Tasks: Subject–Verb Agreement (Concord)

Below, you will find the correct form of the sentences. Explain why this is correct based on what you learned in the article about subject–verb agreement.

1. Neither the car nor my bike is outside this morning.

2. Do you think some of them are good, Jonathan?

3. Do you think either of them is bad, Catherine?

4. Some of the branches are broken.

5. There are three places I love more than anywhere else.

6. Are the terms businessman or businesswoman offensive?

7. All of my homework is done.

8. She told me everybody is coming to my party.

9. My wages, which I earn working in construction, are not enough to pay rent.

10. Thirty-five pounds is too expensive for a steak dinner.

11. Either my parents or my grandmother is going to the meeting.

12. Milk and honey is disgusting, in my opinion.
    

1. Vennene mine er fra Japan.

2. Alle har problemer.

3. Jeg vet ikke om det er noen på kontoret akkurat nå.

4. Jenny er den eneste som liker den nye engelsklæreren.

5. Politiet har arrestert fire mistenkte.

6. Barna våre er høflige og snille.

7. Begge brødrene mine er mye eldre enn meg.

8. James venter ved porten, mens Siri og Anders venter inne.

9. Det er altfor mange biler på parkeringsplassen.

10. 40% av alle nye trender forsvinner i løpet av ett år.

1. Venene mine er frå Japan.

2. Alle har problem.

3. Eg veit ikkje om det er nokon på kontoret akkurat no.

4. Jenny er den einaste som liker den nye engelsklæraren.

5. Politiet har arrestert fire mistenkte.

6. Barna våre er høflege og snille.

7. Begge brørne mine er eldre enn meg.

8. James ventar ved porten, medan Siri og Anders venter inne.

9. Det er altfor mange bilar på parkeringsplassen.

10. 40% av alle nye moter forsvinner i løpet av ett år.

Note that translations can have many different solutions. Even if your answer is not the same as the key, it may still be correct, so check with your teacher.

1. My friends are from Japan. / My friends come from Japan.

2. Everyone has problems. / Everybody has problems.

3. I don't know if there is anybody in the office right now.

4. Jenny is the only one who likes the new English teacher.

5. The police has arrested the four suspects. (If you are talking about the officers who physically did the arresting you could use 'have' in this sentence.)

6. Our children are polite and kind.

7. Both of my brothers are older than me.

8. James waits by the gate, while Siri and Anders wait inside. / James is waiting by the gate, while Siri and Anders are waiting inside.

9. There are too many cars in the car park.

10. 40% of all new trends disappear within one year.
    

Here the subject is 'information', which is a singular noun, so the verb must be 'is': All the information in his new books is current.

'He'/'she'/'it' always requires the singular form of the verb: She has lost so many friends over these issues.

We only use the third person singular -s (depends) if the subject is singular, here it is plural; Many researchers depend on this grant.

Here, the subject is 'half' + the prepositional phrase 'of his article'. Since the object in the prepositional phrase, 'article', is singular you need the singular form of the verb: Half of his article is peer reviewed.

In this sentence, the subject is an indefinite pronoun ending in -body, so there should be a singular verb: Everybody loves the new Marvel movie.

Here, we have a compound subject connected by the word 'and', which means that the verb must be plural: My sister, her boyfriend, the cat, and the rabbits flee from the furious ox.

In this sentence the subject is 'many reasons', which is plural, therefore the verb must have plural form: There are many reasons to believe her.

All of the subjects here are collective nouns, which means that we can use either a plural or a singular verb depending on what we mean.

If we mean to express that a group is acting together as a unit – we use the singular form of the verb.

If we mean the actions of the members of the swarm, pack, class, etc., then we use plural form of the verb.