Agreement of English Verb with the Subject
A sentence
comprises a subject, which is a noun or pronoun, and a predicate, which again
comprises a verb and an object. Verb is an essential part of a predicate,
though object sometimes may be missing in a sentence. You will read in the
following sentences that there is always a particular agreement between a
subject and the verb of a sentence. The kind of subject always decides the kind
of verb in a sentence.
1. If a
sentence has a singular subject it is followed by a singular verb and if it has
a plural subject it is followed by a plural verb, e.g.
(a) Saira lives in Pakistan.
(b) More people live in Asia than any other continent;
(c) A man and his wife have come here asking for work.
2. When
the subject of the sentence is a phrase the following verb must agree with the
main noun in the subject, e.g.
(a) Many leading members of the opposition party have tried to justify the
decision.
(b) The only excuse that he gave for his actions wax that he was tired.
3.
Two or more singular nouns or pronouns joined by and require a plural verb;
as,
(a) Gold and
silver are precious metals.
(b) Fire and water
do not agree.
(c) Knowledge and
wisdom have oft-times no connection.
(d) Are your father
and mother at home?
(e) He and I were
playing.
But if the nouns suggest one idea to the mind, or refer to the same person or
thing, the verb is singular; as,
Time
and tide waits for no man.
The horse and carriage is at the door.
Bread and butter is his only food.
The rise and fall of the tide is due to lunar influence.
The novelist and poet is dead.
4.
Words joined to a singular subject by with, as well as, etc., are
parenthetical. The verb should therefore be put in the singular ; as,
The house, with its contents, was insured.
The Mayor, with his councillors, is to be present.
The ship with its crew, was lost.
Silver, as well cotton, has fallen in price.
Justice, as well as mercy, allows it.
5. Two or more singular
subjects connected by or or nor require
a singular verb:
No nook or corner was left unexplored.
Our happiness or our sorrow is largely due to our own
actions.
Neither food nor water was to be found there.
Neither praise nor blame seems to affect him.
But when one of the subjects joined by or or nor is
plural, the verb must be plural, and the plural subject should be placed
nearest the verb:
Neither the Chairman nor the directors are present.
6. When the subjects joined
by or or nor are of different persons, the
verb agrees with the nearer:
Either he or I am mistaken.
Neither you nor he is to blame.
Neither my friend not I am to blame.
But it is better to avoid these constructions, and to write:
He is mistaken, or else I am.
He is not to blame, nor are you.
My friend is not to blame, nor am I.
7. Either, neither,
each, everyone, many a must be followed by a singular verb:
Neither of the two men was very strong.
Each of these substances if found in India.
Every one of the boys loves to ride.
Many a man has done so.
Many a man has succumbed to this temptation.
8. Two nouns qualified by
each or every, even though connected by and, require a singular verb:
Every boy and
every girl was given a packet of sweets.
9. Some nouns which are
plural in form, but singular in meaning, take a singular verb:
The news is true.
Politics was with him the business of his life.
The wages of sin is death.
Mathematics is
a branch of study in every school.
10. Pains and means take either
the singular or the plural verb, but the construction must be consistent:
Great pains have been taken.
Much pains has been taken.
All possible means have been tried.
The means employed by you is sufficient.
In the sense of
income, the word means always takes a plural verb:
My means were much reduced owing to that heavy loss.
His means are ample.
11. Some nouns which are singular
in form, but plural in meaning take a plural verb; as,
According to the present market rate twelve dozen cost one hundred
rupees.
12. None, though properly
singular, commonly takes a plural verb:
None are
so deaf as those who will not hear.
13. A collective noun takes a
singular verb when the collection is thought of as one whole; plural verb when
the individuals which it is composed are thought of:
The Committee
has issued its report.
The Committee are divided on one minor point.
But we
must be consistent. Thus, we should say:
The Committee has appended a note to its (not their) report.
14. When the plural noun is a
proper name for some single object or some collective unit, it must be followed
by a singular verb:
The Arabian Nights is still a great favourite.
The United States has a big Navy.
Gulliver’s Travels was written by Swift.
15. When a plural noun denotes
some specific quantity or amount considered as a whole, the verb is generally
singular:
Fifteen minutes
is allowed to each speaker.
Ten kilometers is a long walk.
Fifty thousand rupees is a large sum.
Three parts of the business is left for me to do.
16. Some nouns are usually plural
and take a plural verb. These include:
belongings,
clothes, congratulations, goods, carriages, particulars, premises, riches,
savings, stairs, surroundings, thanks, police, people, staff, etc.
(a) The company’s
earnings have increased.
(b) Riches have
wings.
17. Some
nouns end in –s and appear as if they are plural. But when we use them as the
subject, they have a singular verb:
(a)
The news seems very interesting.
(b) Politics is popular at this
university.
(c) Statistics was always my worst
subject.
(d) Economics has recently been
recognized as a scientific subject.
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