Subject/Verb Agreement

When it comes to subject-verb agreement, there are some particularly tricky instances. Everyone and everybody certainly feel like more than one person and, therefore, students are sometimes tempted to use a plural verb with them. They are always singular, though. Each is often followed by a prepositional phrase ending in a plural word (Each of the cars), thus confusing the verb choice. Each, too, is always singular and requires a singular verb.

"Everyone has finished his or her homework." 

Another example:

"Each of the students is responsible for doing his or her work in the library." Not, "Each of the students are responsible for doing his or her work in the library."

Don't let the word "students" confuse you; the subject is each and each is always singular — Each is responsible.

So how do you check to make sure your subjects and verbs match? It can be very difficult, especially if you have compound subjects using and. Here is a tip: simply find your subject and circle just the word (or words) that form the subject—and ignore everything else. Then, underline the verb and check if subject and verb match. If they don’t, berate yourself for a few minutes and then fix the problem. 

Take this sentence: 

            “Doctor Doofus, who needs a new phone message, and Nurse Nincompoop, his fiancée, are eloping tonight.” 

The subject is… what? Ah, yes, circle both Doctor Doofus and Nurse Nincompoop--the plural subjects. Forget about the erroneous phone message and the lucky fiancée. Next, underline are eloping. It’s a match! Plural subjects--plural verb. The wedding can commence, and no one will have a heart attack. 

Here is another one: The use of cell phones and pagers are prohibited. This one is tricky. The subject is what? The subject is NOT “cell phones and pagers.” You would circle “the use of cell phones and pagers” which is only one thing and thus singular. Therefore, the verb to underline “are” is incorrect because it is plural while the subject is singular.

All these circles and underlines might seem tedious, but please mark up your pages until your subject-verb inflammatory disease is cured. Both you and your readers will feel much better if you examine your work thoroughly and get rid of careless errors.