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I typed in the following sentence in Grammarly and it keeps telling me that I had a problem with the subject-verb agreement:

How much of each tea makes up the mixed tea is not known. (My incorrect version according to Grammarly)

How much of each tea make up the mixed tea is not known. (Correct version according to Grammarly)

However, given that 'how much' refers to the amount of an uncountable noun, shouldn't the singular verb, makes, be more appropriate? 'of each tea' is a descriptive phrase so that it does nothing to do with the determination of verbs.

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    Your grammar is right. Grammarly's is wrong. Happens all the time.
    – gotube ♦
    Oct 31, 2022 at 3:35
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    The right version is clearer when it's simplified: How much of each tea is in the mix? It sounds wrong with are.
    – Jack O'Flaherty
    Oct 31, 2022 at 3:55

1 Answer 1

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Because you have referred to "the mixed tea" in the singular, Grammarly is assuming that all the teas have gone into the same mix, so it is changing the word 'makes' to 'make' accordingly.

You could ignore it if the broader context of your text makes it clear there are many mixes. Or you could make it clearer in that statement:

How much of each tea makes up the brewed teas is not known.

I also have Grammarly installed and it isn't suggesting any change to my example because 'brewed teas' is plural. In short - your original isn't wrong, but the fact that Grammarly is (arguably incorrectly) picking you up on this point may suggest there is a more natural way to write it.

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