Subject Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb Agreement is the grammatical rule that the subject of a sentence must agree in number (singular or plural) with its verb.

A singular verb should be used when the subject is singular, such as 'The cat runs fast.'

A plural verb should be used when the subject is plural, such as 'The cats run fast.'

When subjects are joined by 'and', they typically take a plural verb, e.g., 'Tom and Jerry are friends.'

When subjects are joined by 'or' or 'nor', the verb agrees with the subject closest to it, e.g., 'Neither the teacher nor the students were ready.'

With 'neither/nor', the verb should agree with the nearest subject, e.g., 'Neither my dad nor my mom knows how to speak another language.'

With 'either/or', the verb should agree with the nearest subject, e.g., 'Either the dog or the cats are outside.'

Collective nouns can take either singular or plural verbs depending on whether the group acts as a single unit or as individuals, e.g., 'The team wins' vs. 'The team are arguing among themselves.'

Uncountable nouns take singular verbs, e.g., 'The information is useful.'

Subjects that are plural but refer to a single entity take singular verbs, e.g., 'The United States is a country.'