Subject–verb Agreement

Making Subjects and Verbs Match

A verb must agree with its subject in number. If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular; if the subject is plural, the verb must be plural. This sounds simple, but it becomes tricky when the subject is not a simple, clear-cut noun. What if the subject is a group ('the team')? Or an indefinite word like 'everyone' or 'some'? Or a pair connected by 'either/or'? This chapter will clarify these difficult cases, giving you the tools to ensure your sentences are always grammatically correct.

Subject-verb agreement is the rule that a verb must change its form to match its subject in number (singular or plural).