RULES FOR SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
RULE 1 – A verb agrees with its subject in number.
Singular subjects take singular verbs:
The car stays in the garage.
The flower smells good.
There is an old saying: “Opposites attract.” The rule for singular and plural verbs is just the opposite of
the rule for singular and plural nouns. Remember this when you match subjects and verbs. You might
guess that stays and smells are plural verbs because they end in s. They aren’t. Both stays and smells are
singular verbs.
RULE 2 – The number of the subject (singular or plural) is not changed by words that come between the
subject and the verb.
One of the eggs is broken. Of the eggs is a prepositional phrase. The subject one and the verb is
are both singular. Mentally omit the prepositional phrase to make the subject verb-agreement
easier to make.
