This post is part of our special series “100 Tips To Solve ‘Spot The Error’ English Questions“
Relationship between SUBJECT of sentence and VERB
- When there are two or more singular subjects, then verb is in plural form.
For example
Incorrect – Harish and Manish is friends.
Correct – Harish and Manish are friends.
- If two singular subjects refer to same person, then verb is in singular form.
For example
Incorrect – School trustee and principal are coming.
Correct – School trustee and principal is coming. (Here singular subjects, “school trustee” and “principal” are referring to same person.)
- If two different singular subjects are preceded by “each” or “every”, then verb is in singular form.
For example
Incorrect – Each of the boy and girl were in straight line.
Correct – Each of the boy and girl was in straight line.
- If two or more singular subjects are connected by “or”, “nor”, “either … or”, “neither …. nor”, then verb is in singular form.
For example
Incorrect – Neither Sita nor Gita were present.
Correct – Neither Sita nor Gita was present.
- When two subjects are joined by “or / nor” and one of the subject is singular and other is plural, then the verb is plural and plural subject is placed before verb.
For example
Incorrect – Neither the boys nor the girl was in the ground.
Correct – Neither the girl nor the boys were in the ground.
- When two subjects joined by “or / nor” are different persons, then verb follows with the person before it.
For example
Incorrect – Neither my assistant nor I is available.
Correct – Neither my assistant nor I am available.
- a) When the subject is collective noun, then the verb is singular.
For example
Incorrect – School committee have chosen Mr. Sinha as principal.
Correct – School committee has chosen Mr. Sinha as principal.
- b) When subject is collective noun but the individuals are considered, then verb is plural.
For example
Incorrect – The military was called out.
Correct – The military were called out.
- Singular nouns which sounds as plural(or feels like plural) have singular verb.
For example
Incorrect – Mathematics have many branches like algebra, geometry, arithmetic, etc.
Correct – Mathematics has many branches like algebra, geometry, arithmetic, etc.
- Singular subject having other nouns/pronouns attached to it using words like “with”, “together with”, “in addition to”, “as well as” does not change the verb.
For example
Incorrect – The principal as well as the head master were on leave.
Correct – The principal as well as the head master was on leave.
- When subject is a relative pronoun, then verb should be in synchronization with the subject (i.e singular/plural) and also person with antecedent of the relative.
For example
Incorrect – I, who is your friend, will be with you always.
Correct – I, who am your friend, will be with you always.
To view all the posts in this series, go to — “100 Tips To Solve ‘Spot The Error’ English Questions“
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somesh roshan says
this tips are great it helped me lot usefull very useful
somesh says
this helped in geting full marks in exam . very useful tips