The verb must agree with the subject of the sentence, not with the noun nearest to it. Find the subject first, then choose the verb form that matches its number.
This lesson is part of grammar repair. When a long phrase separates subject and verb, continue with repairing agreement across a separating phrase.
How do you find the real subject?
Ask “who or what does the action, or is described?” and find that noun. Then cross out any phrase between it and the verb.
Take “The box of old textbooks is heavy.” Cross out “of old textbooks”: “The box is heavy.” The subject is “box”, so “is” is correct, even though “textbooks” sits closer to the verb.
Worked example: four traps
Here is one original sentence for each trap, with its repair.
| Trap | Faulty sentence | Correct sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Phrase in the middle | The results of the test is on the board. | The results of the test are on the board. |
| One of, each | One of my cousins live in Ipoh. | One of my cousins lives in Ipoh. |
| A and B | Aisha and her sister is late. | Aisha and her sister are late. |
| There is and there are | There is three chairs in the room. | There are three chairs in the room. |
In row one, the subject is “results”, which is plural. In row two, the subject is “One”, which is singular, so the verb is “lives”. In row four, “three chairs” is the real subject and sits after the verb. Turn the sentence round to check: “Three chairs are in the room.”
The mistake: matching the nearest noun
A student who writes “The results of the test is on the board” has matched “is” to “test”. The eye lands on the closest noun, and the verb copies it.
The fix takes five seconds. Cross out the middle phrase, say the subject and verb together, and let your ear decide. “The results is” sounds wrong, and “The results are” sounds right.
Does the tense change the rule?
In the past tense, most verbs have one form, so agreement shows mainly with “was” and “were”. Write “The students were tired”, not “The students was tired”. The present tense causes more slips, because a singular subject takes an -s ending: “she walks”, “they walk”.
Check yourself
Correct each sentence.
- “The list of names are pinned to the wall.”
- “Everyone in Form 4 have finished the survey.”
- “My brother and my cousin plays football every Sunday.”
Answer
First: “The list of names is pinned to the wall.” The subject is “list”, which is singular.
Second: “Everyone in Form 4 has finished the survey.” “Everyone” is singular, whatever the group size.
Third: “My brother and my cousin play football every Sunday.” Two subjects joined by “and” take a plural verb.
What to study next
Continue with using articles, countable nouns and quantifiers, where number decides the article and the quantifier. Note repeated slips in a mistake log.
For a teacher to check your own sentences, see online one-to-one English tuition.