10 Rules for SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT | Free Practice | English Grammar

today I am showing you the 10 rules of subject verb agreement is it one of my friends is fun or one of my friends are fun you're going to find out today hello guys in English the verb agrees with the subject what does that mean it means this he play baseball so you have to find the verb first the verb is play that is the action but now if you want want to find the subject you have to ask before the verb who plays or what plays baseball in this case it's who who plays baseball

and the answer is he he is your subject and I said the verb agrees with the subject so we have to say he plays baseball there are many examples of this we are playing baseball we don't say we am playing baseball she has played baseball we don't say she have played baseball because the subject and the verb are in agreement easy right wrong it's not easy because there are many special and confusing cases here are some examples five years is or are a long time the news was or were surprising one of the students is

or are funny everybody is or are happy today you're going to find all the answers in the video here's our study program for today we have a lot to study because like I said I'm going to give you 10 different rules to help you always get the right answer here's the first problem that my students have subjects with and for example I'm going to give you this quiz here Tom and Jerry is or are best friends now you have to make your choice and the answer is Tom and Jerry are best friends how about this

one peanut butter and jelly is or are my favorite sandwich peanut butter and jelly is my favorite sandwich now from these two examples I want you to try to think of the rule what is the rule for subjects with and here it is the rule is that subjects with and usually take a plural verb for example Tom and Jerry are best friends except when it's a single entity a single entity means one thing then it's a singular verb so that is the second example peanut butter and jelly is one sandwich so it's one thing it's

one entity and that's why we use peanut butter and jelly is my favorite sandwich now you need to practice here we go question one my brother and sister is or are coming to the party my brother and sister are coming to the party fish chips a popular dish in the UK is a popular dish in the UK because it's one dish fish and chips is one thing together we see it as one dish one kind of food number three jonic a common cocktail jonic is a common cocktail of course because it's one cocktail it's in

one glass so it's a single ENT apples and oranges a healthy snack apples and oranges make a healthy snack they are two different fruits her dog and his cat different kinds of care her dog and his cat need different kinds of care two different animals and the last one a law in order m important for a peaceful Society ready Law and Order is seen as one so Law and Order like the TV program it's a set expression so Law and Order is important here is the second challenging case subjects with either or neither nor very

challenging here's your quiz neither the child nor the parents m sleeping ready make your choice and the answer is are sleeping neither the child nor the parents are sleeping now let's flip it around neither the parents nor the child sleeping is it the same or is it different the answer is it is different neither the parents nor the child is sleeping now can you think of the rule what is the rule this is the rule the verb agrees with the subject closer to it so in this case right here the subject closer to the verb

is parents so parents are sleeping in the other case the child is sleeping now it's time to practice question one either the cat or the dogs making noise in the yard it should be easy because you know the rule now it has to agree with the dogs the dogs are making noise in the yard neither John nor his friends coming to the party are coming to the party because it agrees with his friends either the children or the babysitter responsible for the mess and the answer is either the children or the babysitter is responsible for

the mess because it agrees with babysitter the subject closer to the verb neither the children nor their mother at home was at home it agrees with mother last question neither the driver nor the passengers injured in the crash ready and the answer is were injured in the crash because it's the passengers were injured in the crash not bad right here's another sticky point for many students nouns ending in s here's your quiz mathematics interesting to me do you say is interesting or are interesting the answer is is interesting how about this one the news worse

than we expected the answer is was now what is the rule with this one it's not really a rule but you have to know that some nouns look plural because they finish with an S but they are not plural they are singular nouns here are some words that look plural but are actually singular academic subject mathematics physics economics and so on these ones are singular activities gymnastics aerobics Athletics and so on countries now be careful with this one right the United States is the Philippines is the Netherlands is it's all singular even though there's an

S diseases measles Ms diabetes and so on that's singular and also some other useful ones politics TV series a TV series good news they are all singular now remember the quiz from the beginning I gave you this question right here the news was or were surprising now you know the answer the answer is the news was surprising here's an easy one expressions of time money distance and weight here's your quiz 30 minutes all I need to get ready so in the morning you have to get ready for work and you need only 30 minutes so

what would you say 30 minutes is all I need to get ready $5 too much for this coffee that's bad coffee so I paid $5 and I'm not happy $5 is is too much for this coffee 7 days too short for a vacation 7 days is too short for a vacation what's the rule super easy they are treated as singular even though they seem plural I know 30 minutes with an S and you're like one minute 2 minutes 3 minutes so many minutes but we see that as onetime expression 30 minutes is one unit of

time so that's why we say is practice makes perfect let's go number one for student two hours a long time to focus ready for a student 2 hours is a long time to focus after all that work $200 not enough for the job after after all that work $200 is not enough for the job 3 weeks what you need to fully recover so maybe you recover from an injury for example so 3 weeks is what you need to fully recover the monthly payments of $100 difficult to manage the monthly payments of $100 were difficult to

manage uhoh did you get this one right I hope so because here remember we are always focusing on the subject so what were difficult to manage and the answer is the monthly payments and payments is plural so in this case the verb has to agree with payments so that's why we have to use word difficult to manage and not was difficult to manage if you said $100 was difficult to manage that would be okay but here you have the monthly payments before $100 number five on a hot day 10 kilom a challenging hike ready 10

kilm is a challenging hike let's go back to our intro quiz you remember this question 5 years a long time of course 5 years is a long time did you get it right I hope so you're doing well let's keep going number five nouns that refer to many items here's your quiz this pair of shoes is or are on comfortable ready so pair is a word it's a noun that refers to many items a pair of shoes one pair but many shoes Two Shoes in one pair the answer is this pair of shoes is uncomfortable

that set of tools great for home repairs that set of tools is great for home repairs here's the rule for you nouns that refer to many items require a singular verb because it's one pair of shoes even though there are two shoes in one pair we focus on the pair we focus on the set a little practice won't hurt let's give it a try that bunch of bananas too ripe ready that bunch of bananas is too ripe a bunch one Bunch many bananas in one Bunch but it's only one Bunch this pair of headphones wireless

is Wireless of course because it's a pair one pair a set of golf clubs left in the trunk of the car a set of golf clubs was left in the trunk of the car because it's one set many golf clubs but only one set the bouquet of flowers beautifully arranged the bouquet of flowers is beautifully arranged number five five Bunches of grapes needed to make one bottle of wine ready and the answer is five Bunches of grapes are needed watch out here because here you have five bunches even though it's a noun that refers to

many items but that noun is plural it's not only one bunch of grapes it's five bunches so are needed to make one bottle of wine here's a challenging one fractions and percentages here's your quiz 2/3 of the pi eaten 2/3 of the pie was eaten how about this one half of the students attending the event half of the students are attending the event now what's the rule the verb agrees with the noun that follows the the fraction or percentage so 2/3 is not the focus the focus is on the pi 2/3 of the pi so

the pi was eaten half of the students the focus is on students half of the students are attending the event because half is not attending the event the students are attending the event you need to practice let's go a quarter of the people in agreement and the answer is a quarter of the people are in agreement because the people are in agreement number two 80% of the employees working remotely 80% of the employees were working remotely employees half of the clothes on sale half of the clothes are on sale three4 of the land covered in

trees 3/4 of the land is covered in trees the land is covered in trees 70% of the work complete is complete the work is complete don't give up number seven conjunctions like as well as together with and along with here's your quiz the artist along with her students displaying her work ready the answer is the artist along with her students is displaying her work number two the managers together with the staff attending the meeting and the answer is the managers together with the staff are ATT ending the meeting here's the rule the verb agrees with

the main subject not the additional phrase the additional phrase is right here along with her students so you can remove this part right here so you can say the artist is displaying her work the managers are attending the meeting here are other similar conjunctions the singer not to mention the band members performing tonight the singor is performing tonight so you can remove the additional phrase the employees accompanied by the boss touring the factory the employees were touring the factory the actors joined by the director rehear rehearsing for the play the actors joined by the director

were rehearsing for the play because the actors were rehearsing the mayor as well as his advisors present at the meeting the mayor was present at the meeting super useful stuff coming up watch out with these ones indefinite pronouns like everyone somebody nothing something everything and so on here's your quiz everyone the rules of the game Monopoly is super famous so everyone knows the rules of the game something strange about that house something feels strange about that house here's the rule they always re ire a singular verb even when they seem plural here are some more

examples someone stolen my wallet remember always a singular verb someone has stolen my wallet number two anybody allowed to join the group anybody is allowed to join the group everybody waiting for the announcement everybody is waiting for the announcement this one does look plural everybody right so many people but it is still a singular verb number four some things better left unsaid so some things there are some things you shouldn't say that's what it means and the answer is some things are better left onet be careful here because it's some things it's not something it's

some things so the things are plural so that's why we say are better left unsaid nothing more important than family nothing is more important than family did you get this one right at the beginning of the video everybody happy of course everybody is happy now you know we're almost finished we're at number nine quantifiers indefinite pronouns so all some most a lot plenty and so on there are so many of them here's your quiz most of the cake eaten at the party what would you say so most is a quantifier most of the cake was

eaten at the party how about this one most of the applicants m qualified for the job most of the applicants are qualified for the job now you can make up your own rule with this one I think it's pretty clear the verb agrees with the noun that follows the quantifier so the quantifier is not important the cake was eaten at the party the applicants are qualified for the job practice is the key to success right remember this the more you practice the better you're going to become number one none of the money recovered after the

robbery none of the money was recovered after the robbery plenty of people interested in attending the event plenty of people are interested enough of the players ready to start the game enough of the players are ready to start the game none of the computers functioning properly none of the computers are functioning properly a lot of work still unfinished a lot of work is still unfinished last but certainly not least important expressions with one one of the m one of the only M more than one be careful with these ones quiz more than one car involved

in the accident so there was a big accident a big pile up on the highway so more than one car was involved in the accident yes it was one of the neighbors frequently one of the neighbors complains frequently the rule is simple they all require a singular verb so remember expressions with one requires a singular verb one is singular so that should be easy to remember one last practice round number one one of the only cities that this event is Tokyo one of the only cities that hosts this event is Tokyo more than one person

offended by his comment more than one person was offended one of the players injured during the game one of the players was injured during the game one of the only books that this topic is out of print so you cannot get that book anymore it's not available anymore it's out of print one of the only books that covers this topic is out of print more than one answer correct in this quiz more than one answer is correct in this quiz excellent now you know the answer to this question one of the students funny of course

one of the students is funny let's review we have seen so many different rules and I know it seems to be a lot because 10 rules to remember is a little too much right it's hard to remember isn't it there are too many but remember this native speakers don't study this it comes naturally with practice people don't need to remember these the more you practice the easier it will become so practice is key don't forget it's quiz time I'm giving you 20 questions to see if you remember or if it comes naturally to you by

now either the doctor or the nurses attending the patient ready either the doctor or the nurses are attend sending the patient it's rule number two if you didn't get it right you can go back in the video and you can study rule number two one more time question two $30 all I have in my wallet ready $30 is all I have in my wallet rule number four more than one of the candidates considered for the position more than one of the candidates was considered for the position rule number 10 question four everyone excited about the

trip everyone is excited about the trip rule number eight question five macaroni and cheese my comfort food ready macaroni and cheese is my comfort food because it's one single entity mac and cheese is one dish question six the pair of sunglasses missing the pair of sunglasses is missing rule number five question seven the bride and groom dancing together the bride and groom are dancing together rule number one 20 kilo too much to lift for some people 20 kilos is too much to lift for some people rule number four question nine onethird of the cookies burnt

onethird of the cookies are burnt number six question 10 politics public speaking skills politics requires public public speaking skills rule number three it's a singular noun question 11 one of the best movies that released last year is still popular one of the best movies that was released last year is still popular number 10 question 12 all of my order delivered on time so you got a delivery and all of order was delivered on time quantifiers number nine question 13 the dog along with its puppies playing in the yard the dog along with its puppies was

playing in the yard rule number seven question 14 only three qus of her homework completed only three qus of our homework was completed rule number six question 15 something gone wrong with his laptop something has gone wrong with his laptop question 16 neither the players nor the coach happy with the result neither the players nor the coach is happy with the result question 17 most of the cookies are gone most of the cookies are gone rule number nine quantifiers question 18 the news spreading quickly the news is spreading quickly rule number three question 19 the

bouquet of roses lovely the bouquet of roses is lovely rule number five and the last one question number 20 the guide as well as the tourists Amazed by the scenery the guide as well as the tourist was amazed by the scenery rule number seven hey what score did you get out of 20 Questions make sure you tell me in the comments below and don't forget if you want to learn more useful English check out my other videos see you next time bye-bye