S-V Agreement CONTACT CENTER SERVICES Page 1 of 3 There are three items that work together to form a complete sentence. They are: 1. Subjects 2. Verbs 3. Complete Thought In order to form a complete thought, subjects and verbs must agree. What is a Subject/Verb Agreement? Subject/Verb agreement is a necessary for sentence structure to be correct. In Subject/verb agreement, the subject and verb must agree in number. That is, either both must be singular, or both must be plural. A singular subject has no “s” on the end, but a singular verb has an “s,” whereas the opposite is true for plural subjects and verbs. BASIC RULES ON SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT 1. A singular subject requires a singular verb; a plural subject requires a plural verb. Example: Ella takes the bus to work. Ella and John take the bus to work. 2. Titles of books, movies, etc., always require a singular verb. Example: “Gulliver’s Travels” is on sale at eh bookshop. Caribbean Cruises is offering big discounts for Thanksgiving Holiday. 3. Amounts, measurements always require a singular verb. Example: Fifteen miles is the distance between Xanadu and Island Paradise. Seventy dollars is the car rental fee. 4. When both positive and negative subjects are in the same sentence, the verb should take after the positive subject. Example: The trainers, not the participants are responsible for the materials. 5. Intervening words such as “together with, as well as, along with, including,” etc., do not affect the verb. Example: The training manager, as well as the team leaders, has submitted the monthly report. 6. The word “and” when referring to the same subject, requires a singular verb; “and” requires a plural verb when referring to different subjects. Example: An old friend and classmate is in the same department as I am. My friend and my boss are at the same unit. 7. “Neither… nor, either…or” require a singular verb, if both subjects are singular, If not, the verb follows the subject to it. Example: Either James or the ladies are ready for the presentation. Neither the guest speaker nor the coordinator was present. 8. Indefinite pronouns like “anybody, everybody, anyone, no one, each, nobody, somebody, everyone, not one, someone, every,” etc., always require a singular verb. Example: Everyone loves going to the beach. Each of the packages has been discounted. 9. “Few, both, several, many” always require a plural verb. Example: A few of them think we should go as planned. Many of them go to the movies on weekends and holidays.
S-V Agreement CONTACT CENTER SERVICES Page 2 of 3 Both have the right to complain. 10. “A number of” requires a plural verb; “the number of” requires a singular verb. Example: A number of customers have already complained. The number of agents receives a free vacation package to Hongkong. 11. Mass nouns like “water, air, wind, fire space” require a singular verb. Example: Wind blows stronger in Midwest. Space is maximized in an airplane. 12.Collective nouns like “family, army, orchestra, crowd, audience, herd, flock, team, convoy, staff” require a singular verb if they are taken as a whole or collectively, and plural when the individual members are thought of as acting separately. Example: My family is leaving for Tallahassee next month. My family are going on their separate ways to explore the place. 13.Some common and proper nouns ending in –s, including –ics are singular and take a singular verb. Example: No news is good news. This series of exhibits is fascinating. 14. Nouns occurring in sets of 2 take the singular form when the word pair is present, but they take the plural form when pair is absent regardless of whether one pair or more is being referred to. Example: A pair of black leather shoes is what I need to get on this trip. My only black leather shoes are old now. 15. Fractions and percentages take the singular form when they modify a mass noun and the plural form when they modify a plural noun; either the singular or the plural may be used when they modify a collective noun. Example: Mass – Fifty percent of bill has been paid. Plural – Two-thirds of the clients are satisfied with our services. Collective – Ninety percent of the population of the Philippines (is/are) Christians. 16.Confusion with “majority” and “minority” –they have three related but slightly different meanings. a. An abstract or generic meaning that refers to superiority of numbers, the reference can be human/non-human, but the number is always singular. Example: The great majority in favor of the 30% discount. b. A specific meaning where one or two more sets has a numerical plurality (majority) or numerical inferiority (minority), the examples make references to political parties, and grammatically these are like collectives and can be either singular or plural. Example: The majority was/were determined to get a refund of its/their advance payment. c. A specific meaning where most (majority) or less than half (minority) of an explicit set of persons is being referred to, the S-V agreement is always plural. Example: A majority of the agents are promoted every year. The majority of the Democrats are opposed to that additional official holiday. 17. The use of “ none, all, each, every” - “None” means “not one”, and when none refers to a mass noun, the inflection is singular. Example: None of the information is accurate. - But when none refers to a plural noun either singular or plural inflection may be used. Example: None of the costumers (like/likes) the agent.
S-V Agreement CONTACT CENTER SERVICES Page 3 of 3 None of those production managers (was/were) informed. - If the noun that “all” modifies is a mass noun subject, then S-V agreement is singular. Example: All (of the water) in the Midland is still crystal blue. - If all modifies a countable plural subject noun, S-V agreement is plural. Example: All (of the customers) are satisfied. - “Each” or “Every(one)” – when the quantified subject noun is singular, the S-V agreement is always singular. Example: Every participant was given a handbook. Each of the examples was relevant. Everyone of these athletes gets a reward from the President. 18. Proximity Rule. Example: There is a manager and two team leaders in the conference room. There are two team leaders and a manager in the conference room. 19.Relative- clause antecedents Example: Lia is one of the few employees who have been in the company for more than ten years. She is one of the best agents that have ever worked to this company. I am one of the team leaders who manage a group of more than thirty agents. 20. When a clause functions as a subject, the S-V agreement is singular regardless of any plural noun phrases that occur as part of the subject clause or the verb phrase. Example: What the customers want is a more affordable package tour. That the agents clamor for a salary increase doesn’t surprise me.