MEPX
Chapter 3 of 13All chapters
  1. 1Parts of speech
  2. 2Sentences and fragments
  3. 3Subject and verb agreement
  4. 4Tenses
  5. 5Lie and lay
  6. 6Pronouns
  7. 7Apostrophes
  8. 8Sound alike pairs
  9. 9Fewer and less
  10. 10Plurals
  11. 11Commas
  12. 12Other punctuation
  13. 13Active and passive

Chapter 3 of 13

Subject and verb agreement

Matching singular to singular.

Find the real subject

The verb agrees with the subject, not with whatever noun sits closest. In "the list of items is long", the subject is list, so the verb is is.

  • Either and neither take a singular verb.
  • A collective noun such as team can take either, depending on whether you mean the unit or the members.

There is and there are

The verb still follows what comes after it: there is one problem, there are two problems. This is the pair most often got wrong in speech.