Subject - Verb Agreement
Concord Error Detection
Most Repeated Exam Topic
Master Concord in Minutes
Definition with clear examples
Concord means agreement but in English Grammar it is also known
as (Subject - Verb Agreement).
What is Concord?
Subject Verb Agreement means the verb must agree the subject in
number and person.
For example:
- He writes✍️
- You write✍️
- I write✍️
- They write✍️
Quick Exam Trick🎯
Find subject
Check singular/plural
Match verb
👉Correct subject = correct answer.
Here in the first example:
The subject is singular (third person singular (he,she,it)
Use a singular verb means always use 's ' or 'es' on the present tense.
On the other hand, pronouns like (' I '), first person (' You') second person
are singular but they follow the plural verb form rule (means don't use s/es)
in the simple present tense.
In the last example,' They write', 'They' is plural here, (when the subject is plural
such as" they," " we"," you "or "plural nouns " like " The boys", don't add 's' or 'es'
to the verb in the present tense.)
But if we say:
He writes a letter in the morning.
If we analysis the sentence:
We come to the conclusion:
He writes
Sub + Verb ➡️ Only focus on
Subject + Verb
a letter
Article + Object ➡️️ Ignore article + object
in the morning ➡️ ignore phrase
Ignore extra phrases, clauses while doing error detection.
Subject Verb Agreement Rules (with Tricks & Examples)
Let's make the concord error detection easy for exams:
Rule No 1
Important exam trick🎯
When two subjects are connected by phrases like: ðŸ§
- as well as
- along with
- together with
- in addition to
- with
The verb must agree with the first subject, not the second one.
Focus only on the main subject
For example:
Mr. Sen has gone on a picnic along with his family.
Main subject: Mr. Sen
Phrase: along with his family (extra information)
Verb follows the first subject.
Ignore the phrase ' along with'
Ignore the second subject ' his family'.
Rule No 2
When two subjects are joined by either ...or/neither...nor, the verb agrees
with the subject nearest to it.
Either/ Neither + or /nor verb follows the nearest subject.
Structure: ðŸ§
Either + subject(first) + or + subject(second) + verb
(according to nearest subject)
Either he or his assistants is responsible to perform this task. ❌
(This sentence is wrong)
Either he or his assistants are responsible to perform this task. ✔️
(This sentence is correct)
According to the rule, the verb must agree the closer subject (the second one).
First subject ➡️ " He "
Second subject ➡️ "assistants"
Here "assistants" ➡️ (plural) so, the verb must be plural.
"A number of" vs "The number of"
👉Very common trap
- A number of = plural
- The number of = singular
Here the article used determines whether the subject is the group
or the individual.
The number of means the specific total and it is singular in number.
Example: The number of candidates is increasing to take admission in
college.
A number of means "many" or "several" and it is plural in number.
Example: A number of candidates are absent today.
Rule No 3
Collective Nouns
A collective noun generally takes a singular verb when the subject
stands for the collection as a whole.
For example:
A bunch of bananas is called a hand.
👉Collective nouns are usually singular.
the individuals of which it is composed.
For example:
The members of the cricket team are divided into two parts.
Here, the subject is
"The members" (plural)
Verb: " are" (plural)
Note: If you don't write the word "members", in other words,
instead of writing " The members of team", write only "team" then the
verb will be singular (" is ").
The cricket team is divided into two parts.
(Considering the team as a single unit).
Rule No 4
When a plural noun expresses some specific quantity or amount considered
as a whole, the verb is in singular.
For example:
Fifty kilometers is not a long distance nowadays.
when distance, time, money, or measurement is considered as a single unit, use
singular verb. Here, " Fifty kilometers" is considered as a single unit, so use
" is " don't use " are ".
Rule No 5
Some nouns which are plural in form but singular in meaning, take
a singular verb.
👉Even if plural form, treat as one unit
For example:
Physics is his favorite subject.
Here, the word," Physics" seems to be plural but it is used as singular,
the verb is in singular.
👉Use always singular verb
Rule No 6
When a plural noun comes between a singular subject and its verb,
the verb is often wrongly made to agree with the nearest plural noun.
For example:
The quality of this fabric is not good.
Here, the main subject is ' quality ' (singular), not fabric.
👉Common mistake usually people do: The quality of this fabric are
not good. (wrong) Ignore phrases starting with ' of ', Always find
the real subject.
Let's take another example to clarify this:
The taste of these grapes is sweet.
When the subjects joined by or, nor are of different persons, the
verb agrees in person with the one nearest to it.
For example:
Either he or you are to complete the project.
With ' either ...... or', the verb agrees with the nearest subject
Subjects he (singular) + you (treated as plural)
Nearest subject: you so use plural verb(are)
👉Verb agrees with closest subject
Rule No 7
If the singular subjects are preceded by each or every, the verb is singular.
For example:
Each participant and spectator is present.
Here,' Each ' is a singular determiner. When it precedes two singular nouns connected by 'and', it dictates that the verb should be singular
👉Don't think - use singular verb.
Revision Trick:✨
👉If you try to learn all the rules, definitely you will forget, the best way
is to learn them in patterns+ practice + visuals - it is perfect for competitive exam.
👉Match the verb with the subject
Follow these steps:
- Day 1: Learn only 2 or 3 rules
- Day 2: Practice questions
- Day 3: Revise those rules (it will take only 5 minutes)
- Day 4 & 5: Do mixed revision
- Weekly: Full test (it can online or offline)
👉Here is a guide of subject verb agreement, so don't skip! ✨
👉 How to identify concord error fast
👉Quick Exam Trick✨
Find the subject
Check singular or plural
Match the verb
👉If subject is correct, answer is correct
👉Save this for revision
Exercise to beat the competition
👉Practice through questions
agreement so that we can recall them at the time of exam.
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