.
Rule 5.
If two subjects are connected by ‘Not only–but also‘ then The number and person of the verb must be
according to the nearest or second subject.
For Example :
| No. | Incorrect Sentence | Correct Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| I | Not only teacher but also students was drinking juice. | Not only teacher but also students were drinking juice. |
| II | Not only students but also teacher were drinking juice. | Not only students but also teacher was drinking juice. |
Rule 6.
If two or more than two singular subjects are connected by the conjunction like ‘Either–or‘ , ‘Neither–nor‘ then the verb must be Singular.
For Example :
| No. | Incorrect Sentence | Correct Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| I | Either Radha or Krishna love each other. | Either Radha or Krishna loves each other. |
| II | Neither Meera Nor her brother are driving car. | Neither Meera Nor her brother is driving car. |
- In I Sentence, – Either–or means one of the two and In II Sentence, – Neither–nor means no one of the two. In this way, we find Singular subject in both sentences. so, the Singular verb must be used instead of Plural verb.
Rule 7.
If one of the two subjects is Plural and connected by the conjunction like ‘Either–or‘ , ‘Neither–nor‘ then Plural Subject should be placed nearest the verb and the verb must be Plural according to the nearest plural subject.
For Example :
| No. | Incorrect Sentence | Correct Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| I | Neither Principal Nor students has gone to school. | Neither Principal Nor students have gone to school. |
- Here the verb should be according to the nearest subject. In this sentence, ‘students‘ is nearest and plural subject. so, the verb must be Plural.
Rule 8.
If two personal Pronouns (such as I, We, You, They, He, She, It etc. ) are connected by the conjunction like ‘Either–or‘ , ‘Neither–nor‘ then The number and person of the verb must be according to the nearest or second subject.
For Example :
| No. | Incorrect Sentence | Correct Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| I | Either You or I will finish work. | Either You or I shall finish work. |
| II | Neither She Nor We has written a letter. | Neither She Nor We have written a letter. |
- The number and person of the verb must be according to the nearest or second subject.
- In I sentence – ‘Shall’ is used for ‘I’ and Have‘ is used for ‘We’ in II sentence.
Rule 9.
If two singular Nouns connected by ‘And’ express single idea or a unit. then the verb must be Singular.
For Example :
| No. | Incorrect Sentence | Correct Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| I | Bread and butter are favourite food for kids. | Bread and butter is favourite food for kids. |
- Here both Bread and butter is singular noun and referring to only one thing or idea. Both have been used collectively for food. So, the verb should be used Singular.
- There are many singular nouns in English which together form a pair and make sense of the one thing, for which singular verb is always used. Some such important pairs are like this :
| Slow and steady | Heart and soul |
| Ups and downs | Life and soul |
| Hue and cry | Flesh and blood |
| Hand and glove | Tea and toast |
| Time and tide | Crown and glory |
| Rice and curry | Tooth and nail |
Rule 10.
A number of or A large Number of etc. connected by Plural Nouns takes Plural verb after them.
For Example :
| No. | Incorrect Sentence | Correct Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| I | A large Number of Soldiers has joined the army. | A large Number of Soldiers have joined the army. |
– Note that The number of connected by Plural nouns always takes Singular verb after them.
For Example :
| No. | Incorrect Sentence | Correct Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| I | The Number of the players are playing cricket. | The Number of the players is playing cricket. |
So, These are 10 important and easy rules of Subject Verb Agreement. With the help of these Rules, You will be able to connect the Subject and Verb correctly according to Number and Person. Practice these rules well after understanding them so that you can avoid small mistakes and get good marks in the Exam.
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