subject-verb agreement chart
TRANSCRIPT
If your subject is...
two subjects
connected by and (unless
referring to the same
thing)
use a plural verb
two or more objects
joined by or or nor
use a verb that agrees
with the nearest subject
remember to ignore any prepositional phrases between
the subject and the verb!
a fraction or percentage (e.g., three-fourths or
35 percent)
Is the target of the
fraction singular or plural, or is
it a collective
noun?
SINGULAR: use a singular
verb COLLECTIVE NOUN
(e.g., team, jury, committee,
crowd, couple, family, faculty,
group, staff, army, audience,
club, class)
Is the group described
by the collective
noun working in
unity?
YES: use a
singular verb
NO: use a plural verb; may
need to rewrite for clarty, e.g., by using members
a pronoun from this
list: it, each, either,
anyone, everyone, much, no
one, nothing,
someone, such
use a singular
verb
an organization's
name
is the subject in the
organization's name singular
or plural?
PLURAL:use a plural
verb
SINGULAR (e.g.,
Association of...):
use a singular verb
PLURAL (e.g., Businesswomen
of...): use a plural verb
the words number, majority,
total
is it followed by
the or a?
THE: use a
singular verb
A: use a plural
verb
a "noncountable" noun (e.g.,
politics, athletics, scissors)
check the dictionary for 100% accuracy