MDCAT English

Subject Verb Agreement

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Q/A from instructors Live Sessions
Lectures

Instructor: Ammar A. Ayub

What is a Subject?

What is a Verb? Or Helping Verb?

Subject Verb
Sit
Work
Play
Eat
Look
Watches
Singular Subjects: He, she, it, singular noun (boy)

Singular Verb: Addition of “s” or “es” to the first

form of verb

Plural Subjects: They, we, you, plural, noun (boys)

Plural Verb: No addition of “s” or “es” to the

first form of verb
Helping Verbs

Is Are
Does Do
Was Were
Has Have
Examples:

The locusts was/were coming slowly.

The attack of locusts is/are a natural calamity

The college dean as well as the parents is/are unable
to convince the lazy bluffers.

Harry along with his children were/was unable to

convince the lazy bluffers.
With,
along with,
together with,
as well as,
besides,
except,
of,
not,
but,
including,
excluding,
in addition to.
Rule:
The college dean as well as the parents is/are unable
to convince the lazy bluffers.

Harry along with his children were/was unable to

convince the lazy bluffers.
The teachers as well as the college dean is/are
unable to convince the lazy bluffers.
The sun with other planets was/were observed by Sir
James Jeans.

The boy along with his parents was/were summoned

to the altar for slaughter.

The agent says that everything together with other

matters has/have been noted.

The boy as well as his friends was/were roiled to

know that Ralston had insulted Chips.
Mr. Spelding’s attitude besides his vociferous
broadcasts makes/make him successful.

In the Latin paper, one of the questions was/were so

abstruse that it made Churchill addled.

All except the Persian slave were/was calm.

Rule:
Neither my soldiers nor I are/am going to
ruin the village just for free salt.
 Neither …. Nor
Either…. Or
Not only…. But Also
Rule:
Neither my soldiers nor I are/am going to ruin the
village just for free salt.

Not only Chips but also the young masters

was/were annoyed at slave driving of Ralston.

Either the obtuse quack or the camel-men is/ are

stupid.
 TWO SUBJECT WORDS JOINED BY "AND"

Rule:
Fire and water does/do not agree

Gold and silver is/are precious metals

Is /Are your father and mother at home?

The Angel and I was/were flying together.

Is/Are Mrs. Jones and the boy eating lima beans?

Norma and Arthur does/do not agree with each other.

In him were/was centred their love and their ambition.

Knowledge and wisdom have/has often no connection.

A new apartment and a car was/were Norma's avid

desires.
Slow and steady win/wins the race.

Time and tide wait/waits for no man.

The horse and carriage is/are at the door.

The rise and fall of the tide are/is due to lunar influence.
Shamim Ahmad's bread and butter was/were
selling cut-pieces.

Besides accolades, honour and glory was/were

Gorgios's reward.

Our German master and friend was/were killed

last week, on the Western Front
Getting my paper accepted in Cell and seeing it in
the finished journal was/were the highlight of my
career.
Boston, and all New England cities, tend/tends to
get snow in January.

More than one of the authors has/have received

the Nobel Prize.
 Who, Which, That
Rule:
He is one of the bright boys who has/have always done

the school work without effort and diligence.

Mary is one of the students who has/have
done honor to the college.
Mary is one of the students who has/have
done honor to the college.

Mary is the only one of our students who

has/have achieved national recognition.
Mary is one of the students who has/have
done honor to the college.

Mary is the only one of our students who

has/have achieved national recognition.

Of all our students, Mary is the only one who

has achieved national recognition.
 Only is always singular

Harry was the only one of the earthmen who was/were

trying to build a rocket for going back to the earth.
Inspector French was one of the books which
was/were Mr. Chips's favourite.

The Girl and the First Man are perturbed to see

the Second Man who has/have entered the bus
station.
Of all who give/gives and receive/receives gifts,
such as they are the most wise.

The excuse that he gave for his actions were/was

unjustifiable.
FRACTIONS, PORTIONS, AND PERCENTAGES

of phrase

percentage, distance, fraction, or amount

a lot of,
majority of,
rest of,
two-thirds of,
% of,
Rule:
Half of these exceptional cases were/was solved by
Katherine's advice

Three-fourths of an acre is/are in the heart of this

wilderness right on the mountain

Two-thirds of the School goes/go down with German

measles.

21 % of the population are/is poor

21 % of the books are/is paperback

A 75% majority have/has voted against the measure.

The majority holds no strong views.

A small minority indicates it supports the proposal.

A majority of Canadians have voted for change.

A minority of the students are willing to pay

more.
Quantity or amount and verb / helping verb:

When a plural noun denotes some specific quantity

or amount considered as a whole, the verb is
generally singular;

Kilometers
Dollars
Liters
Ten kilometers was/were a long walk

Fifty thousand dollars was/were a large

amount, Norma thought
 A number vs The Number

A number of takes plural verb or helping verb

The number of takes singular verb or helping verb.

A number of undergraduate students is/are
attracted by sports and literary activities in colleges.

The number of people in the world is/are

rapidly increasing rather like a gigantic snowball.
 "SANAM"
(Some, any, none, all, most)

They can be singular as well as plural.

 Examples:

(i) We need some more paint, there isn’t/aren’t any left.

(ii) I need some stamps. Is/Are there any in your bag?

(iii) Some of the music was/were weird.

(iv) Here are/is some of our suggestions.

(v) Some of the sugar is on the floor

(vi) Some of the marbles are on the floor

(vii)Do any of you know where my keys are?

 Adjectives with article “The' and verb/helping verb

We can use "the" before some adjectives of nationality and

before some other to make generalizations. Adjectives
proceeded by "the" are used as plural nouns and take a plural
verb:
Examples:

The rich gets/get richer

The poor are/is getting poorer

The dead is/are not forgotten

The poor faces/face many hardships

The French love/loves eating in

restaurants
 Agreement between Noun and its Quantifier

Quantifiers are the words that represent the quantity

or number of the nouns.

Some nouns are numbered (like people, students)

Other nouns are measured (like sugar, floor, cement).

According to the rule, there should be an agreement

between noun and its quantifier.
A large amount/number of people was there.

One should not eat much/many sugar.

Numerable Measureable Common
Number Amount A lot of
Many Much All
Few Little Some
A large amount/number of people was there.

One should not eat much/many sugar.

wages, news, mathematics,
statistics, ethics, politics,
measles, United States,
SUBJECTS WITH CONFUSING "S" AND VERB /
HELPING VERB

Some words end at "s' and because of their

ending "s" These words appear to be plural but,
as a matter of fact, these words are singular and
should be followed by singular verb and
helping verb.
Following is the list of such words:

List – 1: wages, news, tidings, series, innings, means,

summons

List – 2: name of subjects: mathematics, statistics,

ethics, politics, civics etc

List – 3: name of diseases: measles, mumps, rabies, aids,

rickets, shingles etc
List – 4: plural names of countries: the United States, the
Maldives etc

List – 5: names of some games: billiards, gymnastics,

athletics, dominoes etc

List – 6: names of books: The Gulliver's Travels, the Arabian

Nights etc
Examples:

Wages of sin are/is hell.

Test series is/are going to be played.

The United States were/was the country where Krypton's

spaceship landed.

Gymnastics look/looks difficult and it is.

The news spreads/spread like tire in the neighbourhood.

Note:
Some academic disciplines, such as

politics,
statistics,
economics,
mathematics,
phonetics

take singular verb however as a general use they take

plural verb
 ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES GENERAL USE

He went into politics. They all do in that

country. But he went into it/them harder
Politics is popular at
1 than anyone else. Her politics are
this university.
broadening
(=political belief)

Statistics shows/show that a population

Statistics was always explosion is taking place. Statistics are
2
my worst subject. able to prove anything.
(= numerical information)

The economics behind their policies are

Economics was always
3 reasonable.
my favorite subject
(=financial system)
 Each, Either, Neither,

None, Anyone, Somebody

Each, every, either, neither, one

-body: .anybody, everybody, nobody, somebody

-one: anyone, no one, someone, everyone
-thing: anything, everything, nothing, something
Each, every, either, neither, one

-body: .anybody, everybody, nobody, somebody

-one: anyone, no one, someone, everyone
-thing: anything, everything, nothing, something
Examples:

Neither of my parents speaks/speak a foreign language.

Someone has/have left their bag behind.

Everybody know/knows Nawal.

Noone/No one was at home.

Everyone should mind his/their own business

One should mind one's/his own business

Each of them brought his/their lunch

None of them paid his/their dues

Either of the two boys will get his/their share

Neither of the girls will get her/their share.

Several, few, both, many, others
 Examples:

(i) I think both is/are good.

(ii) Few has/have ever disobeyed him and lived.

(iii) Many has/have come already.

(iv) I'm sure that others has/have tried before us.

(v) Some people are coming, but many is/are not.

 Practice Questions

Subject-Verb Agreement
The total number of stars in the universe
are probably something like the total
number of grains of sand on all the
seashores of the world.
 A number vs The Number

A number of takes plural verb or helping verb

The number of takes singular verb or helping verb.

Every dean who know his students
can recall many cases of boys who
have been obliged to drop out.
Each, every, either, neither, one

-body: .anybody, everybody, nobody, somebody

-one: anyone, no one, someone, everyone
-thing: anything, everything, nothing, something
Not only the Smiths but also Tanya have
agreed to try one of the world-famous
chocolate-broccoli muffins.
Rule:
The Flemings, born on the land, was becoming
a medical family:
Examples:

The rich gets/get richer

The poor are/is getting poorer

The dead is/are not forgotten

The poor faces/face many hardships

The French love/loves eating in

restaurants
On the sidewalk is many little lizards sunning

themselves on the hot concrete.

Even though Johnson and Johnson warn consumers
not to insert Q-tips into their ears, people refuse to
read directions and frequently puncture their
eardrums.
Laila is not going to Daytona Beach for spring break
because fourteen dollars are all that she has in her
vacation fund.
All of my important keys are now stuck in the
drain pipe of my bathroom sink, Buster, my
kitten, does not realize how much his
playfulness inconvenience me.
Grandpa claims that Martian measles cause
green and purple spots to erupt over a person's
body.
Neither of Freud's parents have much
intelligence when it comes to choosing
spouses.
Each of these women wishes that they had read
the care instructions before washing the
delicate and expensive dresses.
Do no one except Aneeta and Beenish have the
subject-verb agreement exercises that Mr. Ali
assigned for today?
There are lizards that sneak in between the
window screens and cockroaches that takes up
residence in every bathroom and kitchen.
You are one of the few lucky ones who is going to die

a really natural death.

a) Not only have our ways of livings changed, but
people themselves have also been changed.

b) Not only have our ways of living changed, but

people themselves have been changed.

c) Not only our ways of living have changed, but

people themselves have also been changed.

d) Not only have our ways of living changed, but

people themselves have also been changed.
Not only has she been late four times; but she
has also not done any work.

Not only were they tall, but they were also strong.
a) Even though Ali has many friends who love their Toyota and
Honda, he has always believed that General Motors makes
lemons.

b) Even though Ali has many friends who love their Toyota and
Honda he has always believed that General Motors make
lemons.

c) Even though Ali has many friends who loves their Toyota and
Honda, he has always believed that General Motors makes
lemons.

d) Even though Ali has many, friends who love his Toyota and
Honda, he has always believed that General Motors makes
lemons.
a) For the most part, each star make its voyage in
complete loneliness like a ship on an empty ocean.

b) For the most part, each star makes their voyage in

complete loneliness, like a ship on an empty ocean.

c) For the most part, each star makes its voyage in

complete loneliness, as a ship on an empty ocean.

d) For the most part, each star makes its voyage in

complete loneliness, like a ship on an empty ocean.
Like vs As
Imagine a grown woman acting as a child.

Imagine a grown woman acting like a child.

The little girl, as her mother, has bright red hair.

The little girl, like her mother, has bright red hair.
No one makes chocolate cake like my mother does.

No one makes chocolate cake as my mother does.

No one makes chocolate cake like my mother does.

No one makes chocolate cake as my mother does.

No one makes chocolate cake the way my mother does.