Subject Verb Agreement 

In English the basic structure of a sentence is as follows :

subject + verb + object 

Now for a sentence to be grammatically correct, the verb must agree with the subject.In the other words, the verb used must be in accordance with the person and number of subject 

For Example ,look at the following 

1. Sentences Shivam bright a letter (singular verb is used with singular subject) 

2. They right a later (plural verb used with plural subject) 

In Order to attain grammatical accuracy some rules must be followed which are as follows 

Rule 1: If two subjects are joined by 'and' and the denote to separate antitize are ideas, plural verb will be used 

For Ex:(A) Ravi and Rakesh are playing

(B) You and Ankit are late today

Rule 2 : If two (or more) nouns or adjectives are joined by the denote a single person/ thing Idea, singular verb is used 

For Ex:(A) this black and white tiles is mine 

             (B) bread and butter is my favourite breakfast 

             (C) slow and steady wins the race 

Rule 3 :if this subjects are joined by expressions like along with, with, as well as ,in addition to ,besides, nothing, unlike ,like, no less than etc the web that follows agrees with the first subject 

For Ex:(A) Rohan as well as his friends is playing 

             (B) They along with their teacher are going on vacations 

Rule 4: if two subjects are joined by either…. Or, neither… nor, not only…. but also the verb agrees with the subject nearest to it 

For Ex:(A) Niether Ram nor Rohan is coming today

              (B) Not only Shyam but also his parents were present in the wedding 

Rule 5: neither of ,either of, none of etc are followed by plural noun and singular verb 

For Ex: (A) Neither of these two girls is clever

              (B) Either of you was absent from the class 

Rule 6: sometimes words like somebody, everybody, each, nobody, anybody, everyone ,everybody ,nothing ,every ,anything are used as subjects in such case singular verb agree's with them 

For Ex:(A) Nobody knows about the future

             (B)nothing is impossible if you have determination

             (C) Each boy is good in maths 

Rule 7: if following expressions are followed by uncountable noun. we use singular verb with them most of ,half of, some of ,enough of,plenty of, a lot of 

For Ex: (A) some milk is needed 

             most of the work has been done

Rule 8: similarly if following expressions are followed by countable noun we use plural verb with them most of/half of, some of, enough of, plenty of,a lot of 

For Ex:(A) some questions are difficult

              (B) Most of the boys were absent 

Rule 9: more than one is followed by singular countable noun and singular verb

 For ex :(A) More than one boy was absent 

               (B) More than one man was against the proposal

✓ but more than two/three/four is followed by plural noun and plural verb 

For Ex:(A) More than two boys were absent

              (B) More than ten houses were damaged in the flood

✓ similarly ,sentences with following structure used plural verb 

For Ex: (A) More teachers then one are present

               (B) More present more books then one or new 

Rule 10: following expressions are followed by plural noun and plural verb

a large number of ,a number of ,a great number of, large number of 

For Ex:(A) A large number of cows are grazing in the field

              (B) A number of boys are playing cricket 

✓but the number of is always followed by singular verb

For Ex:(A)  The number of children is twenty

              (B) The number of passengers in metro is increasing 

Rule 11: we use plural subject and plural verb with the following 

many ,a great many, a good many, many of ,a great many of ,a good many of, both ,several ,various, both of, several of ,various of ,few, a few, very few, few of ,a few of ,very few of 

For Ex: (A) Many boy are absent today 

             (B) A great many actors are coming

             (C) Many of the girls are taking part in the contest 

             (D)Very few students are hard working 

✓but many a is followed by singular noun and singular verb 

For Ex: (A) Many A boy has come for the class 

               (B) Many a car has been stolen 

Rule 12: if we use the before any adjective then plural verb is used 

i.e., the weak, the rich, the poor ,the honest, the injured, the dumb, the French etc are all used as plural subject 

For Ex: (A) The poor generally hard working 

               (B) The rich are not always happy 

Rule 13 :if nothing but /everything but is followed by uncountable noun or countable noun singular verb is used 

For Ex: (A)Nothing but milk is sold 

               (B) Nothing but birds was seen 

               (C) Everything but books is sold 

Rule 14 :one of the is always followed by plural noun and is agreed with singular verb 

For Ex: (A) One of the boys was playing chess 

              (B) One of the girls is crying 

Rule 15: if there is any definite unit /distance/ height etc followed by the construction:Numeral plus plural noun, then the verb is always singular 

For Ex:(A)  Ten thousand rupees is a good amount 

             (B) Twenty tos of rice is enough for us

✓ but, if it refers to different units in the construction of numerical adjective+plural noun, then it takes a plural verb 

For Ex : Twelve hundred rupees have been spend on shopping 

Rule 16: if who/ which/ that is used as relative pronoun ,then the verb that follows depend on the antecedent 

For Ex:(A) I ,who am a cricketer, play here

              (B) The man who was sitting there, is my father 

Rule 17 :with expressions like If/ as if /as though/ I wish etc cetera only where farm of to be is used 

For Ex:(A) I wish, I were the president of India

             (B) If I were you, I would have finished the work 

Rule 18: if an article is placed before two nouns, it means the person /thing is the same for which two nouns are used 

For Ex:Mr.sharma,the chairman and managing director of the company, has arrived

 here single article (the) is placed before chairman and managing director. It means that Mr Sharma is both the chairman and M.D of the company 

✓but if an article is used before every noun .Then the nouns refer to different persons 

For Ex: The director and the producer have come 

Rule 19 :All can be used in both countable and uncountable when used as uncountable we use singular verb and when used as countable it text plural verb 

For Ex :(A) All is good now a days 

               (B) Here all is uncountable , hence verb is singular 

               (C) All have gone to Mumbai 

Here all is countable hands where is plural 

Rule 20: whenever amount of /quantity of is followed by uncountable noun singular verb follows 

For Ex :The amount of milk is sufficient 

Rule 21 :some nouns exist only in plural form such nouns are: scissors,tongs, pliers trousers ,pants, pajamas ,shorts, sunglasses, gloves ,riches, savings, congratulations ,regards,alms, wages ,belongings ,troops, tactics etc the web that follows the noun given above is always plural 

For Ex :(A) Where are my pants?

               (B) His new sunglasses are quite expensive 

Rule 22: some nouns like scenery, poetry ,furniture ,hair ,business, information, luggage ,work ,traffic, stationery, equipment ,evidence, electricity, behaviour ,crockery etc are uncountable hands singular verb is used with them 

For Ex: (A) The scenery of Switzerland mesmerizes everyone

              (B) The furniture that I bought yesterday is really comfortable 

Rule 23 :some nouns like economic ,ethics mathematics, rickets etc are plural in form but singular in meaning .Hence ,they take singular verb 

For Ex: Economic  is an easy subject 

             politics is a dirty game 

✓but if the above plural looking subjects are particularised are passessed, they become plural noun and the verb that follows is also plural 

For Ex: politics is a dirty game 

since the above statement describe politics in a general form therefore the verb (is) that follows is also singular 

✓now look at the following sentence:

(A) politics of our country are dirty.

 here ,politics has been particularised.Hence plural verb has been used 

Rule 24 : similarly, there are some nouns like :cattle, calvalriy,infantry, children ,gentry etc. that are singular inform but plural in meaning. hence they take plural verb 

For Ex : catel are grazing in the field

 

Rule 25 :collective nouns always take 'singular verb' 

For Ex: (A) The pride of lions is hunting 

               (B) This bundle of sticks is heavy