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Subject-Verb Agreement Rules (With Examples)

Subject-verb agreement made simple: the core rule, the tricky cases with each, either/or and phrases in between, and uncountable nouns, with examples.

Subject-verb agreement means the verb must match its subject in number. A singular subject takes a singular verb, a plural subject takes a plural verb. It sounds simple, but a few situations catch out even confident speakers.

The core ruleSingular subject, verb with -s: The boy runs. Plural subject, verb without -s: The boys run. Notice the -s moves from the verb to the noun, never both.

The basics

SubjectVerbExample
He / She / Ithas the -sShe writes well.
I / You / We / Theyno -sThey write well.

Tricky cases

These are where most mistakes happen.

  • Words between subject and verb do not change the verb. The box of chocolates is on the table. (box is singular)
  • Each, every, everyone, someone are singular. Everyone is here.
  • Two subjects with and are plural. Ram and Sita are coming.
  • Either/or, neither/nor: the verb agrees with the nearer subject. Neither the manager nor the staff were informed.
Common mistakeThe list of items are ready. Everyone have arrived.
CorrectThe list of items is ready. Everyone has arrived. The subject is list (singular) and everyone (singular).

Uncountable nouns

Words like news, information, advice, furniture are singular even though they feel plural.

Common mistakeThe news are good. This information are useful.
CorrectThe news is good. This information is useful.
Quick tipWhen a phrase sits between the subject and verb, mentally delete it and check agreement with the real subject. The quality of the products (is/are) good, delete of the products, and quality is becomes obvious.
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The subject-verb agreement rule with the tricky cases: each, either/or, phrases in between, and uncountable nouns, with examples.

What is subject-verb agreement?

It is the rule that a verb must match its subject in number: a singular subject takes a singular verb (the dog barks) and a plural subject takes a plural verb (the dogs bark). Getting it wrong is one of the most noticeable grammar errors.

Is it everyone is or everyone are?

It is everyone is. Words like everyone, everybody, each and nobody are grammatically singular, so they take a singular verb, even though they refer to many people.

Why do words like news and information take a singular verb?

Because they are uncountable nouns in English, treated as one mass rather than many items. So we say the news is good and the information is helpful, never are.

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