Subject-Verb agreement

Subject-verb agreement

By Andrés Muñoz García

Subject-verb agreement

The verb always agrees with the subject of the sentence

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct answer

• The list of items are on the desk.

• The list of items is on the desk.

Prepositional phrases

There can be prepositional phrases between the subject and the verb.

However, THE VERB STILL AGREES WITH THE SUBJECT​

Subject | Subject

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​Neither​

Neither is negative and when used alone, refers to the whole pair.

It is equivalent to “not one or the other”.

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Because it refers to just one member of a pair, neither must be used before a singular noun.

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It can also be used with a plural noun or pronoun if followed by “of”.

​Neither student likes failing

Neither of the teachers wants you to fail

Multiple Select

Choose the correct answers (two are correct)

• Neither of the chairs is broken

• Neither of the babies are crying

• Neither baby is crying

• Neither chairs are broken

Either

Either is positive and when used alone, refers to one of the two members of the pair.

​Either day is good for the exam (today or tomorrow)

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It is equivalent to “one or the other”.

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Because it refers to just one member of a pair, either must be used before a singular noun. It can also be used with a plural noun or pronoun if followed by “of”.

​Either of the days works well for us!​

It is a way of seeing a group as a series of members

• Every person in this class loves English​

​Every

It refers to the members of a group as individuals

• Each student gets the grade they deserve​

• Each of the students will get a good grade

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Each

Each and every

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Multiple Choice

Each and every are used with singular nouns. However, each of...

• is used with plural nouns

• cannot be used with plural nouns

Neither the phone nor the tablet is working ​

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Neither my mother nor my siblings like chocolate​

One plural subject makes the verb plural​

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Neither... nor...

I will come either on Friday or on Saturday

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Either Pablo or Jennifer are good candidates ​

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Either... or...

Either... or... / Neither... nor...

Open Ended

Write a sentence using either... or...

Multiple Choice

Neither the pen nor the pencils ____ in the bag

• are

• is

One hundred years is quite a long time for a person to live​

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Periods of time

Five hundred euros is a lot of money for a watch

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Sums of money

Money and time