Questions tagged [subject-verb-agreement]

A singular subject requires a singular verb form, whereas a plural subject requires the plural verb form.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
0 votes
2 answers
44 views

collective nouns subject verb agreement

Which of the following is correct? The committee debates these questions carefully. or The committee debate these questions carefully. I am confused on when to use plural form of the verb with ...
lokesh L P's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
30 views

Verbs in plural after a singular noun [duplicate]

These are some sentences I found in some academic books I was reading: A small white blob is reflected there, precisely where Beth’s camera-flash left behind proof of her presence as if the daughter ...
Arseny Aleev's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
35 views

Questions about verbs

70% (700) of the total data is used as training data, and the remaining 20% (200) are used as validation data. I am in the process of creating presentation PPT materials. Is are used as correct in ...
seo hyun's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
984 views

Two cats and one dog (were/was)

Consider the following sentence: Two cats and one dog (were/was) sitting on the fence Logically I would think the correct word to use here is "were" considering that we are talking about a ...
White Autumn's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
40 views

Noun and verb after "either one or all": singular or plural?

I think it is grammatical to say "Almost every day, either this table or that one is reserved." What about the following sentence? "Almost every day, either one or all tables are ...
apadana's user avatar
  • 269
1 vote
0 answers
53 views

What form of the verb is used with a subject like "little me"? [closed]

I want to say that I look innocent in an old picture of mine and I don't know if I should say: "Little me looks so innocent"; or "Little me look so innocent" (without an "s&...
user180183's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
55 views

Some questions about notional agreement

I learned from some resources that notional agreement is not a rigid rule but rather a matter of preference. But they also suggest that there are times when notional agreement works better, and the ...
No name's user avatar
  • 29
1 vote
1 answer
29 views

Which is the correct subject verb agreement in "The majority of the class was/were"? [duplicate]

"The majority of the class was having problems with simple subject-verb agreement problems..." Correction: "The majority of the class were having problems with simple subject-verb ...
Debbra Palmer's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
83 views

"What Has" or "What Have," and Why?

Which of the following is correct (and, most importantly, why)? A glimmer of light after what have been long weeks of darkness. A glimmer of light after what has been long weeks of darkness. (The ...
Lonnk's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
2 answers
88 views

What kind of verb should be used after 'A century of + a plural noun'

In the following sentence, which verb is right? A century of discoveries in genetics ( has / have ) unlocked the secrets of our DNA.
nealK's user avatar
  • 31
1 vote
1 answer
52 views

subject-verb agreement When two singular words are joined by not only . . . but also

When neither… nor… or either… or… are used with two singular nouns, the verb can be singular or plural. A plural verb is more informal.From Oxford Learner's Dictionaries I wonder if When not only . . ...
Jones's user avatar
  • 614
0 votes
1 answer
24 views

Singular noun is something and something?

I get stuck by the following sentence from this article: Noam Chomsky: The False Promise of ChatGPT. The crux of machine learning is description and prediction; it does not posit any causal ...
Lerner Zhang's user avatar
  • 3,173
0 votes
0 answers
71 views

Which is correct? "…who copy/copied from who?"

Is it grammatically okay to say: Between John and Abraham who copy from who? Between John and Abraham who copied from who?
Zubairu Yakubu's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
29 views

Which one is correct

"How many days has it been since I purchased the subscription" or "How many days have it been since I purchased the subscription". My limited knowledge says me "has it been&...
Kumar Ajitesh 's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
29 views

Subject-verb agreement of singular-plural

Top of mind on Capitol Hill as lawmakers return from recess this week are the annual spending bills to keep the government open, which must be enacted by the time the new fiscal year starts on Oct. 1. ...
SHIN JaeGuk's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
27 views

Agreement of a verb with its subject when another noun phrase appears between them [closed]

I failed this question in a test but I don't think I was wrong. Instruction: Choose the correct vèrb from the pair in parenthesis. knowledge of different cultures (helps/help) to survive in a global ...
Paul Awolu's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
26 views

Is the sentence in the post correct?

"We were intelligent enough to know that a sample size of one does not a conclusion make" ? Is the sentence above correct as per the grammatical rules of English ? If yes then what set of ...
Ariano's user avatar
  • 1
0 votes
1 answer
103 views

Is "some of the fruit" plural or singular in this case?

Is "some of the fruit" plural or singular? We are familiar with the verse from the bible "She took some of the fruit and ate it.". Here "some of" refers to a piece of a ...
Fra's user avatar
  • 1,653
0 votes
0 answers
41 views

'how reasoning and acting more human-like works' [duplicate]

This is from one of "for dummies series". Our current daily data production is estimated to amount to about 2.5 quintillion (a number with 18 zeros) bytes, with the lion’s share going to ...
user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
18 views

Subject-verb number agreement relating to "services"

I understand the subject-verb number agreement rule but had a hard time locating answers relating to types of and use of the word "services." I assume that you don't use plural types if ...
TechWriterTen's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
441 views

each (of them) have vs has

I am wondering if the following sentence is correct. There are 200 individuals who each have two alleles at single nucleotide site of interest. In my opinion, have should be changed to has. Is it ...
James Doyle's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
1k views

"Is" or "are" for two uncountable words?

"The commonality and difference among these concepts is/are still unclear. So our paper sheds light on it/them." ‘Is’ or ‘are’ for two uncountable nouns/subjects According to the above ...
Ypbor's user avatar
  • 241
0 votes
2 answers
61 views

Verb form with name of subject ending in "studies"

Which verb form should be used with names of subjects ending in "studies" – that is, for instance, subjects such as "religious studies", "literary studies", and so on? ...
Gerda's user avatar
  • 187
1 vote
1 answer
37 views

"which sentence(s) is" vs. "which sentence(s) are": how should one conjugate a verb when the subject is a word followed by (s)?

I wonder how to conjugate a verb when the subject is a word followed by (s). For example, which of the following two sentence(s) is/are correct: Which program(s) are needed? Which program(s) is ...
Franck Dernoncourt's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
32 views

What verbform should I use with coordinated activities as a subject? [duplicate]

If the subject in a clause is singular, the verb form should be singular, and if the subject is plural, the verb form should be plural. So far, so good. But what about subjects that coordinate two ...
Gerda's user avatar
  • 187
0 votes
1 answer
17 views

What you said is/are both true and false?

What he said is both true and false. What he said are both true and false. Which one of these sentence is correct? Which word can be considered as a subject in these sentences?
Hari S's user avatar
  • 127
0 votes
2 answers
41 views

Singular Noun With Plural Verb?

I'm currently struggling with whether to use a single or plural verb after an singular noun for the same event that happens multiple times. Example: The catalyst for these celebrations are/is ...
user avatar
20 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why is it "need" in "it need not be thus" instead of "needs"?

But it need not be thus This sentence boggles me. I expected to see "it needs not" or "it does not need to". What am I missing?
akond's user avatar
  • 305
1 vote
4 answers
58 views

Does relative clause agree with main subject?

Consider the sentence: The trout that swim in the center of the river keep themselves safe. The main subject is "trout" which is single, but the main verb is "keep". Shouldn't ...
siam sarker's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
28 views

How does this sentence follow subject verb agreement?

I dont understand how the following sentence is following correct subject and verb agreement. Do authors think that including examples from the text files has widespread applicability? Grammarly ...
Exploring's user avatar
  • 145
2 votes
2 answers
49 views

Increasing temperatures means

I saw the following sentence in a magazine. To my surprise, the plural subject "increasing temperatures" is paired with the singular verb "means." Is it a typo or a correct usage? ...
Apollyon's user avatar
  • 5,894
0 votes
0 answers
21 views

By 5 units less or simply 5 less?

In France, 25 units of electricity were produced from gas, and by 5 units less were produced with the help of oil. Should I use 'by' here (I want to say that 20 units of electricity were obtained ...
Arseny Aleev's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
60 views

There was a bed, a desk and two windows. Could it be "there were" in this sentence?

There was a bed, a desk and two windows in my room. Could it be "there were" in the sentence Above?
Pumpkin cake's user avatar
  • 1,001
0 votes
1 answer
40 views

If the "we" refers to a company, is it "is" or "are"?

Example MicroLoft is a software company based in Los Angeles. We offer software development and maintenance services and is one of the few software companies with full Lookle certified team. Should ...
PlainH2O's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
54 views

The usage of 'how much'?

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 ...
user464688's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
29 views

'What N is' or 'what is N' (affirmative statement)

In one online course, I saw the following phrase: In this video, you learned what is data and you also saw how not to misuse data. My question is: shouldn't it be 'you learned what data is,' since ...
Arseny Aleev's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
70 views

As a subject, is “dinner and drinks” singular or plural?

Is “dinner and drinks” considered singular or plural? i.e. is it how were dinner and drinks? or how was dinner and drinks?
Drew's user avatar
  • 101
0 votes
0 answers
19 views

A phone, tablet, or computer **is/are** used with care nowadays because people do not want to get addicted - is or are?

What form of the verb to use when the subjects are joined by a "or" and they are not mutually exclusive? Example 1 A phone, tablet, or computer is/are used with care nowadays because people ...
vincentlin's user avatar
  • 1,967
2 votes
1 answer
104 views

Omission of verbs in 'the more... the more...' construction

Recently I found the following phrase in an English guide book: In all regions except Southeast Asia it can be seen that the higher the consumption of cigarettes, the higher the tobacco-related ...
Arseny Aleev's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
398 views

What is the difference between 'ambitions' and 'ambition'?

I found a sentence below: When guided by a sense of moral purpose, they were able to channel their ambitions and summon their talents to enlarge the opportunities and lives of others. (Extract from ...
user464688's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
30 views

Using plural noun + is and are

Can we use "is" and "are" like this: EVs is a recent trend and are more common in our area than in my grandparents'. Or, when to treat plural as a singular subject? These are ...
LShi's user avatar
  • 113
1 vote
1 answer
44 views

Is it correct to write 'x plus y are z' [duplicate]

While it is correct to write 'Two and three are five' is it incorrect to write 'Two plus three are five' ? I've looked up several online dictionaries including OALD, Cambridge and Britannica but didn'...
user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
42 views

About verbs with "to" preposition

"He explained to me this stuff" Here the preposition phrase " to me" stands before direct object. Are there other verbs where prepositional phrase can be before direct object? Can ...
Petro Probka's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
263 views

Singular Subject X + is + Plural Noun Y & Plural Noun Y + are + Singular Subject X, right?

In the official translation of a policy statement by a German politician it reads Our greatest strength is our alliances. As a German native, this makes me cringe, because the German rule is "...
PandoraFollowthrough's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
49 views

Is/are: Which is the right verb to use in the given context?

There are two types of people in this world. The first (type) is those who do that, and the second (type) is those who don't. There are two types of people in this world. The first are those who do ...
Nopeyes21's user avatar
  • 189
0 votes
1 answer
42 views

Which one is correct: "the total miles is 275" or "the total miles are 275"?

Can you please tell me if I have to say the total miles is 275 or the total miles are 275? For example: The load needs to be delivered to Austin, TX, which is 250 loaded miles. The total miles is/are ...
Dmytro O'Hope's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
169 views

Meaning of I have not to go there

Let's have a look at these sentences: 1.I have to not go there. 2.I don't have to go there. 3.I have not to go there. What are the meanings of these sentences. I think, the first one means that it is ...
Sahil Laskar's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
232 views

"Do" or "Does" with "any of X"? [closed]

Which is correct: Do any of the ideas interest you? Does any of the ideas interest you? In one textbook, it gives 2 as an example sentence; however, in another one, I read something similar but it ...
Carol's user avatar
  • 53
4 votes
4 answers
947 views

there was/were a number of

All examples are mine. They arose as a result of my interest: whether we must always use verbs in the plural form when these verbs agree with "a (...) number of + noun". My first example: (...
Loviii's user avatar
  • 2,758
1 vote
2 answers
132 views

What is the subject in the sentence "there is a lot of X?" and how do I determine subject-verb agreement?

I was told that the sentence "there is a lot of potatoes" is incorrect because potatoes is a countable noun, so it should be "there are a lot of potatoes". But if I analyze the ...
Martín Alonso's user avatar

1
2 3 4 5
16