subject verb agreement

• ENG
• Secondary Education

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT

DRAG and DROP

Drag the sentences(in the blue box) and drop them to match with the correct verb (in the red box).

Tekst

have

is

was

owns

Ashok and Ram ______ passed.

Either you or he ______ telling a lie.

The behaviour of the children _______ excellent.

One of the pupils in our class ______ a car.

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

I will be able to:

• identify the correct verb to be used in a sentence.
• comprehend the rules of subject-verb agreement.
• identify and correct the errors in a passage.

If two Singular Nouns refer to the same person or thing, the Verb must be Singular.

• The poet and philosopher is dead.
• The poet and the philosopher are dead.

The orator, poet and the author _______ arrived.

1. has
2. are
3. have
4. is

A relative pronoun always agrees in Number and Person with its Antecedent.

• I am a woman who works for children's welfare.
• He is one of those men who know everything.

She is one of the noblest women that _______ ever lived.

1. was
2. has
3. have
4. were

When two plural nouns denotes some specific quantity or amount is considered as a whole, the Verb is generally Singular.

• A thousand rupees is a good sum.
• Four weeks is a  good holiday.

Twenty thousand rupees _____ a large sum of money.

1. is
2. are
3. was
4. were

Nouns like pants, trousers, spectacles, scissors, shoes take a plural verb.

• Your shoes are glossy.
  
•  Your scissors are quite sharp.

A pair of scissors _____ not very sharp.

1. were
2. are
3. is
4. has

A lot of, a great deal of, plenty of, some of referring to amount or quantity takes a singular verb.

• A lot of money is wasted in the project.

Some of the work ______ been done.

1. has
2. is
3. have
4. were

Nouns like people, police, children, teeth, hair take plural verb.

• The police were baffled.
  
•  People have such strange ideas.
  

Collective noun, when taken as individual members (jury, committee, team, group, herd) takes a Plural Verb.

• The committee debate these questions carefully.
  
• The jury are divided in their opinion 

Collective noun when it is considered one unit. (Jury, committee, family) takes a singular verb.

•  The committee has decided to raise the membership fee.
  
• The jury has given the final verdict. 

Many an attempt ______ been made to climb Everest.

1. have
2. is
3. has
4. was

Neither Ashok nor his friends _____ present.

1. is
2. was
3. were
4. has

A series of lectures _____ been arranged on the subject.

1. has
2. are
3. have
4. were

A Knowledge of modern languages _________ essential.

1. is
2. were
3. are
4. has

None of the students _____ standing.

1. were
2. is
3. are
4. had

INTEGRATED GRAMMAR EXERCISE

The following passage has not been edited. There is one error in each line. Write the incorrect word and the correction against the correct question number. Remember to underline the word you have supplied.

Post your responses here.