GRAMMAR - CONCORD

Concord

(Subject-Verb Agreement)

A Singular Subject takes a Singular Verb. A Plural subject takes a Plural Verb.

E.g. He Works Very hard. (Singular Verb)

They Work Very hard. (Plural Verb)

When Two subjects are joined by ‘and’ The Verb is plural

E.g.

• Tom and his brother work hard.

• His Wife and children are in Madras

When two Singular Subjects are joined by ‘or’, ‘either… or’, ‘Neither…nor’ the subject is Singular.

When two plural subjects are joined by ‘or’ , ‘Neither… nor',' either…or’ the subject is plural.

• Singular Subjects

• E.g. John or his

brother goes home every week.

• Either he or his wife has to help me.

• Neither the boy nor his sister has passed.

• Plural Subjects

• Cows or Oxen are grazing in the field.

• Either Oranges or apples are required.

• Neither the boys nor the girls are reading now.

When a singular subject and a plural subject are joined by ‘or’ , ‘Either…or’ , ‘neither…nor’

the verb agrees with the second subject or subject nearer to the verb.

• E.g. John or his brothers go home every week.

• Either the boys or their father has come.

When two subjects are joined by ‘as well as’, ‘rather than’ , ‘more than’, ‘as much as’ the verb agrees with the first subject.

• E.g. The boys as well as their teacher have left.

• John rather than his brothers is involved in the activity.

When two subjects are joined by ‘with’ , ‘along with’, ‘together with’, ‘in the company of’ , ‘in

addition to’, ‘accompanied by’, ‘besides’ etc the verb agrees with the first subject.

• E.g. My friend with all his children has returned.

• The Student along with his guardian is waiting outside the room.

A Sentence starts with One of, Each of, Either of, Everyone of, followed by a plural

noun the Verb is singular.

• One of the boys has lost his pen.

• Neither of them has passed.

• Each of them is known to me.

Each, Every, Either, Neither followed by a noun take a singular verb.

• E.g. Each boy Works hard.

• Each girl has passed the Exam.

Expressions like Five pounds, Ten rupees, Two weeks, Three miles etc are singular and take

singular verb.

• E.g. Two Rupees is not a big sum.

• Two weeks is not a long time.

If a sentence begins with a word “There” it may take the singular or plural verb according

to the number of the subject.

• E.g. There is some coffee in the pot.

• There are some apples in the table.

Certain nouns like deer, sheep, counsel and nationality names like Indians ,Africans etc are both singular and plural.

• E.g. A deer is grazing in the field.

• A few Deer are grazing in the field.

• A Chinese boy is waiting near the tree.

• A few Chinese boys are waiting for the bus.

Numerical expressions like dozen, thousand, lakh, million, etc have plural form when they are preceded by number words.

• E.g. Two dozen oranges are packed in this basket.

• Five hundred books have been ordered.

Nouns like Furniture, Machinery, equipment, luggage etc are called Class collectives. They

are followed by a singular verbs.

• E.g. The furniture was old and it has to be

repaired.

• The luggage was carried by a boy.

Some nouns have plural endings but they are singular and take singular verb.

• E.g. The News is too good to be.

• Measles is not a dangerous disease.

Subject names ending in ‘-ics’ take singular verb.

• E.g. Physics is easy to understand.

• Mathematics is hard to learn.

Things made of two equal parts are always plural.

• E.g. My Scissors are old.

• His Trousers are torn.

• My Spectacles are broken.

Name of a book or is plural it takes singular verb.

• E.g. The Arabian Nights is an interesting book.

• Gulliver’s Travels was written by Swift.

Thank You