Agreement: The Hard Cases

Subject–verb agreement is trivial until it isn’t. This chapter collects the cases that trip up even professional writers, and the principles that resolve them: (match the form), (match the meaning), and (match the nearest noun — legitimate only in limited cases).

Collective nouns

• AmE strongly prefers the singular:

• BrE allows both, by perspective: (as a body) vs.  (as individuals).

• Be consistent within a text, and keep pronouns aligned: \(\to\)

Quantified subjects

• + plural verb; + singular:

• Fractions, percentages, : agree with the noun after :

• Measures as a unit take the singular:

• — singular despite its meaning:

• + singular:

• Arithmetic: — both heard; singular is safer.

Coordinated and correlative subjects

• \(\to\) plural: Exception — single idea:

• \(\to\) agree with the nearer subject (proximity rule): If the result sounds awkward, rewrite:

• Additive phrases () do not change the number:

Distance and attraction errors

The most common real-world error: the verb “attracts” to a nearby noun instead of the true head:

• \(\to\)

• \(\to\)

• Strip the sentence to head noun + verb to check.

Special subjects

• Clausal subjects are singular:

• Gerund subjects are singular:

• Titles, names of works, and quoted plurals: singular —

• Plural-form singulars: \(\to\) singular: But when meaning practical affairs:

• Pair nouns: \(\to\) plural, unless counted with :

• \(\to\) plural:

Agreement with , , and inverted subjects

• agrees with the following noun: Informal speech uses with plurals (); avoid in writing.

• In full inversion, find the postponed subject:

• Clefts: ( fixed; the relative verb agrees with the focus)

• : strictly, the clause modifies the plural: ( is common but resisted by careful editors)

Pronoun agreement

• \(\to\) singular verb; follow-up pronoun is now normally singular :

• + plural: singular or plural — (singular more formal).

• Keep number consistent across a sentence: — pick one strategy throughout.

Exercises