CHAPTER 5



Agreement: Matching
Sentence Parts


Do I Need
Y ou should read this chapter if you need to review or learn about

to Read ➜ The grammatical subject of “agreement”

is Chapter?
Th ➜ Making subjects and verbs agree
➜ Making pronouns and antecedents agree
➜ Crafting smooth, logical sentences

Get Started
Agreement means that sentence parts match. Subjects must agree with verbs,
and pronouns must agree with antecedents. If they don’t, your sentences will
sound awkward and may confuse your listeners and readers.



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 ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR THE UTTERLY CONFUSED
62

Like Peas in a Pod

Romeo and Juliet
Spaghetti and meatballs
Peanut butter and jelly
The birds and the bees
Some things just seem to go together well. We carry this concept over into grammar by
matching all sentence parts. This matching of sentence elements is called agreement. It helps
you create smooth and logical sentences.
The basic rule of sentence agreement is simple: A subject must agree with its verb in num-
ber. Number means singular or plural.
● A singular subject names one person, place, thing, or idea.
● A plural subject names more than one person, place, thing, or idea.

Here are some examples:

Singular Plural
Subjects Subjects

Person: I they
Place: beach beaches
Thing: desk desks
Idea: freedom freedoms

1. Singular and plural nouns

In English, the plurals of most nouns are formed by adding -s or -es to the singular form.
For example: bike → bikes; race → races; inch → inches. Some nouns have irregular plu-
rals, such as mouse → mice; woman → women, goose → geese. You can find the plural
forms of irregular nouns in a dictionary.
2. Singular and plural pronouns
Pronouns have singular and plural forms, too. Study the following chart.

Singular Plural Singular or

Plural

I we, they you

she, he
it
Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts 63
3. Singular and plural verbs
As with nouns and pronouns, verbs show singular and plural forms. There are two areas
in which you may have difficulty identifying singular and plural forms of nouns: the basic
present tense and tenses using the helping verb to be.
As you study the following chart, notice that the form of the verb changes only in the
third-person singular column, the middle column. Find the -s or -es added to the verb.
That’s the tricky part:
● Singular verbs end in -s or -es.

● Plural nouns end in -s or -es.

Here are some examples:

First and Second Singular Third Plural First,

Person Person Second, Third
Person

(I, you) begin (he, she, it) begins (we, you, they) begin
(I, you) do (he, she, it) does (we, you, they) do

As you can see from this chart, subject-verb agreement is most difficult to determine in the
present tense.

4. Singular and plural forms of be

The form of the helping verb be may also help you determine whether a verb is singular or
plural. The following chart shows the forms of be that are different from singular to plural.

Be Used as a Helping Verb

Singular Plural

am (we) are
(he, she, it) is (they) are
(I, he, she, it) was (we, they) were
(he, she, it) has been (they) have been

A Singular Subject Must Have a Singular Verb

Now that you can recognize singular and plural nouns, pronouns, and verbs, you will be able
to make all sentence parts agree in number. Remember the rule introduced in the beginning
of this chapter: A subject must agree with its verb in number.
 ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR THE UTTERLY CONFUSED
64
All the other rules follow from this one. The easiest rules are these two:
● A singular subject must have a singular verb.
● A plural subject must have a plural verb.

Let’s examine the first rule.

5. A singular subject must have a singular verb.
She hesitates at all intersections, making the other drivers angry.
sing. subject sing. verb
The singular subject she agrees with the singular verb hesitates.
Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.
sing. subject sing. verb
The singular subject procrastination agrees with the singular verb is.
I am ready for dinner now.
sing. subject sing. verb
The singular subject I requires the singular verb am.
6. Two or more singular subjects joined by or or nor must have a singular verb.
This makes perfect sense: You are making a choice between two singular subjects. The or
shows that you are only choosing one.
Either the dog or the cat has to go.
sing. subject. or sing. subject sing. verb
Only one pet will go—the dog or the cat. Therefore, you will only have one pet left. Two
singular subjects—dog and cat—joined by or take the singular verb has.
Neither Elvis Costello nor Elvis Presley is in the room.
sing. subject nor sing. subject sing. verb
Each subject is being treated individually. Therefore, two singular subjects—Elvis
Costello and Elvis Presley—joined by nor take the singular verb is.
7. Subjects that are singular in meaning but plural in form require a singular verb.
These subjects include words such as measles, civics, social studies, mumps, molasses,
news, economics, and mathematics.
The news is on very night at 11:00 P.M.
sing. subject sing. verb
The singular subject news takes the singular verb is.
8. Plural subjects that function as a single unit take a singular verb.
Spaghetti and meatballs is my favorite dish.
sing. subject sing. verb
The singular subject spaghetti and meatballs requires the singular verb is.
Bacon and eggs makes a great late night snack.
sing. subject sing. verb
The singular subject bacon and eggs agrees with the singular verb makes.
Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts 65
9. Titles are always singular.
It doesn’t matter how long the title is, what it names, or whether or not it sounds plural—
a title always takes a singular verb.
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a story about the Spanish Civil War.
sing. subject sing. verb
The singular title For Whom the Bell Tolls requires the singular verb is.
Stranger in a Strange Land was written by Robert Heinlein.
sing. subject sing. verb
The singular title Stranger in a Strange Land requires the singular verb was.

Most measurements are singular—even though they look plural. For example: “Half a dol-
lar is more than enough” (not “are more than enough”).

A Plural Subject Must Have a Plural Verb

Just as a singular subject requires a singular verb, so a plural subject requires a plural verb.
Here are some examples:

1. A plural subject must have a plural verb.

Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it.
plural plural plural plural
subject verb subject verb
The plural subject men requires the plural verb are. The plural subject women requires the
plural verb are.
On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.
plural plural plural plural
subject verb subject verb
The plural subject people requires the plural verb fear (not the singular verb fears). The
plural subject they requires the plural verb do (not the singular verb does).
Students at U.S. colleges read about 60,000 pages in four years.
plural plural
subject verb
The plural subject students requires the plural verb read (not the singular verb reads).
Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious,
plural plural
subject verb
meaning “containing arsenic.”
The plural subject facetious and abstemious requires the plural verb contain (not the sin-
gular verb contains.) Think of the conjunction and as a plus sign. Whether the parts of the
subject joined by and are singular or plural (or both), they all add up to a plural subject
and so require a plural verb.
 ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR THE UTTERLY CONFUSED
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2. Two or more plural subjects joined by or or nor must have a plural verb.
This is the logical extension of the rule you learned earlier about two or more singular sub-
jects joined by or or nor taking a singular verb. Here, since both subjects are plural, the
verb must be plural as well.
Either the children or the adults are clearing the table.
plural plural plural
subject subject verb
Since both subjects are plural, one of them alone is still plural. Therefore, two plural
subjects—children and adults—joined by or take the plural verb are.
Neither my relatives nor my friends are leaving any time soon.
plural plural plural
subject subject verb
Since both subjects are plural, one of them alone is still plural. Therefore, two plural
subjects—relatives and friends—joined by nor take the plural verb are.
3. A compound subject joined by and is plural and must have a plural verb.
The conjunction and acts like a plus (+) sign, showing that 1 + 1 = 2 (or 1 + 1 + 1 = 3, etc.).
Brownies and ice cream are a spectacular dessert.
sing. sing. plural
subject subject verb
Brownies and ice cream = two desserts. 1 + 1 = 2. Therefore, the verb must be plural: are.
Nina and Christopher have donated money to charity.
sing. sing. plural
subject subject verb
Nina and Christopher = two people. 1 + 1 = 2. Therefore, the verb must be plural: have.
4. If two or more singular and plural subjects are joined by or or nor, the subject closest to
the verb determines agreement.
This is basically an exception made for the sake of sound: It sounds better to match the
verb to the closer subject.
Margery or the twins are coming on the trip to Seattle.
sing. plural plural
subject subject verb
Since the plural subject twins is closest to the verb, the verb is plural: are.
The twins or Margery is coming on the trip to Seattle.
plural sing. sing.
subject subject verb
Since the singular subject Margery is closest to the verb, the verb is singular: is.

Collective Nouns and Indefinite Pronouns

A collective noun names a group of people or things. Collective nouns include the words class,
committee, flock, herd, team, audience, assembly, team, and club. Collective nouns can be sin-
gular or plural, depending on how they are used in a sentence. Here are the basic guidelines:
Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts 67
● A collective noun is considered singular when it functions as a single unit. Collective nouns
used as one unit take a singular verb.
● A collective noun is considered plural when the group it identifies is considered to be indi-
viduals. Collective nouns that indicate many units take a plural verb.
Here are some examples:

The team has practiced for tonight’s big game for months.
sing. sing.
subject verb
The singular subject team agrees with the singular verb has practiced because in this
instance, the team functions as one (singular) group.
The team have practiced for tonight’s big game for months.
plural plural
subject verb
The subject team becomes plural because each member of the group is now being consid-
ered as an individual.
Indefinite pronouns, like collective nouns, can be singular or plural, depending on how
they are used in a sentence. Indefinite pronouns refer to people, places, objects, or things
without pointing to a specific one. Indefinite pronouns include words such as everyone, some-
one, all, and more.
● Singular indefinite pronouns take a singular verb.
● Plural indefinite pronouns take a plural verb.
The following chart shows singular and plural indefinite pronouns. The chart also shows
pronouns that can be either singular or plural, depending on how they are used in a sentence.

Singular Plural Singular or

Plural

another both all

anybody few any
anyone many more
anything others most
each several none
either some
everyone
everybody
everything
little
many a

Continues
 ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR THE UTTERLY CONFUSED
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Singular Plural Singular or

Plural

much
neither
nobody
no one
nothing
one
other
somebody
someone
something

Look back at the chart. You will see that the following patterns emerge:

1. Indefinite pronouns that end in -body are always singular. These words include anybody,
somebody, nobody.
2. Indefinite pronouns that end in -one are always singular. These words include anyone,
everyone, someone, and one.
3. The indefinite pronouns both, few, many, others, and several are always plural.
4. The indefinite pronouns all, any, more, most, none, and some can be singular or plural,
depending on how they are used.
Here are some examples:

One of the gerbils is missing.

sing. sing.
subject verb
The singular subject one requires the singular verb is.
Both of the gerbils are missing.
plural plural
subject verb

The plural subject both requires the plural verb are.

All of the beef stew was devoured.
sing. sing.
subject verb
Agreement: Matching Sentence Parts 69
In this instance, all is being used to indicate one unit. As a result, it requires the singular
verb was.
Many of the guests are sick of Tedious Ted’s endless chatter.
plural plural
subject verb

The plural subject many requires the plural verb are.

Special Problems in Agreement

The rules for agreement are straightforward, but some thorny problems do arise. Here are
the two most challenging issues: hard-to-find subjects and intervening phrases.

1. Identify hard-to-find subjects.

Some subjects can be harder to find than others. Subjects that come before the verb are
especially tricky. However, a subject must still agree in
number with its verb, as the following examples show:
In the bottom of the lake are two old cars.
plural plural
verb subject
The plural subject cars agrees with the plural verb are.
Quick Tip
There were still half a dozen tires in the lake, too.
plural plural The words there or
verb subject here at the beginning of
a sentence often signal
The plural subject tires requires the plural verb were.
inverted word order.
2. Ignore intervening phrases.
Disregard words or phrases that come between the sub-
ject and the verb. A phrase or clause that comes between a subject and its verb does not
affect subject-verb agreement.
The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
sing. prep. sing.
subject phrase verb
The singular subject muscle agrees with the singular verb is. Ignore the intervening
prepositional phrase “in the body.”
The captain of the guards stands at the door of Buckingham Palace.
sing. prep. sing.
subject phrase verb
The singular subject captain agrees with the singular verb stands. Ignore the intervening
prepositional phrase “of the guards.”