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Spot the error on subject-verb agreement

The article contains the concept of subject-verb agreement in detail, including subject-verb agreement meaning, examples and exercises and a few tips to understand Subject-verb agreement.

In English grammar, the subject is the phrase or word and part of a clause or sentence, which indicates the thing of the person doing an action. A verb is a word and part of a sentence that shows or describes an action or a talk. The agreement is the shortfall of contradiction between two things. Subject-verb agreement is a grammatical concept. Subject-verb agreement meaning can be studied in two ways, ii. e.  spot the error of subject-verb agreement examples and spot the error of subject-verb agreement exercises. To understand the subject-verb agreement, knowing what is subject and the verb is important.

Subject-verb agreement meaning 

Subject-verb agreement means the subject in the sentence, the verb in the sentence should be singular or subject in the sentence, and the verb in the sentence should be plural. In other words,  Subject-verb agreement meaning implies that a verb (action word) and subject should be both plural or singular. Subject-action word arrangement implies that the sentence is grammatically right. Subject-verb agreement is normally, to a greater extent, an issue in present tense sentences. Most subject-verb agreement errors can be detected and fixed by identifying the subject and verb of a sentence. A typical grammatical error is sa subject-verb disagreement, when plural subjects take a singular verb aandthe it another way around. The subject-verb agreement rules are learned to make the speech and writing more accurate and clear. 

Some examples of subject-verb agreement with compound subjects, singular indefinite pronouns, plural indefinite pronouns, noun phrases, collective nouns, and inverted subjects are the following.

  • My cat waits for the postal carrier.
  • Alex likes fruits.
  • The dogs’ bark at the window.
  • These caps are too big for me.
  • I understand the work.
  • Cheese and butter are needed for the recipe.
  • Neither my uncle nor my sister knows how to swim.
  • Chilly and cheese are great on burgers.
  • Chapati and fish curry is a traditional meal in China.
  • The writer and director are arriving soon. 
  • My brother or sister is coming to the school.
  • Neither English nor Hindi is my favorite language.
  • Either my mother or my sisters are going to the gym.
  • Either my sister or father is going to the gym.
  • Neither she nor I are going to school.
  • Each gets a pineapple for eating.
  • Somebody will pay for that.
  • Anybody is more fun than you.
  • Something feels very wrong there.
  • Everybody enjoys a good movie.
  • Nothing has been determined as of yet.
  • Both are qualified for the job.
  • Many went to the beach and got sunburned.
  • Few know what it takes to get ahead.
  • People are already in the park.
  • Some salt is required for taste.
  • Most of the biscuits were eaten. 
  • A theory of biology ascertains that the human body is made up of cells.
  • A virus in all people’s mobile phones is a real threat to security.
  • The causes of this disease are bad diet and fast food.
  • The table and bench I got at the supermarket look nice in the living room.
  • The members of the committee are very happy with the performance.
  • The committee meets here every Monday.
  • The crowd is getting happy.
  • The jury has finally reached a decision.
  • The minority rules most of the day.
  • The staff has gone their separate ways for the holidays.
  • There are seven textbooks in the bedroom.
  • Over the tree flies a bird.
  • How are the employees enjoying the workplace?

There are many rules about subject-verb agreement. They are the following.

  • Indefinite pronouns usually take a singular verb.
  • Nouns used with a quantifier can be singular or plural depending on whether the noun is countable or uncountable.
  • Singular subjects joined by the word and are generally plural.
  • There is, and there are agree with the noun that follows.
  • Use a plural when the sentence’s subjects are two or more nouns.
  • After joining a subject… or, neither … nor, or not only … but also, the verb agrees with the subject nearest to it.

Conclusion 

It can be precarious to track down the main subject and the main verb of a sentence, particularly assuming there are diverting objects, modifiers, or verbs behaving like different grammatical forms. Whenever you have decided on the action or statement of being depicted in the sentence, then, at that point, you need to figure out what or who is performing the activity or experiencing the statement of being. At last, you should ensure that both the subject and the verb concur in number because if they don’t, it tends to be undeniably challenging to get what is being imparted.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Get answers to the most common queries related to the Bank Examination Preparation.

What is the difference between subject and verb?

Ans- The main difference between subject and verb is that subject is the actor of the sentence while t...Read full

How to spot the error of subject-verb agreement examples as follows? Akbar lives in India. Arguments are well supported.

Ans- By knowing the subject-verb agreement meaning, one can spot the error in subject-verb agreement examples. Akbar living in India is an i...Read full

Can noun objects be the subject of a sentence?

Ans. As per subject-verb agreement meaning, Noun objects cannot be the subject of a sentence because ...Read full

How to spot the error in subject-verb agreement exercises?

Ans. Knowing the subject-verb agreement meaning helps spot the subject-verb agreement’s error. By looking at whether the subject disag...Read full

Spot the error in the subject-verb agreement exercises given below. Women and men are complementary to each other.

Ans. There are two persons in the subject of the sentence. If it is two-person, the subject is plural. According to the subject-verb agreeme...Read full