Subject-verb agreement

The verb in a sentence must agree with its subject in number.

Basic rule

• Singular subject + singular verb: The boy runs.
• Plural subject + plural verb: The boys run.

Tricky cases

• Words between the subject and verb do not change the agreement: The box of mangoes is heavy. (The subject is box.)
• Each, every, everyone, nobody, somebody take singular verbs: Everyone has a book.
• Two subjects joined by and take a plural verb: Akinyi and Otieno are here.
• With either...or / neither...nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject: Neither the teacher nor the pupils were late.
• Collective nouns (team, class, family) usually take a singular verb when acting as one group: The team is ready.
• Words like news, mathematics are singular: The news is good.