Mastering Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-verb agreement is one of those basic grammar rules: the subject and verb in a sentence must agree in number, singular or plural.

It’s so basic you think you should never get it wrong, but some sneaky instances can play “gotcha.”

Ah … gotta love the English language.

If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural.

Singular: The editor reviews the manuscript.
Plural: The editors review the manuscript.

Note that, yes, regular verbs take an “s” for singular.
“Reviews” is singular, and “review” is plural. Silly verbs being backward.

Most native English speakers naturally get basic subject-verb agreement correct:

Basic examples

✔ The cat sits on the windowsill.
✔ The cats sit on the windowsill.

✔ She works late every night.
✔ They work late every night.

These feel natural because there’s nothing between the subject and verb to confuse us. It seems straightforward and simple.

While the concept remains the same, some constructions can make it a bit tricky.

When there’s a prepositional “of” phrase between the subject and verb, it’s easy to accidentally match the verb to the wrong noun.

Examples

❌ The stack of papers are on my desk.
✔ The stack of papers is on my desk.

The subject is “stack” (singular), not “papers” (plural). The prepositional phrase “of papers” is just describing the stack.

❌ The editor of three bestselling novels were interviewed yesterday.
✔ The editor of three bestselling novels was interviewed yesterday.

Again, “editor” is the subject, not “novels.”

So if you see an “of” phrase, look to the noun before the phrase. That is the noun you need to agree with in number.

Compound subjects

When you have two subjects joined by “and,” you usually need a plural verb. After all, it is now talking about more than one thing. Or is it? If the compound subject refers to a single thing or person, use a singular verb

✔ The editor and the author are meeting tomorrow.
✔ Coffee and chocolate make everything better.

The “and” is joining two different things, so need a plural verb.

✔ Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite sandwich.
✔ The CEO and founder of the company is speaking today.

The subject is one single thing despite the “and.”

When compound subjects are joined by “or” or “nor,” the verb agrees with the subject closest to it:

✔ Either the editor or the authors are responsible for this mess.
✔ Either the authors or the editor is responsible for this mess.

In the first instance, the subject closest to the verb is “authors,” so need plural “are.” In the second, “editor” is now closer to the verb so need singular “is.”

Collective nouns (team, family, committee, staff) can be tricky because they can be either singular or plural depending on context.

If the group acts as one unit, it is singular. If each group member is acting individually, then it is plural.

Acting as one unit:

✔ The team is ready for the presentation.
✔ The committee has made its decision.

Each member acting individually:

✔ The team are arguing among themselves about the strategy.
✔ The committee are divided in their opinions.

You can also rewrite these to avoid the awkwardness: “The committee members are divided in their opinions.”

Some indefinite pronouns are always singular, some are always plural, and some depend on what follows them.

Yay for randomness.

Always singular: anyone, everyone, someone, no one, anybody, everybody, somebody, nobody, anything, everything, something, nothing, each, either, neither.

✔ Neither of the proposals is acceptable.

❌ Neither of the proposals are acceptable

✔ Each of the editors has a different style.
❌ Each of the editors have a different style.

Always plural: few, many, several, both

These ones aren’t tricky. Those are standard plural words.

Depends on context: all, any, most, none, some

Earlier I said to ignore “of” phrases and agree with the word before it. BUT … gotta love the but, when one of these indefinite pronouns comes before the “of” phrase, you look to the noun in the “of” phrase to agree with.

✔ All of the coffee is gone. (coffee = singular)
✔ All of the editors are here. (editors = plural)

Sometimes the subject comes after the verb, especially in questions or sentences starting with “here” or “there.” So you have to look after the verb to find the word to agree with (the subject).

✔ There is a problem with this chapter.
✔ There are several problems with this chapter.

✔ Here comes the editor with more revisions.
✔ Here come the editors with more revisions.

❌ There’s three reasons why this won’t work.
✔ There are three reasons why this won’t work.

I catch myself using “there’s” with plural subjects in casual speech all the time. It sounds natural, but it’s technically incorrect in formal writing.

This gets even trickier when you have compound subjects following “there is” or “there are.”

❌ There is a laptop and two notebooks on the desk.
✔ There are a laptop and two notebooks on the desk.

Even though “laptop” is singular, you have a compound subject (laptop + notebooks), so you need the plural verb.

When talking about amounts as a single unit, use singular verbs. When talking about individual items, use plural.

✔ Five dollars is not enough for lunch.
✔ Half of the manuscript is complete.

✔ Five coins are scattered on the desk.
✔ Two editors are working on this project.

I double-check sentences with compound subjects, collective nouns, and indefinite pronouns. And I pause at those inverted sentences.

When I’m editing and something sounds off, I try to identify the true subject of the sentence. I mentally cross out prepositional phrases and other distractors to see if the subject and verb still agree.

“The stack of papers are on my desk.”

Nope, that doesn’t work. “Stack” is singular, so it needs “is.”

I also read sentences aloud when I’m unsure. Sometimes my ear catches what my eyes miss.

Subject-verb agreement isn’t the trickiest grammar rule out there, but it’s one where small mistakes can slip through if you’re not paying attention. The key is recognizing the situations where errors are most likely to happen and double-checking those sentences during editing.

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I’d love to hear from you. Comment below using any of these prompts to guide you:

• What questions do you have?
• Which subject-verb agreement rule trips you up most often?
• What’s your trick for catchy the sneaky ones?
• What is one thing you did professionally or personally today that you’re proud of?