Quiz 37 · Subject–Verb Agreement — The Talking Hands Series

First, the idea

In Quiz 31 you learned to find the two main parts of a sentence. The subject is who or what the sentence is about. The verb is what the subject does or is. In The oven heats up slowly, the subject is the oven and the verb is heats. This quiz is about making those two parts match.

A word that means one is singular: oven, baker, loaf. A word that means more than one is plural: ovens, bakers, loaves. In the present tense, the tense that tells what is true now or what happens regularly, a verb changes its form to match its subject. A singular subject takes the singular form of the verb. A plural subject takes the plural form. That matching is called agreement.

Here are two sentences side by side.

The oven works.

The ovens work.

Look at where the letter s went. On the noun, an -s usually means more than one: ovens. On the verb, it is the other way around. The verb with the -s is the singular one: works goes with one oven. The verb without the -s is the plural one: work goes with two or more ovens. Many people expect the -s to mean "more than one" everywhere, so this reversal surprises them. In most simple sentences there is one -s between the subject and the verb, and it sits either on the noun or on the verb, not on both.

A few verbs change more than that. With one (he, she, it, the oven), use is, was, has, does. With more than one (they, the ovens), use are, were, have, do. The words I and you take the form without the -s (I work, you work), even though each means one person, and I has its own forms of be: I am, I was.

The picture at the top of this page is one of the first X-ray photographs ever made. In 1895 the German scientist Wilhelm Röntgen found a kind of ray that passes through skin but not through bone, and he called it the X-ray, because he did not yet know what it was. With it he photographed a hand, said to be his wife’s. Look at it closely. The skin is only a faint gray shadow. The bones are plain: each finger, each joint, all the way down into the wrist. Two other things show up even darker than the bones. One is a ring on a finger. The other is a set of metal objects lying across the hand, a round disk and a long, thin tool. They are the first things the eye lands on, and none of them is part of the hand.

A sentence is like the hand in this picture. Its subject and its verb are its bones: the two parts that hold it up. Other words often lie between them, the way the ring and the metal lie across the hand. Those words can catch the eye first, but they are not the bones. To make the verb agree, look through the words in between to the subject, the way an X-ray looks through skin. Then match the verb to the subject alone. A singular subject, one, takes a singular verb. A plural subject, more than one, takes a plural verb.

In a short sentence the subject and the verb sit side by side, and nobody gets it wrong. The ovens work. The trouble starts when the subject and the verb are far apart, or when the subject is hard to see. The test builds its questions in exactly those places. There are four of them, and each has its own check.

1. Words standing in between

Read this sentence.

The sign with the holiday prices hangs by the register.

The verb is hangs. What hangs? The sign, one sign. The words with the holiday prices stand between the subject and the verb. They tell which sign, but they are not the subject. The word right before the verb is prices, which is plural, and a reader in a hurry might reach for hang to match it. That would be matching the verb to the ring instead of the bone.

The check is the one from Grammar: Start Here: cover the words between. Put your finger over with the holiday prices and read what is left: The sign hangs by the register. One sign, singular verb. The bones are plain.

Sometimes the words in between are a whole group of words beginning with who, that, or which.

The bakers who work the night shift start at ten.

The verb is start. Who starts? The bakers, more than one. The words who work the night shift stand in between. Inside them is the word shift, which is singular and sits right before the verb. Cover who work the night shift, and the sentence reads The bakers start at ten. Plural subject, plural verb.

Phrases such as along with, together with, and as well as also stand in between. They sound as if they add people to the subject, but they do not. Only the word and joins two subjects into one plural subject.

Marisol, along with the two new bakers, opens the shop at five.

Cover along with the two new bakers: Marisol opens the shop. One person, singular verb.

2. Two subjects joined together

When two subjects are joined by and, they make one subject, a pair, and the verb matches the pair. A pair is more than one, so the verb is plural.

The rye and the sourdough come out of the oven before six.

One kind of bread and another kind of bread: two things, so come, not comes.

When two subjects are joined by or or nor (also either … or and neither … nor), only one of them decides the verb: the one nearer to the verb.

Either the rolls or the rye goes in next.

Either the rye or the rolls go in next.

In the first sentence, the rye is nearer to the verb. The rye is one thing, so the verb is goes. In the second sentence the same two subjects have traded places. Now the rolls are nearer, and the rolls are more than one, so the verb is go. The meaning did not change. Only the order did, and the verb follows the order.

3. Words that sound like many but mean one

Some words seem to be about a crowd, but each of them is singular. The most common on the test are each, every, everyone, everybody, someone, nobody, either, and neither. Each means each one, one at a time. Neither means not this one and not that one, again one at a time.

Each of the pies has a name card.

Neither of the ovens is hot yet.

Everyone on the morning shift gets a copy.

In the first two sentences, the words of the pies and of the ovens are words in between, and they are plural. Cover them: Each has. Neither is. The subject is each or neither, and it takes a singular verb.

A word that names a group, such as crew, staff, family, or company, is also treated as singular in American English, and that is how the test treats it. The group is one group, even though it has many people in it.

The night crew takes a break at two.

The staff meets on the first Monday of the month.

4. The verb comes first

Usually the subject comes before the verb. In some sentences the order is turned around, and the verb arrives first. The check is to turn the sentence around and put the subject back in front.

Sentences that begin with there or here work this way. The word there is not the subject. The subject comes after the verb.

There are four pies left in the case.

Turned around: Four pies are left in the case. The subject is pies, more than one, so the verb is are. With one pie, it would be There is one pie left in the case.

Questions work this way too. In a question, the verb, or the first part of it, often comes before the subject.

Is the sourdough ready? Are the rolls ready?

Where are the order sheets?

Turn the last one around: The order sheets are where? The subject is sheets, plural, so are.

How people talk, and what the test expects

Listen to almost anyone in this city and you will hear There's two trays left. There's is short for there is, and two trays is plural, so the subject and the verb do not match. In speech this is ordinary and everybody understands it. Most people say it, including people who write very well. On the test, and in a memo or a notice, it is marked wrong. Turn it around, Two trays are left, and the written version is There are two trays left. The same goes for Neither of them have the keys, which most people say and the test marks: neither is one at a time, so Neither of them has the keys. Knowing both ways of speaking is a skill. Quizzes 42 and 57 are where moving between the English of talk and the English of the test becomes a named strength.

The check, all together

Find the verb. Ask who or what does it, or who or what it is. That answer is the subject. If words stand between them, cover those words. If the verb comes first, turn the sentence around. Then count the subject, one or more than one, and give it the verb that matches. On the test, these questions arrive as dropdowns inside a workplace document, and the wrong choices are usually built to match the nearest word.

Worked example — thinking out loud

Mr. Okafor wrote a memo to the whole staff about the changes coming to the bakery. You will read the finished memo in Part B. Here is a line from his first draft.

The list of shifts that Marisol and Daniela drew up for October and November are posted by the time clock.

Read it aloud once. It sounds fine, and that is the problem, because the ear goes to the nearest words. Start with the check. Find the verb: are posted. Now ask what is posted.

The tempting path goes like this. Right before the verb there is a pair, Marisol and Daniela, joined by and. Two people joined by and make a plural subject, and a plural subject takes are. So are must be right. A careful reader can follow this path, because it uses a real rule.

Why it fails: Marisol and Daniela are not the ones who were posted by the time clock. They already have a verb of their own, drew up. They are matched with it inside the group of words that begins with that. (In the past tense, most verbs have one form for one and for many: one person drew up, two people drew up. Only was and were change.) So the pair is already taken care of. It lies between the subject and are posted, like the ring across the hand.

The words of shifts stand in between too, and shifts is plural, which pulls the ear toward are a second time.

Cover everything between the subject and the verb: of shifts that Marisol and Daniela drew up for October and November. What is left is The list … are posted by the time clock. Now the mismatch is plain. A list is one thing. Look through all those words to the bone: list.

The list of shifts that Marisol and Daniela drew up for October and November is posted by the time clock.

One list, is posted. The sentence has two subject-and-verb pairs in it, and now both of them match: Marisol and Daniela with drew up, and the list with is posted.

The next line of the draft read: There's also new hours for the counter, starting Monday. That is how Mr. Okafor would say it at the bench. Turn it around to find the subject. What is there? New hours for the counter. The subject is hours, more than one, so the verb is are, not is. In the memo it becomes There are also new hours for the counter, starting Monday.

☞ Behind you: Quiz 31 (clauses and sentence types, where you learned to find the subject and the verb, which is the first step of every check here) and Quiz 36 (modifiers, where you practiced finding the first words after the comma; those words are very often the subject, one of the bones of the sentence). Ahead: Quiz 38 (verb tense, where the verb changes for time instead of for number) and Quiz 39 (pronoun agreement, where words like it and they must match their nouns in number too, one or more than one). In plain words first: Grammar: Start Here, Part 1.

Part B · The skill in the wild

The assistant-manager job from Quiz 35 has been filled. Mr. Okafor wrote this memo to the whole staff. It announces who got the job, the new schedule, and the new night baker hired in Quiz 36. Five decision points. At each dropdown, choose the version where every subject and its verb agree.

OKAFOR'S BAKERY — MEMO

To: All staff

From: R. Okafor

Date: Monday, October 5

Re: Our new assistant manager, the new schedule, and a welcome

Three of you applied for the new job of assistant manager, and I thank all three of you. 1 [a. Each of the three applications were strong, and the choice was hard. / b. Each of the three applications have been strong, and the choice was hard. / c. Each of the three applications was strong, and the choice was hard.]

I am glad to tell you that Daniela Vega is our new assistant manager. Most of you know her from the counter, where she has been the lead, and she learned to bake here, from Marisol. 2 [a. Starting next week, Daniela and Marisol share the work of opening the shop each morning. / b. Starting next week, Daniela and Marisol shares the work of opening the shop each morning. / c. Starting next week, Daniela and Marisol is sharing the work of opening the shop each morning.]

The new schedule begins Monday, October 12. 3 [a. The new hours for each shift is posted on the board by the time clock. / b. The new hours for each shift are posted on the board by the time clock. / c. The new hours for each shift has been posted on the board by the time clock.] Please check your hours before Friday and tell Daniela about any problem.

From now on, if you trade a shift with someone, write the trade on the new swap sheet next to the board, and Daniela will sign it. 4 [a. Neither the old hours nor the old swap sheet count after Sunday. / b. Neither the old hours nor the old swap sheet are counting after Sunday. / c. Neither the old hours nor the old swap sheet counts after Sunday.]

Last, please welcome Ahmed Diallo, our new night baker. He works from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., Tuesday through Saturday, so most of you will see him only at the door as he leaves. 5 [a. When the morning crew comes in, there are already twelve trays of rolls on the racks. / b. When the morning crew comes in, there is already twelve trays of rolls on the racks. / c. When the morning crew comes in, there's already twelve trays of rolls on the racks.] That is his work. Please thank him when you see him.

Daniela, congratulations. Ahmed, welcome to Okafor's.

R. Okafor

The key — and why the tempting answers tempt

Part A

1. C. Who arrives at seven? The driver, one person. The words who brings the eggs and the butter stand in between. Cover them: The driver arrives at seven. A tempts because of the and right before the blank: the eggs and the butter are two things, and two things joined by and take a plural verb. But the eggs and the butter do not arrive on their own. They belong to the verb brings, inside the who group, and that pair is already matched. B and D are plural forms (are, have), so they fail for the same reason: they match the nearest word, not the subject.

2. A. With either … or, the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it. The nearer subject is the old oven, one oven: needs. B tempts because the sentence is plainly about more than one machine, the two mixers and the oven, so it feels plural. With and it would be plural. With or, only the nearer subject decides the verb. C and D are plural forms too (are, have). If the sentence were turned so that the mixers came second, Either the old oven or the two mixers need, the plural would be right.

3. D. The subject is neither, which means not this one and not that one, one at a time. It is singular: Neither … has worked. A is the nearest-word trap: bakers is plural and sits right before the blank. It is also how most people say it out loud, neither of them have, which is why it sounds right; the test marks it. Cover of the new bakers: Neither has worked. B and C are plural forms (were, are), and neither one fits before worked in this sentence.

4. B. Turn the sentence around: Two sourdough orders are still to fill. The subject is orders, more than one, so There are. A is the text exactly as Daniela sent it. It tempts because it is how nearly everyone talks, and in a text message between cousins nobody minds. On a written order sheet, and on the test, there's means there is, which does not match two orders. C says the same thing without the shortening, and the mismatch is easier to hear. D moves to the past and still uses the singular was; two orders would take were.

5. A. Turn the question around: The new hours for the counter are going to start next week. The subject is hours, plural: Are. B tempts twice. The word right before going is counter, one counter. And "the new hours" can feel like one thing, one new schedule. But hours is a plural noun, and in a question the verb comes first and still matches the subject. C (was) and D (isn't) are singular forms, so they fail the same way.

6. D. The subject is the morning crew, one group, which the test treats as singular. The words along with the two drivers from the flour company stand in between and do not add to the subject. Cover them: The morning crew carries the new sacks. A tempts for two reasons at once. A crew is many people, and along with sounds like and, as if the drivers had joined the subject. Only and joins two subjects. Along with is a phrase standing in between. The nearest word, company, is singular, so here the nearest word would have given the right answer by accident; the check, not the nearest word, is what to trust. B and C are plural (are, have).

Part B — Mr. Okafor's memo

1. c. The subject is each, one application at a time. Cover of the three applications: Each was strong. Option a tempts because applications, plural, sits right before the verb, and because there really were three of them. Option b makes the same mistake with have, and it also changes the time for no reason; Quiz 38 is about that.

2. a. Daniela and Marisol, two people joined by and, make a plural subject: share, without the -s. Option b tempts because the name right before the verb, Marisol, is one person, and Marisol shares sounds right on its own. And many readers feel the -s belongs with more than one; on a verb it is the other way around. Option c uses is, the singular form of be, for two people.

3. b. What is posted? The new hours, more than one: are posted. Cover for each shift: The new hours are posted. Option a is the trap built for this lesson. The word each stands right before the verb, and you have just learned that each is singular. But here each is inside the words standing in between, and it is not the subject. Each makes the verb singular only when it is the subject, as in Each of the pies has, or the first word of the subject, as in Each shift has. Option c (has been) is singular for the same reason.

4. c. With neither … nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject, the old swap sheet, one sheet: counts. Option a tempts because the sentence names two things, the hours and the sheet, and two things feel plural; it is also the form that would be right if the old hours stood nearer the verb. Option b uses are, also plural. Watch the order: the nearer subject decides.

5. a. Turn it around: Twelve trays of rolls are already on the racks. The subject is trays, plural: there are. Option c is how Mr. Okafor would say it at the counter, and how most of the city says it; in a memo to the staff, and on the test, it is marked. Option b is the same sentence with there is written out. Both tempt for one more reason: the sentence begins with the morning crew comes in, a correct singular match, and the ear carries the singular forward to the next verb.