Subject-Verb Agreement — Quick Revision

Singular Verb Rules

• Each / Every / Everyone / Everybody / No one / Nobody → singular
• Many a / More than one → singular
• News / Mathematics / Physics / Economics / USA → singular
• The number of + plural noun → singular
• One of the + plural noun → singular
• Distances / Amounts / Time (as unit) → singular
• Collective noun (as unit) → singular

Plural Verb Rules

• A number of + plural noun → plural
• The + adjective (the rich, the poor) → plural

Special Agreement Rules

Pattern	Agrees With
Either...or / Neither...nor	Nearest subject
Along with / Together with / As well as	First subject
Not only...but also	Nearest subject

The #1 BCS Trap

• A number of students were absent. (A = many → plural)
• The number of students was fifty. (The = count → singular)

Quick Test

Strip away prepositional phrases and extra clauses to find the TRUE subject, then match the verb.