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  • I could say: “She is a nice person.” But I wouldn’t sayShe are a nice person.”

  • I might say: “We are nice people.” But I would never sayWe is nice people.”

  • This is calledSubject-Verb Agreement.” Basically, if the subject is a singular noun,

  • you use a singular verb. If the subject is a plural noun, you use a plural verb. Seems

  • simple enough, right? But there are several tricky situations where you may not be SURE

  • if the subject is singular or plural. Let’s figure those out.

  • Your subject might be composed of more than one noun or pronoun. If the words are connected

  • by AND, use a plural verb. For example: “Susan and I are playing tennis tomorrow.”

  • We would saySusan IS playing tennis tomorrow,” or “I AM playing tennis tomorrow,” because

  • those are singular subjects, so they take singular verbs. However, the combinationSusan

  • and I” is plural, so we use the plural verb ARE.

  • BUT. If the words are connected by OR or NOR, use a singular verb:

  • Neither Susan nor her mother enjoys running.” Here, the subject is the wordneither,”

  • which is singular, so we use the singular verbenjoys.” If you take out the phrase

  • Susan nor her mother,” you get the sentenceNeither enjoys running,” which is correct.

  • A little trick is to mentally say to yourselfneither one.” “Neither one enjoys running.”

  • That gives us subject-verb agreement.

  • There are other words, like neither, that always call for a singular verb. These include:

  • anybody, anyone, each, either, everybody, everyone, nobody, no one, somebody, and someone.

  • Did someone say something? Is somebody here? No, it’s no one. Nobody’s here. Everybody

  • left me all alone. Singular.

  • Often the subject of your sentence is some distance from the verb. This can lead to confusion

  • if your subject is singular, but there is a clause with something plural in it before

  • the verb. For example: “Mason, along with his brothers, goes fishing

  • every weekend.” If you take out the phrasealong with his brothers,” youll find

  • the sentence isMason goes fishing every weekend.” Don’t let that plural wordbrothers

  • fool you. That’s not the subject of this sentence. When in doubt, take out a pen and

  • circle the subject and the verb to make it extra clear. They need to agree.

  • What about when the subject FOLLOWS the verb? The same rules apply, you just have to be

  • careful. For example: “There are many trees in the forest.”

  • The subject is trees, which is plural. So we use a plural verb, ARE. This is a rule

  • that many people break in casual language, saying things likeThere’s my keys!”

  • instead ofThere are my keys.” But WE know the second version is correct. A plural

  • subject calls for a plural verb.

  • Let’s talk about some special cases. Even though you are only wearing one pair of pants,

  • this is a plural noun. Same with trousers, and jeans. My jeans are dark blue. Your trousers

  • match your sweater. We use plural verbs to agree with these plural nouns. Same goes for

  • a pair of scissors. “My scissors ARE very sharp.”

  • There’s another type of noun that is kind of the opposite. These are called COLLECTIVE

  • NOUNS, and although this kind of noun is really about more than one person, you treat it as

  • a singular noun and so it takes a singular verb. Family, for example. My family IS large.

  • Team is another one. The team IS celebrating its victory. You might think the wordpolice

  • is a collective noun, but..no. We treat it as plural. “The police ARE conducting investigations.”

I could say: “She is a nice person.” But I wouldn’t sayShe are a nice person.”

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