Subject-Verb-Agreement

Complete the sentences with the correct verb forms.

1/ Jiro and Sachiko ____ a large house in France.

a) have
b) has

2/ Sachiko, as well as Jiro, ____ a large house in France. 

a) have
b) has

Now, click on "Read More" and check your answers.






The correct answers

1/ Jiro and Sachiko _have_ a large house in France.

2/ Sachiko, as well as Jiro, _has_ from a large house in France. 

Both sentences have are about two people, but for number 2, the answer is have. Why?

Let's look at the rules...

1/ The Basic Rule

PLURAL subjects are followed by plural verbs.

The cooks work at a French restaurant.

SINGULAR subjects have singular verbs

The cook works at a French restaurant.

Study the tables below.

We, You, I, They

The cooks, Jiro and Sachiko | go, eat, have, like, want, buy, see...

_____

She, He, It, Sachiko | goes, eats, has, likes, wants, buys, sees...

The cook,

I | am, do, have, like, watch...

 2/ AND


The conjunction AND joins two subjects, so we have to use a plural verb (or infinitive/base form).

Jiro and Sachiko have a large house in France 
↑                 ↑
subject    subject


3/ NOUN BEFORE OF IS THE SUBJECT



The box of chocolates is from Laura Secords.
         ↑
       subject

The boxes of chocolates are from Laura Secords.
         ↑
      subject

The agreement is made with the noun before "of"


4/ NOUN  CLOSEST TO VERB AFTER "OR"

An omelette or pancakes are fine with me.
                                ↑
                            subject

Pancakes or an omelette is fine with me.

The verb matches the noun after "or". The rule is the same when using "nor".
                
                          
5/ NOUN BEFORE THE FIRST COMMA ","

Lynn, as well as Tomas and Merve, is going to Ottawa with her class.
  ↑
subject 

Merve and Tomas, along with Lynn, are going to Ottawa with their class.
 ↑                   ↑
subject          subject


6/ WHEN NOUNS ARE ONE UNIT OF SOMETHING


This rule is for measurements like kilometres, kilograms, pounds, feet, dollars, litres, etc. These use singular verbs.

Twenty-three dollars is not bad for two pizzas.

Three kilometres doesn't take a long time to complete

Eggs and bacon is my favourite breakfast combination.

(compound nouns/subjects: eggs and bacon, spaghetti and meatballs)


For more on subject-verb agreement watch Adam's lesson on Engvid.

Engvid's Alex has great lesson on subject-verb agreement with pronouns like EACH ONE, ANYONE, EVERYBODY, etc

Exercises

Grammarbook | Subject-Verb Agreement Quiz 1

Grammarbook | Subject-Verb Agreement Quiz 2