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June 24, 2014

Important Rules of Subject and Verb Agreement

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Friends, the agreement between subject and verb is one of the important topics of English grammar, which is very necessary to solve the questions of competitive exam English. Below are some rules of Subject and Verb agreement. These rules are very helpful for you while solving the error correction questions. Let's have a look at them with examples.

Every sentence can be divided into two parts. In the first part we talk about a person or a thing. This part is known as the subject. In the second part we talk something about the subject. This part is known as the predicate.
  • For Example, take the sentence The boy is writing on the board.
    • In the above sentence, "the boy" is subject and "is writing on the board" is the predicate. 
Since the subject and verb are the most important part of a sentence, there exists some specific relations between them.
  1. The verb of a sentence agrees in number and in person with its Subject.
    • Ex :
      • The boy is writing on the board.
      • Children like ice-creams very much.
      • I am waiting for a friend.
  2. When two singular nouns are connected by 'and' the verb will become plural.
    • Ex :
      •  The book and the pen are on the table.
      • Father and mother have gone out.
    • Important Note : But of the two nouns connected by 'and' together represent the same person, same thing or same idea, the verb will be singular.
      • Ex :
        • The Chairman and managing Directors has gone abroad.
        • My whole aim and ambition is to get through this examination.
        • Slow and steady wins the race.
    • Also if the two nouns connected by and are preceded by 'each' or 'every'  the verb will be singular. 
      • Ex :
        • Every leaf and every flower proclaims the glory of God. 
  3. When two nouns are connected by 'with'  or 'as well as' the verb will be depend on the first noun.
    • Ex :
      • The head master as well as the teachers has attended the function. 
      • The ship with all the passengers is missing. 
  4. When two nouns are connected by 'neither nor' or 'either or' the verb will depend on the second noun.
    • Ex :
      • Neither the boy nor his parents are aware of this fact.
      • Either the Minister or his assistants are responsible for the lapses.
    • In this case when one noun is singular and the other plural, the plural noun should be always placed nearer to the verb.
  5. Either of, Neither of, Any of, None of and One of are followed by plural nouns, singular verbs and singular pronouns.
    • Ex : 
      • None of the boys was in his seat when the bell rang. 
      • Neither of the teachers has come yet.
  6. Either, Neither, between and each other are used with two persons / things and Any, None, among and another used with more than two persons / things. 
    • Ex :
      • Neither of the two girls is interested in her studies.
      • You can choose either of those two books.
      • All the boys respected one another. 
      • The workers were always quarreling among themselves. 
      • Between you and me, there is no question of any dispute.
    • Many a is followed by singular noun, singular verb and singular pronoun. 
      • Ex :
        • Many a boy has tried his best to solve this problem.
  7. A collective noun is followed by a singular verb (and a singular pronoun) when it is considered as a group and a plural verb (and a plural pronoun) when the individuals are thought of
    • Ex :
      • The Cabinet has decided not to publish its decisions.
      • The jury were divided on the terms of punishment.
That's all for now friends. In our next post, we shall discuss some more examples of Subject and Verb Agreement. Happy Reading :)

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15 comments:

  1. :D As always ur the Best Gr8ambitionzzzzzzzzzz team :D

    Mahip

    ReplyDelete
  2. Plz post some exercises of close Test And Spotting Errors

    ReplyDelete
  3. plz put all this english related link in english section.so we read it whenever we want.

    ReplyDelete
  4. mam plz provide the technique to solve the syllolism promblems in reasoning

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. gud work!!!! really very helpful

    ReplyDelete

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