Subject-Verb Agreement: Rules, Tricky Subjects & Examples

For beginners · ages 5–8

One or more?

Every sentence has a doer - who or what is doing something - and a doing word. The doing word has to match the doer.

Count, then match. Counting the doer like this is the first move of the match test you will put together in Section 8.

Watch the little -s. It seems to jump from one word to the other.

In sentences like these, one -s is shared between the two words. 'The cats sleeps' has two of them - and it sounds wrong. 'The cat sleep' has none - and that sounds wrong too.

Now look at 'The children laugh.' The word 'children' means more than one, but it has no -s at all. So do not just hunt for an -s on the doer. Count. How many children? More than one. So the doing word is 'laugh', with no -s.

Say each pair out loud. Your ears already know most of these. This section helps your eyes catch up with your ears.

Picture a see-saw with a doer on one end and a doing word on the other. Put one dog on the doer end, and the doing word end picks up an -s: barks. Put two dogs on, and the -s slides off the doing word: bark. Every time you meet a sentence, check the see-saw. Count who is sitting on the doer end first, then look at the other end.

Grown-up grammar books have names for these. The doer is called the subject. The doing word is called the verb. One thing is called singular, and more than one is called plural. When the verb matches the subject, grammar books say they agree - that is why this chapter is called Subject-Verb Agreement. For now, doer and doing word do the job well. You will meet the grown-up names in Practice.

Here is a hard one, and it is fine to find it hard. 'The sheep eats grass.' 'The sheep eat grass.' Both are right! The word 'sheep' looks the same for one sheep and for a whole field of them. So how do you know how many there are? Look at the doing word. 'Eats' tells you there is one sheep. 'Eat' tells you there is more than one. Here the doing word gives away the count, because the naming word cannot. The same thing happens with 'fish' and 'deer'. 'The fish swims' - one fish. 'The fish swim' - lots of fish. Here is a second hard one. 'The rice is hot.' Rice is lots of little grains, so is it more than one? English counts rice as one heap of food, so it says 'the rice is hot'. Milk, water and sand work the same way. You can pour them, but you do not count them one by one. Chapter 1 has more about words like these. When you get stuck, try putting 'it' or 'they' in place of the doer. 'It is hot' or 'they are hot'? That little trick helps a lot.

Did you know the doing word can tell you the count all by itself? Cover the doer and read only the doing word. 'The ___ runs.' - one. 'The ___ run.' - more than one. You know the count without even seeing the doer! Now try it with sheep, which look the same for one and for more: 'The sheep jumps.' - one sheep. 'The sheep jump.' - a whole flock. And here is a funny thing. Lots of naming words get an -s when there are more: cat, cats. Lots of doing words lose their -s when there are more: runs, run. So the two words take turns. It is as if the sentence has one -s to share, and it goes to whichever word needs it.

The -s on a doing word shows up when the doing happens now, or every day: 'The dog barks.' In a story that already happened, 'The dog barked' and 'The dogs barked' use the same doing word, so there is nothing to match. Section 2 looks at this. Some naming words mean more than one with no -s: children, people, mice. Some words look the same for one and for more: sheep, fish, deer. Let the doing word tell you. In some kinds of spoken English, 'the dog bark' is normal at home. School English uses 'the dog barks'.

1. Find the doer: ask who or what is doing it.
2. Count the doer: one, or more than one?
3. For one doer, the doing word often ends in -s: barks, sings.
4. For more than one doer, the doing word has no -s: bark, sing.
5. Share the -s: 'the dogs bark', not 'the dogs barks'.
6. Count what the word means, not its letters: 'children' means more than one.
7. With sheep and fish, let the doing word tell you the count.
8. Put 'it' or 'they' in place of the doer when you are stuck.
9. Do not count the other naming words in the sentence - count the doer.
10. Read your sentence out loud and listen for the match.

• Ravi runs to school.
• The cows sleep under the neem tree.
• Anil feeds the goats.
• The ducks swim in Emma's pond.
• Jack laughs at the clown.
• The children dance with Kofi.

• The monkeys jump on Dadi's roof.
• Priya reads a story.
• The sheep eat grass near Kabir's house.
• A robin hops across Lucy's garden.
• The puppies chase Harry's ball.
• Aiko rides a red bike.

The -s on the doing word

Little words like he, she, it, we and they can be doers too. Count them just as you count 'the dog'.

So check the doing word first: is it about now or every day? Then count the doer. Asking whether the doing word can match at all is part of the match test you will put together in Section 8.

The -s is a sound, but it is not always spelt with just one letter. Say each word out loud, and look at how it is written.

Every word in the She column has the -s sound at the end, even when it is spelt -es or -ies.

Now try some doing words with a helper in front: 'She can swim.' 'They can swim.' 'He will come.' 'We will come.' No -s anywhere. Words like can and will do not change for one doer or more, and the doing word after them stays plain. So there is nothing to match here either.

Picture a row of doers waiting at a door, each wearing a badge. He, she, it and Ravi wear badges that say 'one'. We, they and the dogs wear badges that say 'more'. A doing word stands at the door handing out -s stickers. It gives one to each 'one' badge - runs, sings - and no sticker to a 'more' badge. Past words like 'sang' walk straight past without a sticker.

Grown-up grammar books call he, she, it, we and they pronouns - words that stand in for naming words. 'She' can stand for Meera, and 'they' can stand for Meera and her friends. They also say the -s form belongs to the third person singular. That is a long name for a short idea: he, she, it, or one thing, doing something now or every day. You will meet these names again in Practice.

Here is a hard one, and it is fine to find it hard. 'It rains.' What is 'it'? It is not a dog or a cat or a person. It is just a little word that holds the doer's place when we talk about weather and time: 'It rains.' 'It snows.' 'It gets dark early.' Even so, 'it' counts as one doer, so the doing word takes the -s. Here is a second hard one. 'The rain falls, and the leaves fall.' Two doing words that look almost the same. 'Falls' goes with 'the rain' - one. 'Fall' goes with 'the leaves' - more than one. Each doing word has its own doer, so count each one separately. And a third. 'She walked to school, and now she sits in class.' 'Walked' is about the past, so there is nothing to match. 'Sits' is about now, and 'she' is one, so it takes the -s. In one sentence you can have a doing word that matches and one that does not need to. When you are stuck, ask two questions: Is this doing word about now or every day? And who is doing it - one, or more than one?

Here is a funny thing about English. In the past, every doer uses the same doing word: 'I walked. You walked. She walked. We walked. They walked.' And after can or will, every doer uses the same doing word too: 'I can swim. She can swim. They can swim.' So when does English bother to change the doing word? Mostly in one spot: now-words with he, she, it or one thing. 'She walks.' 'It swims.' That tiny -s is almost the last trace of a lot of endings English used long, long ago. Old stories written hundreds of years ago say things like 'he walketh', with a longer ending. The long endings have gone. The -s is one of the few still here. So when you check the match, you do not need to look at every word. Look at now-words with one doer - that is where the -s lives.

The -s shows up in doing words about now or every day: 'She sings.' Doing words about the past - 'sang', 'walked' - stay the same for every doer. After a helper like can, will or must, the doing word stays plain: 'She can sing.' The -s is sometimes spelt -es or -ies: watches, goes, flies. I and you are special: 'I sing', 'you sing' - no -s, even for one person. Section 7 is about them. In some kinds of spoken English, 'she like' is normal at home. School English uses 'she likes'.

1. Find the doing word. Is it about now or every day?
2. If it is about the past, like 'walked', there is nothing to match.
3. Find the doer and count it.
4. He, she, it and one thing: add the -s. 'She sings.'
5. We, they and more than one: no -s. 'They sing.'
6. After can, will or must, keep the doing word plain: 'He can swim.'
7. Spell the -s carefully: watches, washes, flies, goes, does.
8. 'It' in 'It rains' still counts as one doer.
9. When there are two doing words, match each one with its own doer.
10. Read the sentence aloud and listen for the -s.
11. Give your reason in three parts: the doing word, the doer, the count.

• Dadi makes chai every morning.
• Meera sings, and they clap.
• It rains a lot in Kerala.
• He watches the cricket with Sam.
• We visit Grandma Rose on Sundays.
• Carlos fixes bikes, and they work well.

• Arjun flies his kite on the roof.
• They play cricket with Imran.
• She goes to the market with Amma.
• It snows in Mr Brown's village.
• Chloe brushes her teeth.
• Yuki swam, and her brothers swam too.

Is and are

Am, is and are are doing words too. They change to match the doer.

Count the doer, then choose the box. This is the same count-and-match move as the match test you will put together in Section 8.

Am, is and are often squeeze into a short form, with an apostrophe. The match stays the same.

Am, is and are also work as helpers in front of another doing word: 'She is running.' 'They are running.' The helper does the matching - 'is' for one, 'are' for more - and 'running' stays the same for everyone.

And they can say what someone is, not just what they do: 'Ravi is a doctor.' 'Ravi and his brother are doctors.' Count the doer before 'is' or 'are', not the words after it.

Try it with your own family. 'My mother is...' 'My parents are...' 'I am...' Count before you speak, and the right word is waiting for you.

Picture three boxes on a shelf. The smallest box says 'am', and I is the one word that fits inside it. The middle box says 'is', with room for one doer - one cat, one girl, one bus. The biggest box says 'are', with room for a crowd - the cats, we, they. When you meet a doer, pick it up, count it, and drop it into its box.

Grown-up grammar books say that am, is and are are all forms of one word: 'be'. Be is the most irregular doing word in English - it has more forms than any other. When 'is' or 'are' comes before another doing word, as in 'She is running', grammar books call it a helping verb or an auxiliary. The match works the same way whether it is a helper or the main word.

Here is a hard one, and it is fine to find it hard. 'My favourite food is mangoes.' 'Mangoes' is more than one, so should it be 'are'? Look again. Who or what is the doer? 'My favourite food' - and that is one thing. The mangoes come after 'is'. They tell you what the favourite food is. So the doer is one, and 'is' matches it. Now flip it: 'Mangoes are my favourite food.' The doer is 'mangoes' - more than one - so 'are'. The words before 'is' or 'are' usually hold the doer. The words after it tell you more about the doer. Here is a second hard one. 'The rice is hot.' Rice is lots of little grains - so why 'is'? English counts rice as one heap of food, like milk and water. So 'is'. Chapter 1 had more about words like these, and Practice comes back to them. When you are stuck, put 'it' or 'they' in place of the doer. 'It is my favourite food.' 'They are my favourite food.' Which one fits the doer you found?

Here is something odd about am, is and are. Most doing words stay close to their own shape: walk, walks. Sing, sings. But am, is and are do not look much like each other at all! 'Is' does not even share a letter with 'am' or 'are'. Yet all three are forms of one word, 'be'. English has kept three different forms here, where most doing words have two. That is why 'be' needs its own section. And here is a second surprise. Say 'The cat is hungry' quickly. You might hear 'The cat's hungry.' The 'is' has shrunk to just an -s sound! It is the same little -s that sits on 'barks' and 'sings'. One doer, and the -s turns up again - even when 'is' has almost disappeared.

I takes 'am', not 'is'. You takes 'are', even for one person - Section 7 looks at this. 'Is' and 'are' can be helpers: 'She is running.' The helper matches the doer; 'running' stays the same. The doer usually comes before 'is' or 'are'. Words after it tell you more about the doer and do not change the match. Words like rice, milk and water count as one: 'The milk is cold.' In some kinds of spoken English, 'we is' can be heard. School English uses 'we are'.

1. Find the doer before 'is' or 'are'.
2. Count the doer: one, or more than one?
3. I takes 'am': I am, I'm.
4. One doer takes 'is': she is, the cat is.
5. More than one doer takes 'are': we are, the cats are.
6. Short forms match the same way: she's, we're, they're.
7. When 'is' or 'are' is a helper, let the helper match: 'They are running.'
8. Do not count the words after 'is' or 'are' - they tell you more about the doer.
9. Put 'it' or 'they' in place of the doer when you are stuck.
10. Listen for the -s in 'is': one doer, one -s.
11. Give your reason in three parts: the doing word, the doer, the count.

• I am in Class 2 with Tanvi.
• The samosas are hot.
• Zoya is my cousin, and her parents are doctors.
• It is Harry's birthday today.
• They are running to Ben's house.
• Lina's dog is tiny.

• We are late for Diwali dinner!
• Nani's garden is full of roses.
• Kabir and I are ready.
• The ducks are on Grace's pond.
• She is making a card for Tom.
• Omar is happy, and his sisters are happy too.

Was and were

Was and were are the past of am, is and are. They still match the doer.

In a story about the past, check was and were. This is part of the match test you will put together in Section 8.

Was and were can be the main doing word, or a helper before another doing word. Either way, they do the matching.

Look at 'She was singing' and 'They were singing'. The helper changes - was, were. The word 'singing' stays the same. So when you check the match, look at the helper.

Now compare 'She sang' and 'They sang'. No helper, and a past doing word - so nothing changes at all. Was and were are special: they are the past words that keep the match.

Try the time machine yourself. Take 'The shop is open' and send it back: 'The shop was open.' Take 'The shops are open': 'The shops were open.' Is becomes was; are becomes were.

Picture a time machine with two doors marked 'was' and 'were'. Am, is and are climb in today. When the doors open in yesterday, 'is' steps out as 'was', 'are' steps out as 'were', and 'am' steps out as 'was' too. Every doer still has to walk through the right door - one doer and I through 'was', more than one and you through 'were'.

Grown-up grammar books call this the past tense of 'be'. They say 'was' is used with the first person singular (I) and the third person singular (he, she, it), and 'were' with everything else. You will meet one more use of 'were' much later: 'If I were you...' That is a special way of talking about things that are not real, and it waits for a later chapter.

Here is a hard one, and it is fine to find it hard. 'You were right, Asha!' Asha is one person. So why not 'You was right'? Because 'you' is special. It takes 'were' whether you are talking to one person or to a whole class. 'You were right, Asha.' 'You were right, children.' Same word. Section 7 is all about I and you. Here is a second hard one. 'I was' - but 'we were'. I is one person, and it takes 'was', just like he and she. But as soon as I joins other people and becomes 'we', the doer is more than one, and it takes 'were'. And a third. 'The cake was sweet, and the biscuits were sweet too.' Two doers in one sentence. 'Was' goes with 'the cake' - one. 'Were' goes with 'the biscuits' - more than one. Check each doer on its own. When you are stuck, go back to now. 'The cake is sweet' - so 'the cake was sweet'. 'The biscuits are sweet' - so 'the biscuits were sweet'. Is goes to was, are goes to were.

Here is a trick worth keeping. If you know the 'now' word, you know the past word. is -> was are -> were am -> was 'The dog is hungry' - so 'the dog was hungry'. 'We are hungry' - so 'we were hungry'. 'I am hungry' - so 'I was hungry'. Every 'is' becomes 'was', and every 'are' becomes 'were'. Count once, and you get both. And here is a fun one. Look at the letters: 'was' ends in -s. It looks like that one-doer -s again - on barks, on is, and now on was! 'Were' has no -s, just like 'bark' and 'are'. It is not really the same ending - 'was' got its -s another way, long ago, and I takes 'was' too - but it makes a handy memory trick.

Was and were are the past words that change to match. Other past doing words - walked, barked, sang - stay the same for everyone. I takes 'was': 'I was late.' You takes 'were', even for one person: 'You were late, Ravi.' When was or were is a helper, it does the matching and the word after it stays the same: 'They were singing.' 'We was' is normal at home in some kinds of English. School English uses 'we were'.

1. In a story about the past, look for was and were.
2. Find the doer and count it.
3. One doer takes was: he was, the dog was.
4. More than one doer takes were: they were, the dogs were.
5. I takes was. You takes were, even for one person.
6. Stuck? Say it in the now first: is becomes was, are becomes were.
7. When was or were is a helper, let the helper match: 'They were singing.'
8. Do not add an -s to other past doing words: 'she walked'.
9. With two doers in one sentence, match each one on its own.
10. Read your story aloud and listen for each was and were.
11. Give your reason in three parts: the doing word, the doer, the count.

• Rohan was sick on Monday.
• The mangoes were sweet last summer.
• Amma was at the temple, and we were at home.
• It was snowing at Jack's house.
• You were brave, Lily.
• Ana laughed, and her friends laughed too.

• I was in Ayesha's team.
• The kites were high over Jaipur.
• Papa was cooking dal.
• The children were playing in Oliver's garden.
• Mia was happy with her new shoes.
• Tomas's goats were hungry.

Has and have

Has and have change to match the doer - not the things the doer has.

Look at the doer, not the things after has or have. Finding the doer first is a step in the match test you will put together in Section 8.

Has and have do two jobs. They can say what someone owns or is like. And they can be helpers, in front of another doing word, to say something is done.

In 'She has finished' and 'They have finished', the helper changes and 'finished' stays the same. The helper does the matching.

Short forms follow the same match: 'She's finished' is 'she has finished', and 'They've finished' is 'they have finished'. Watch out: 'she's' can also mean 'she is'. Either way, it has the one-doer -s.

Picture two baskets at the market. The 'has' basket is small, with room for one carrier's hands - Riya, Papa, the dog. The 'have' basket has lots of handles for a group - the boys, we, they - and two special handles marked I and you. Fill either basket with one mango or fifty. Then look at who is carrying it, and name the basket.

Grown-up grammar books say 'has' is the third person singular of 'have' - the form for he, she, it or one thing, just like 'walks' for 'walk'. When has or have comes before a doing word like 'finished' or 'eaten', books call it a helping verb, and the pair makes the present perfect tense. You do not need that name yet. The match is what matters here.

Here is a hard one, and it is fine to find it hard. 'My sister has three pets, and the pets have one bowl.' There are two doers here. The first is 'my sister' - one person - so 'has', even though she has three pets. The second is 'the pets' - more than one - so 'have', even though they have one bowl. Each doer gets its own match. The things after has and have do not count. Here is a second hard one. 'Has' does not look much like 'have'. Where did the -ve go? Say them slowly. 'Have' plus -s would be 'haves' - and long ago, English squashed that into 'has'. So 'has' really is 'have' with the one-doer -s, just squeezed. And a third. 'You have a kite, Asha.' Asha is one person. So why not 'you has'? Because 'you' takes 'have' for one person or many, just like it takes 'are' and 'were'. Section 7 is all about I and you. When you are stuck, cover everything after has or have. Look only at the doer, and count it.

Here is a sentence that sounds like a riddle: 'The man has ten children, and the ten children have one dad.' Ten children - but 'has'. One dad - but 'have'. It sounds upside down, and it is completely right. The man is one doer, so he has. The children are more than one doer, so they have. Now look at the family of one-doer words you have met so far: barks, sings, is, was, has Every one of them ends in an -s sound! That little -s keeps turning up with one doer - on ordinary doing words, on 'is', on 'was', and now on 'has'. Once you can hear it, you have a tool that works on almost every doing word about now.

Count the doer, not the things after has or have: 'Riya has two kites.' I and you take have: 'I have', 'you have' - even when 'you' means one person. When has or have is a helper, it still matches: 'She has finished.' 'They have finished.' 'She's' can mean 'she has' or 'she is' - both have the one-doer -s. 'He have' is normal at home in some kinds of English. School English uses 'he has'.

1. Find the doer before has or have.
2. Count the doer, not the things after it.
3. One doer takes has: she has, the dog has.
4. More than one doer takes have: they have, the dogs have.
5. I and you take have.
6. When has or have is a helper, let the helper match: 'He has eaten.'
7. With two doers in one sentence, match each one on its own.
8. Cover the words after has or have if they pull you off track.
9. Listen for the -s: has, like is and was, goes with one doer.
10. Read the sentence aloud to check.
11. Give your reason in three parts: the doing word, the doer, the count.

• Riya has a kite, and I have two.
• My grandparents have a farm near Pune.
• The auto has three wheels.
• George has finished his homework.
• The twins have red boots, like Amy.
• Chen's shop has lots of lanterns.

• Kavya has two brothers.
• We have a test on Friday, Arnav.
• The mangoes have fallen from Dada's tree.
• It has started to rain on Sophie's picnic.
• You have a lovely voice, Emily.
• Ade's cousins have one football.

Does and do, doesn't and don't

Do and does - and their short forms don't and doesn't - match the doer.

One doer, one -s - and after 'doesn't', the doing word lets it go. Checking the helper first is part of the match test you will put together in Section 8.

Do and does have two jobs. They can be the main doing word, or they can be helpers.

In a question, the helper comes before the doer: 'Does it bite?' 'Do the cats bite?' The doer has moved to after the helper, but the helper still matches it. Practice has a whole section on questions like these.

Say 'does' out loud. It does not rhyme with 'goes'. It sounds like 'duz'. The spelling keeps the -es ending of one doer, even though the sound has changed.

Picture a relay race with one baton, painted with an -s. In 'She sings', the doing word holds the baton. When the helper 'doesn't' joins the race, it takes the baton from the doing word, and 'sing' runs on empty-handed. With more than one doer, nobody gets a baton at all: 'They don't sing.' Before you finish a sentence, check who is holding the baton.

Grown-up grammar books call do and does an auxiliary, or helping verb, when they come before another doing word. English uses this helper to make a sentence negative ('He doesn't swim') and to ask a question ('Does he swim?'). The helper carries the tense and the match, so the main doing word after it stays in its plain form. You will meet this idea again when you study questions in Practice.

Here is a hard one, and it is fine to find it hard. 'Ravi does his homework, but he doesn't do his reading.' There are three kinds of do in that one sentence! 'Does' is the main doing word - Ravi does his homework. 'Doesn't' is a helper with 'not'. And 'do' after it is a main doing word again, plain because the helper took the -s. Say it slowly and point to each one. Does - one doer, main word. Doesn't - one doer, helper. Do - plain, after the helper. Each one is doing its own job. Here is a second hard one. 'My brothers do their chores, and my sister does hers.' 'Do' goes with 'my brothers' - more than one. 'Does' goes with 'my sister' - one. Each doer gets its own match, even with the same doing word. When you are stuck, try taking the helper out. 'He doesn't like it' becomes 'He likes it.' See the -s? When you put the helper back, the helper gets the -s and 'like' gives it up.

Here is a funny thing about 'do'. English can use it twice in a row: 'What do you do?' 'He does what he does best.' And sometimes English uses 'do' just to make a sentence stronger: 'I do like your drawing!' 'She does sing well!' That 'do' is a helper, and it still matches: 'I do', 'she does'. And after it, the doing word is plain: 'She does sing' - not 'she does sings'. One more surprise. Say 'does' and 'goes'. They are spelt nearly the same, but they do not rhyme! 'Goes' sounds like 'go-z'. 'Does' sounds like 'duz'. The spelling of 'does' kept its one-doer -es, even though the sound of the word moved on.

'He don't' is normal at home and in songs in many kinds of English. School English uses 'he doesn't'. After does or doesn't, the doing word stays plain: 'She doesn't swim.' I and you take do and don't: 'I don't know.' 'You don't know.' In a question, the helper comes before the doer but still matches it: 'Does it bite?' Practice looks closely at questions. 'Does' is spelt with -es but sounds like 'duz'.

1. Find the doer before does, do, doesn't or don't.
2. Count the doer.
3. One doer takes does and doesn't: he doesn't, the dog does.
4. More than one doer takes do and don't: they don't, the dogs do.
5. I and you take do and don't.
6. After does or doesn't, keep the doing word plain: 'He doesn't like'.
7. In a question, the helper still matches the doer after it: 'Does it bite?'
8. Take the helper out to check: 'He doesn't like it' - 'He likes it'.
9. Spell it carefully: does + not = doesn't.
10. Read it aloud and listen for one -s, not two.
11. Give your reason in three parts: the doing word, the doer, the count.

• Aarav doesn't like bitter gourd.
• My cousins don't live in Delhi.
• Nani does the puja every morning.
• Charlie's cat doesn't like baths.
• We do our spellings with Miss Hall.
• Does Keiko like sushi?

• The buses don't stop here, Sunil.
• It doesn't rain much in Jaisalmer.
• Ishaan does his homework after tea.
• Poppy's rabbits don't eat meat.
• He doesn't know the way to Leo's house.
• Amara's goat doesn't eat paper.

I and you

I and you have their own forms. They do not take the one-doer -s.

Look down the I and you rows: no -s anywhere. Knowing these two rows is part of the match test you will put together in Section 8.

Put I and you side by side with he, she and they, and you can see where each one belongs.

I is a little bit of both. In the past, it takes 'was', like he and she. But everywhere else - like, have, do - it takes the plain form, like they.

You is simpler. It takes the same words as they, every time: you like, you have, you are, you were. It does not matter whether you are talking to one friend or to a hundred people.

Try it with helpers: 'I am', 'you are', 'I was', 'you were', 'I have', 'you have', 'I don't', 'you don't'. Not one -s anywhere - that is how you know I and you are at their own desks.

Picture a classroom. Most children sit in two big groups: the 'one' group, who take the -s, and the 'more' group, who do not. At the front are two special desks. On I's desk are two cards that nobody else can use: 'am' and 'was'. On you's desk is a card that says 'are - one or many'. When I or you speak, look at their desks, not at the groups.

Grown-up grammar books call I the first person, you the second person, and he, she and it the third person. The -s belongs to the third person singular alone - that is why I and you do not take it. They also note that English 'you' used to have a one-person form, 'thou', with its own endings: 'thou art', 'thou hast'. Today 'you' does the job for one person and many.

Here is a hard one, and it is fine to find it hard. I is one person. He is one person. So why does he take 'likes' and I take 'like'? Because the -s is not really about one or more. It is about one doer who is not me and not you - he, she, it, or one thing you are talking about. Grown-ups call that the third person. I and you are the people in the conversation. The -s is for someone or something else. Here is a second hard one. 'You are' is used for one friend and for a whole class. So how do you know how many people 'you' means? You look at the rest of the sentence: 'You are my best friend' is one person; 'You are all brilliant' is many. The doing word does not tell you - 'are' fits both. And a third. 'I am' and 'I was'. I takes 'was', like he and she, but it does not take 'is'. I takes 'am', which no other doer uses. I is the one doer with a word all to itself. When you are stuck with I, try 'we': 'We like', 'we have', 'we do' - I takes those same forms, except for am and was.

Long ago, English had a special word for talking to one friend: 'thou'. And 'thou' had its own endings. 'Thou art my friend.' 'Thou hast a kite.' 'Thou singest well.' You can still find 'thou' in very old poems, songs and prayers. But over hundreds of years, English stopped using it in everyday talk. The word 'you' took over for one person and for many. That is why 'you are' is used for one friend today. 'You' was once the word for more than one - and it kept its more-than-one words, 'are' and 'were', when it took over thou's job. So when you say 'You are my friend' to one person, you are using a word that has been working for crowds for more than a thousand years.

I takes the plain form - I like, I have, I do - except for 'I am' and 'I was'. You takes the plain form and 'are' and 'were', whether it means one person or many. 'If I were you' is a special case you will meet in a later chapter. 'I' is the doer; 'me' is not used as the doer in school English: 'I like it', not 'Me like it.' In some kinds of spoken English, 'I is' or 'you was' are normal at home. School English uses 'I am' and 'you were'.

1. When the doer is I or you, do not add the one-doer -s.
2. I takes am: 'I am ready.'
3. I takes was in the past: 'I was ready.'
4. I takes have and do: 'I have', 'I don't'.
5. You takes are and were, for one person or many.
6. You takes have and do: 'You have', 'You don't'.
7. When stuck with I, try 'we' - it uses the same words, except am and was.
8. When stuck with you, try 'they' - it uses the same words every time.
9. Use 'I', not 'me', as the doer.
10. Read your sentence aloud and listen for a sneaky -s.
11. Give your reason in three parts: the doing word, the doer, the count.

• I am Kiran, and I live in Pune.
• You are my best friend, Farah.
• I have a cold, Dadi.
• You were late, Oliver.
• I was the king in Mrs Green's play.
• You like football, and I like cricket, Mateo.

• I don't eat eggs, Rahul.
• You have a lovely garden, Mrs Iyer.
• I do my homework with Zara.
• Are you ready, Jack?
• I like Ellie's new haircut.
• You sing well, Nomvula.

The Agreement Test

Here is the Agreement Test. It has three steps.

Find the doing word, find the doer, count. That is the whole test. Every section of this chapter comes back to it.

Run the test on sentences that try to trick you. Cover the right-hand side and try each one.

In each one, a word in the sentence tries to pull you off track - a big number, a little number, a name, a helper. The test steps past it by asking the same question each time: who or what is doing this?

When a sentence has two doing words, run the test twice: 'It rains, and the frogs sing.' Rains - it - one. Sing - the frogs - more than one.

Picture a detective's notebook with three pages. Page one says 'the doing word' - find it and write it down. Page two says 'the doer' - ask who or what, and write it down. Page three says 'count' - one, more than one, or I or you - and has two boxes: the -s form and the plain form. Turn the pages in order, and tick the right box.

Grown-up grammar books write the test with grown-up words: find the verb, find its true subject, then count. The doer is the subject, the doing word is the verb, and counting is checking whether the subject is singular or plural. In Practice, Step 2 gets harder: sentences like 'The box of pencils is on the desk' put extra words between the doer and the doing word, and the test is how you see past them.

Here is a hard one, and it is fine to find it hard. 'My sister's kites are in the sky.' Step 1: the doing word that can match is 'are'. Step 2: who or what is in the sky? Not my sister - the kites. The doer is 'my sister's kites'. The word 'sister's' just tells you whose kites they are. Step 3: the kites are more than one, so 'are'. Now flip it: 'My sisters' kite is in the sky.' Step 2: what is in the sky? The kite - one kite, even though it belongs to more than one sister. Step 3: one - 'is'. The trick in both sentences is that the naming word next to the doing word is the doer, but a whose-word comes before it and tries to change the count. Ask 'what is in the sky?' and you get the whole doer. Practice goes further with doers like 'the box of pencils', where the extra words come after. The test is the same: ask who or what, and count that.

The Agreement Test works even on words you have never seen. Try this made-up sentence: 'The blorp ___ in the pond.' (swim or swims?) Step 1: the doing word is swim or swims - a word about now. Step 2: the doer is 'the blorp'. Step 3: 'the blorp' - one of them. So 'swims'. Now: 'The blorps ___ in the pond.' More than one blorp - so 'swim'. You do not need to know what a blorp is. You found the doer, you counted it, and you chose. The test works on real words, made-up words and words from a book you have not read yet - because it looks at how the sentence is built, not at what the words mean.

Step 1 comes first: past words like 'walked', and doing words after can or will, have nothing to match. The doer is who or what is doing it - not the nearest naming word. I and you have their own forms: I am, I was, I like; you are, you were. With a helper - doesn't, has, is, was - the helper is the word that matches. With two doing words, run the test once for each. Practice looks at sentences where the doer is harder to find.

1. Step 1: find the doing word that can match - a now-word, or am, is, are, was, were, has, have, does, do.
2. If it is a past word like 'walked', or comes after can or will, stop: nothing to match.
3. If there is a helper, the helper is the word that matches.
4. Step 2: ask who or what is doing it.
5. Do not count the other naming words in the sentence.
6. Step 3: count the doer - one, more than one, or I or you.
7. One doer takes the -s form: likes, is, was, has, does.
8. More than one, I or you take the plain form: like, are, were, have, do - with I am and I was.
9. With two doing words, run the test twice.
10. Say your reason out loud: 'Dadi - one - feeds'.

• Every morning, Dadi feeds the birds.
• The parrots are noisy, Sanjay.
• I have two sisters and a brother.
• Mum's car has a flat tyre.
• You were first in the race, Holly.
• Luca's brothers do the washing-up.

• The rickshaw doesn't have a horn.
• Diya was sad, but her friends were kind.
• It rains, and the frogs sing.
• Ben can swim, and his sister swims too.
• Rosie's kittens are asleep.
• I am in Malak's class.

And makes more

When and joins two doers, the doer is more than one. It takes the plain form.

Two doers joined by 'and' are one of the special cases you check in Step 3 of the Agreement Test: count everything the 'and' joins.

'And' can join all kinds of doers. The count comes out the same: more than one.

Look at 'Ravi, Asha and Kabir'. Three doers, with commas and one 'and'. Still more than one - so 'were'.

Now look at the other kind of 'and'. 'The goat eats and sleeps.' Here 'and' joins two doing words - eats, sleeps - and the doer is still the goat, one animal. So each doing word takes the -s. Before you count, ask: what is the 'and' joining - doers, or doing words?

Picture two children holding hands at a crossing. On their own, each wears a 'one' badge. When they hold hands with 'and', a big 'more' badge covers them both, and the doing word waiting across the road sees a pair. Now picture one child with a skipping rope, skipping and singing. Two things to do - but still one child, still a 'one' badge.

Grown-up grammar books call a doer made of two parts joined by 'and' a compound subject, or coordinated subjects. They usually take a plural verb. Later in the chapter you will meet a few special cases - like 'either Ravi or Asha', where 'or' works differently from 'and', and pairs that name one single thing. For now, the rule to carry is: two doers joined by 'and' make more than one.

Here is a hard one, and it is fine to find it hard. 'Ravi and Asha sing.' and 'Ravi sings and dances.' Both have 'and'. Both have two things in them. But in 'Ravi and Asha sing', 'and' joins two doers - Ravi, Asha - so the doer is more than one, and 'sing' has no -s. In 'Ravi sings and dances', 'and' joins two doing words - sings, dances - and there is still just one doer, Ravi. So both doing words take the -s. Here is the question to ask: what is on each side of the 'and'? If it is a doer on each side, count them together. If it is a doing word on each side, look back for the one doer. Here is a second hard one. 'Kabir and I have a bat.' Before, you learned that I takes the plain form. And more than one takes the plain form. So here, both reasons agree - 'have'. But try 'am': 'Kabir and I am...' Nope! 'Am' belongs to I alone. When I joins someone with 'and', the pair is like 'we': 'Kabir and I are ready.' When you are stuck, put 'they' or 'we' in place of the whole doer, and listen.

Here is a sentence that shows what 'and' can do. 'The dog barks.' 'The dog and the cat bark.' Add one little word and a second doer, and the -s jumps off the doing word! The dog alone takes the -s. The dog and the cat together do not. Now try adding more: 'The dog, the cat and the parrot bark.' That sounds funny - a barking parrot! But the grammar is right. Three doers joined with commas and 'and' - more than one - so no -s. And here is the flip side. Take away the second doer, but keep the 'and': 'The dog barks and jumps.' The -s comes back - on both doing words - because now there is one dog doing two things. The little word 'and' is the same. What it joins decides the count.

'And' joining two doers makes more than one: 'Ravi and Asha are friends.' 'And' joining two doing words does not add a doer: 'Ravi sings and dances.' Someone and I is like 'we': 'Kabir and I are ready.' 'With', 'as well as' and 'or' work differently from 'and'. Practice looks at them. A few pairs joined by 'and' name one single thing, and grown-up grammar treats them as one. Later bands look at those.

1. Look for 'and' in the doer.
2. Ask what is on each side of the 'and': two doers, or two doing words?
3. Two doers joined by 'and' make more than one.
4. Use the plain form: are, were, have, do, and no -s.
5. Check with 'they': 'Ravi and Asha' - 'they are'.
6. Someone and I is like 'we': 'Mum and I are'.
7. Do not count the word next to the doing word - count the whole doer.
8. Three doers with commas and one 'and' are more than one too.
9. One doer doing two things keeps the -s on both: 'She sings and dances.'
10. Run the Agreement Test on the whole doer.
11. Give your reason in three parts: the doing word, the doer, the count.

• Ravi and Asha are friends.
• Dadi and Dada live in Lucknow.
• Kabir and I have a cricket bat.
• Sophie and her mum walk to school.
• Jack sings and dances in the show.
• The goat and the hen were in Pedro's yard.

• My brother and my sister are at school, Amma.
• Neha and Arjun do their homework together.
• Meena reads and writes every day.
• The cat and the dog sleep by Grace's bed.
• Harry and Lily have red wellies.
• Yusuf and his sister don't eat fish.

First mixed review

Everything from Discover, in one place.

One table, one test. This is the Agreement Test with all of Discover's pieces in place.

Here is a short story. Run the test on every doing word that can match. Cover the right-hand side first.

Seven sentences, and every kind of match from Discover turned up: a pair joined by 'and', one doer with the -s, the plain form for more than one, was in the past, a past word with nothing to match, and I with its own word.

Notice 'Riya carries the bag'. The -s here is spelt -ies, because 'carry' ends in -y. The sound is the same one-doer -s.

Picture your toolbox tipped out on a table: an -s sticker, the am-is-are boxes, the was-were time machine, the has-have baskets, the does-do baton, I's and you's special desks, and two hands holding with 'and'. Now picture the detective's notebook from Section 8 beside it. Turn its three pages - doing word, doer, count - and the right tool is the one you pick up.

Everything in Discover has a grown-up name you will meet in Practice. The doer is the subject. The doing word is the verb. One is singular, more than one is plural. The -s form is the third person singular. The match is called subject-verb agreement. And the Agreement Test in grown-up words is: find the verb, find its true subject, then count. Practice will show you why 'true' is in there.

Here is a hard one, and it is fine to find it hard. 'My sister and I was at the park, and she likes swings.' There are two doing words that can match. Run the test on each. 'Was': who was at the park? My sister and I - two people joined by 'and', like 'we'. More than one, so 'were'. The word next to it is I, and I takes 'was' - that is the trap. The whole doer is a pair. 'Likes': who likes swings? She - one. So 'likes' is right. So the fixed sentence is: 'My sister and I were at the park, and she likes swings.' Wait - 'were' is past and 'likes' is now. Is that allowed? Yes. The park was yesterday, and she still likes swings today. Each doing word gets its own test. Here is the lesson: in a long sentence, do not run the test once for the whole thing. Find each doing word that can match, and give each one its own three steps.

Here is the whole of Discover in one sentence: 'I am seven, you are eight, Ravi was ill, the twins were late, Asha has a kite, the boys have a ball, Dadi doesn't swim, and Mum and Dad sing.' That is a very long sentence! But every doing word in it matches, and you can explain every single one. I - am. You - are. Ravi - one - was. The twins - more - were. Asha - one - has. The boys - more - have. Dadi - one - doesn't. Mum and Dad - a pair - sing. Eight doers, eight matches, one test. When you started this band, that sentence would have looked like a puzzle. Now it is just the Agreement Test, eight times in a row.

Run the Agreement Test on each doing word that can match, not once for a whole long sentence. Past words like 'walked', and doing words after can or will, have nothing to match. I and you have their own forms: I am, I was, I have; you are, you were, you have. 'And' joining doers makes more than one; 'and' joining doing words does not. Practice brings harder doers: words in between ('the box of pencils'), 'there is', 'either-or', and words like team and news.

1. Find every doing word that can match.
2. Skip past words like 'walked' and doing words after can or will.
3. For each one, ask who or what is doing it.
4. Count everything joined by 'and'.
5. One doer: likes, is, was, has, does.
6. More than one: like, are, were, have, do.
7. I: am, was, have, do, like. You: are, were, have, do, like.
8. With a helper, the helper matches.
9. Do not carry the last section's rule into every sentence - run the test fresh.
10. Give your reason in three parts: the doing word, the doer, the count.

• Aditi has a sister, and they share a room.
• I am hungry, and the rotis are ready.
• The auto doesn't stop at Rahul's lane.
• You were right, Emma.
• Ben and his dad fix bikes.
• Kwame was tired, so he slept early.

• The monkeys steal Dadi's bananas.
• Riya has two kites, and I have one.
• It rains, and the peacocks dance.
• Molly sings and plays the piano.
• The twins were at Noah's party.
• Does Sofia like her new school?

Building accuracy · ages 8–12

The true subject

A subject can be long, but it has one word at its heart: the head. The verb agrees with the head. The phrase after it only adds detail.

• 🔍 Box the subject. Everything before the verb that names the doer.
• ✂️ Cut the extra phrase. Drop the part that starts with of, in, on, to or with.
• 🔢 Count the head. One takes is, has, -s. More than one takes are, have, the plain verb.

This is step two of the Agreement Test: find the true subject by taking its head word, not the nearest noun.

The phrase after the head can be short or long. It can even hold a noun of the other number. None of that changes the verb.

A quick check: read the head and the verb with nothing between them. 'The bag is heavy.' 'The pictures are old.' 'The noise keeps me awake.' If the short pair sounds right, the long sentence is right too.

Watch 'one of'. In 'One of my cousins lives in Chennai', the head is 'one', not 'cousins'. The phrase 'of my cousins' tells you which group the one comes from.

Picture a railway engine pulling carriages. The engine is the head of the subject - box, colour, keys, noise. The carriages behind it - 'of pencils', 'on the wall', 'from the trucks' - are carried along, but they do not steer. The verb is the signal at the next station, and it reads only the engine. However many carriages are hooked on, the signal still asks: one engine or more?

The same test works with 'has' and 'have', 'was' and 'were', and with any present-tense verb. 'The price of onions has doubled.' 'The leaves on the tree were yellow.' 'The sound of the drums fills the street.' Past verbs other than 'was' and 'were' show no agreement at all - 'The box of pencils fell' is right whatever the head - so there is nothing to check.

Here is a pair where the words are almost the same and the verbs are different. 'A basket of mangoes is on the table.' 'The mangoes in the basket are ripe.' In the first, the head is 'basket'. One basket sits on the table, and the mangoes are its contents. In the second, the head is 'mangoes'. The mangoes are ripe, and 'in the basket' only says where they are. Same two nouns, opposite jobs. The noun that comes first in a subject like this is usually the head, and the noun after 'of', 'in' or 'on' is usually the passenger. That is why you should not decide by ear alone. Your ear hears the noun that sits closest to the verb. The test asks a question your ear skips: what is the sentence really about? So ask it every time: 'What is on the table?' A basket. 'What is ripe?' The mangoes. The answer is the head, and the head chooses the verb.

Some of the most careful writers in the world trip on this. 'The number of mistakes are rising.' 'The results of the test shows ...' 'The quality of the roads are poor.' Sentences like these turn up in printed notices, company reports and newspapers, and in each one the verb has been pulled towards the nearest noun. Researchers who study language have a name for the pull: agreement attraction. It happens because the brain holds the nearest noun in mind while it plans the verb. So a writer who knows the rule perfectly can still slip when the sentence is long. The cure is not to know more grammar. It is to check - box the subject, find the head, and read the head with the verb.

This section keeps to phrases after the head: of, in, on, with, to, from. Some 'of' phrases work differently - 'a lot of', 'half of', 'none of', 'a number of' - because there the noun after 'of' decides. Craft S22 and S23 look at those. 'One of' is different again: the head is 'one', so the verb is singular. 'Each of' works the same way, and S16 comes back to it. The head of a subject is sometimes called the head noun or the simple subject. The move is the same whatever you call it.

1. Find the verb that can show agreement: is/are, was/were, has/have, or a present verb.
2. Ask 'Who or what is doing this?' and box the whole answer.
3. Find the head: usually the first noun, before of, in, on, with, to or from.
4. Cross out the phrase after the head in your mind.
5. Count the head: one, or more than one?
6. Read the head and verb side by side: 'The box is', 'The keys are'.
7. With 'one of', the head is 'one', so the verb is singular.
8. In a long sentence, check again after you finish writing it - the slip hides best when the phrase is long.
9. If a sentence sounds right but you are unsure, rewrite it with the phrase removed and listen again.

• The box of pencils is on Meena's desk.
• The colour of the flowers is a deep red.
• The price of mangoes in Pune has gone up.
• The keys to the old shed are on the hook.
• The leader of the Scouts was Mr Hughes.
• The children in Aiko's class walk to school.

• The bag with all of Rohan's books in it is heavy.
• The photos on Dadi's wall are very old.
• One of my cousins lives in Chennai.
• The noise from the trucks keeps Oliver awake.
• The flowers in the pot by the door need water.
• The quality of Carlos's photos is excellent.

Words that get in the way

Some words look as if they add a second doer. Only 'and' really does. The others hang a note on the head.

• ➕ And? Two subjects become one bigger, plural subject.
• 📎 As well as, along with, together with, with? A note on the head - it adds nothing to the count.
• 👥 Who, which or that? A clause that describes the head - skip it.

This is step two of the Agreement Test again: skip the in-between words and take the head as the true subject.

Commas help the eye; in careful written English the head decides with or without them (without commas you will sometimes see a plural verb in relaxed writing, which is why exams set the phrase off with commas).

A who-clause can be long and can hold its own plural nouns. Skip all of it. 'The man who sold us the three new bicycles is my uncle.' Cover 'who sold us the three new bicycles' and you have 'The man is my uncle.'

If you want a plural verb, change the joining word, not the verb: 'The teacher and the students are excited.' Now there really are two subjects.

Picture the head of the subject as a person walking into a room, and the in-between phrase as a shadow walking beside them. 'Ravi, along with his sister' - the sister is in the shadow. The doorman at the verb counts only the people who come through the door, not their shadows. 'And' is different: 'Ravi and his sister' walk in side by side, and the doorman counts two.

'With' on its own works the same way: 'The dog with the three puppies is in the garden.' So do 'in addition to', 'plus', 'including', 'besides' and 'accompanied by' when they come between the subject and the verb. 'My bag, including the books, weighs five kilograms.' Each one adds a note, not a second subject, so the head keeps its number.

Here are two sentences that name exactly the same people. 'The captain and the players have arrived.' 'The captain, together with the players, has arrived.' Both tell you that everyone is here. So why does the verb change? Because the two sentences are built differently. In the first, 'and' makes one subject out of two: 'the captain and the players'. That subject is plural, so 'have'. In the second, the subject is only 'the captain'. The phrase 'together with the players' is a note hanging from it, and the grammar looks straight past the note to the head. One captain, so 'has'. That means the choice of joining word is the writer's real choice. If you want the reader to see a group arriving together, use 'and' and a plural verb. If you want to put the captain in front and mention the players on the side, use 'together with' and let the captain choose the verb. What you cannot do is mix the two: 'The captain, together with the players, have arrived' treats a note as if it were a second subject.

Here is a sentence where the in-between words are almost the whole sentence. 'The old man who sells balloons, toys and sweets to all the children on our street every Sunday morning is my grandfather.' Sixteen words sit between 'man' and 'is'. Among them are 'balloons', 'toys', 'sweets' and 'children' - four plural nouns in a row. Every one of them is inside the who-clause. The verb still agrees with 'man', sixteen words back. That is the surprise of agreement: it does not care about distance. The head can be at the start of a long sentence and still choose the verb at the end. Craft S21 comes back to subjects this long.

In casual speech, many speakers use a plural verb after 'as well as' when they are thinking of the whole group: 'My mum as well as my dad are coming.' It is common and understood. Formal writing and exams keep the head's number - 'My mum, as well as my dad, is coming' - and that is what this section keys. 'Both ... and' is a real 'and': 'Both Ravi and Asha are here.' The verb inside a who-clause has its own agreement question - 'one of those who' - and Craft S24 looks at it.

1. Find the verb that can show agreement.
2. Look for 'and' between two nouns before it - only 'and' adds a second subject.
3. Spot as well as, along with, together with, with, including and in addition to.
4. Cover the in-between phrase with your finger, commas or no commas.
5. Skip who, which and that clauses after the head.
6. Count the head that is left: one, or more than one?
7. Read the head and verb together: 'Ravi is', 'The players are'.
8. If you want a plural verb for the whole group, change the joining word to 'and'.

• Mrs Iyer, as well as her students, is excited about the trip.
• Arjun, along with his two brothers, plays cricket every evening.
• The girl who sang with the boys is my cousin Nisha.
• Emma, together with her parents, has left for London.
• The boys who sat next to Sam are twins.
• The singers, as well as their drummer, are from Lagos.

• Ravi and his sister are at the Diwali fair.
• Ravi, along with his sister, is at the Diwali fair.
• The man who sold us the new bicycles is Kiran's uncle.
• The dog with the three puppies sleeps in Lucy's shed.
• My bag, including all my books, weighs five kilos, Tom.
• The nurses, together with Dr Mensah, work the night shift.

There is, there are

In a 'there' sentence, the subject comes after the verb. 'There' holds the front seat, but it is not the subject.

• 👀 Look ahead. The subject is the noun phrase just after the verb.
• 🔄 Flip it. 'There are three cats on the wall' = 'Three cats are on the wall'.
• 🔢 Count it. One takes is/was/has; more than one takes are/were/have.

This is the Agreement Test with a twist: after 'there is / there are', look after the verb to find the true subject.

The same look-ahead works with other verbs after 'there'.

When the subject is a list, the verb often matches the first item, because that is what the speaker has in mind when the verb comes out.

Both of these are standard. 'There are a pen and two pencils' is also heard, and some careful writers prefer it; you will not be marked wrong for either choice with a list.

And in speech, 'There's' - short for 'there is' - is used before plurals by many fluent speakers: 'There's three buses a day.' It is everyday spoken English. In formal writing and exams, write 'There are three buses a day.'

Picture a cinema seat with a 'Reserved' card on it. 'There' is the card: it keeps the front seat filled, but nobody is sitting there yet. The real guest - 'three cats', 'a storm', 'two reasons' - walks in after the verb and takes the seat. The usher at the verb has to wait and see who arrives, and only then say 'is' for one guest or 'are' for a crowd.

'Here' works in a similar way: 'Here is your ticket', 'Here are your tickets'. The next section looks at 'here comes' and 'here come', and at questions, where the subject also comes after a verb. In both, the move is the same: look ahead for the true subject, then count it.

Here are two sentences that look like twins. 'There is a pen and two pencils in the box.' 'There is two pencils and a pen in the box.' The first is standard. The second is not. Why? Because when the subject is a list, English lets the verb match the first thing it meets. In the first sentence, the verb meets 'a pen' - one - so 'is' fits. In the second, the verb meets 'two pencils' - more than one - so it should be 'are': 'There are two pencils and a pen in the box.' Some writers use 'are' for both, counting the whole list. That is standard too. What you should not do is let a singular verb stand directly before a plural noun, as in 'There is two pencils'. So with a list, look at the first item, and let the verb match what it meets. And if a sentence feels awkward either way, you can always rewrite it: 'The box holds a pen and two pencils.' No 'there', no problem.

'There's' may be the most common grammar 'mistake' that almost nobody notices. 'There's two ways to do it.' 'There's lots of seats at the back.' 'There's some good ideas here.' You will hear sentences like these from teachers, news readers, sports commentators and writers when they speak. Studies of recorded speech find 'there's' before a plural very often, far more often than 'there is' before a plural. Why? 'There's' has become almost one word - a way to point at something - and the speaker says it before deciding what comes next. In writing, where there is time to plan, the verb catches up with the subject: 'There are two ways to do it.' Same speaker, different setting.

'There' has two jobs. In 'There are three cats', it is the placeholder. In 'The cats are over there', it is a place word, and 'the cats' is the subject before the verb as usual. With a list, a verb matching the first item and a plural verb for the whole list are both standard. 'There's' + plural is keyed as non-standard only in formal or written settings, never in speech. Some grammars call the placeholder 'existential there' or 'dummy there'. The move is the same whatever you call it.

1. Spot 'there' at the start of the sentence, before the verb.
2. Look after the verb for the true subject - the noun phrase that follows.
3. Flip the sentence to check: 'There are three cats' = 'Three cats are ...'.
4. Count the subject: one takes is, was, has, seems; more takes are, were, have, seem.
5. With a list, let the verb match the first item, or use a plural verb for the whole list.
6. In formal writing, write 'There are' before plurals, not 'There's'.
7. In speech and dialogue, 'There's' + plural is everyday English - no need to correct a speaker.
8. If a 'there' sentence is awkward, rewrite it without 'there'.

• There is a mango tree behind Dadi's house.
• There are two reasons Priya is late today.
• There were thirty students in Mr Rao's class.
• There is a fox in the garden, Lucy.
• There have been three storms in Leeds this month.
• There are many bridges in Venice, Marco says.

• There is a pen and two pencils in Ravi's box.
• There are two pencils and a pen in Ravi's box.
• There was a loud noise from Amma's kitchen.
• There were no seats left on Oliver's train.
• There seems to be a problem with the printer.
• The boats are over there, Kofi.

Questions and "here comes"

In a question, the helper verb moves in front of the subject. In a 'here' sentence, the subject waits after the verb. Either way, the verb agrees with the subject that comes after it.

• 🔄 Turn it back. Make the question a statement; the subject goes in front again.
• 👀 Look past the helper. The subject is the noun phrase right after it.
• 🔢 Count it. One takes is, was, has, does, comes; more takes are, were, have, do, come.

This is the Agreement Test for late subjects: when the verb comes first, find the true subject after it, then count.

When a question borrows 'do', it is 'does' that carries the -s, and the main verb loses it.

'Here' and 'there' can start a sentence that points at something arriving or present. The subject follows the verb.

In quick speech, 'Here's' and 'Where's' are often used before plurals: 'Here's your shoes', 'Where's my keys?' That is everyday spoken English. In writing, match the verb: 'Here are your shoes', 'Where are my keys?'

Picture a queue at a ticket window. Usually the subject stands at the front and the verb stands behind it. In a question, the helper verb steps round and stands in front - but it keeps holding the subject's hand. 'Are' is holding 'my shoes'; 'Does' is holding 'Emma'. In a 'here comes' sentence, the verb opens the door and the subject walks in behind it. Follow the hand, and you find who the verb belongs to.

When the question word is itself the subject, it usually takes a singular verb, even if you expect many answers: 'Who wants ice cream?', 'What is in the box?'. When the question word is not the subject, the subject comes after the helper as usual: 'What are the Tanakas cooking?' Here 'are' agrees with 'the Tanakas'. Turning the question back shows which word is the subject.

Here are two questions that start the same way. 'What is the answer?' 'What are the answers?' In both, 'what' is not the subject. Turn them back: 'The answer is what?', 'The answers are what?'. The subject is 'the answer' or 'the answers', and the verb follows it. Now a harder pair: 'Which of these books is yours?' 'Which of these books are yours?' The first asks about one book: 'Which one of these books is yours?' The second asks about several: 'Which ones are yours?' Both are standard - the writer's meaning decides. The words 'of these books' do not decide by themselves, just as 'of pencils' did not decide in 'The box of pencils is ...'. So when a question starts with 'what' or 'which', do not count the question word. Turn the question back into a statement, find the subject, and ask what the writer means: one, or more than one? The verb follows that answer.

Some very short sentences hide their subject behind the verb. 'Here comes trouble.' 'There goes the bell.' 'In walked the headmaster.' In every one, the verb comes before its subject - 'trouble', 'the bell', 'the headmaster'. English sometimes flips the order like this to make a moment feel sudden, as if the thing appears right as you say it. Storytellers use it on purpose: 'Down came the rain.' And the agreement still holds, right across the flip. 'In walk the twins.' 'Down come the leaves.' The verb waits for the subject, sees how many there are, and matches.

'Here's' and 'Where's' before plurals are everyday spoken English, used by many fluent speakers. This section keys them non-standard only in written or formal settings. When the question word is the subject, as in 'Who wants tea?', the verb is usually singular. 'Who are those people?' is different: 'those people' is the subject after 'are'. With 'which of', one or more is chosen by meaning, and both are standard. Building questions - moving the helper and borrowing 'do' - was the topic of chapter 11. Here the focus is only on which form the helper takes.

1. In a question, find the helper at the front: is, are, was, were, has, have, does, do.
2. Look past the helper for the subject - the noun phrase right after it.
3. Turn the question back into a statement to check.
4. Choose 'does' for one and 'do' for more than one, and keep the main verb plain after it.
5. After 'here' and 'there' at the start, the subject comes after the verb: here comes, here come.
6. When the question word is the subject, the verb is usually singular: 'Who wants tea?'
7. In speech, 'Here's' and 'Where's' before plurals are everyday forms.
8. In writing, match the verb: 'Here are', 'Where are'.

• Where are my school shoes, Amma?
• Is your brother coming to the match, Rahul?
• Here come the buses from Jaipur!
• Here comes the rain again, Jack.
• Does Emma play the violin?
• What are the Tanakas cooking tonight?

• Here is your ticket, Meena.
• Here are the keys to Dadu's scooter.
• Have the guests from Kochi arrived?
• Do the twins like football, Harry?
• Where does Lucy keep her paints?
• Here come Ana and her sisters!

Either-or, neither-nor

With 'or' and 'nor', the subject is one choice or the other - never both together. So the verb agrees with the subject that stands nearer to it.

• ➕ And? Both subjects together - plural.
• 🔀 Or / nor? One or the other - the nearer subject decides.
• 🔄 Swap the order? Change the verb to match the new nearer subject.

This is the special-cases step of the Agreement Test: with or and nor, count only the subject nearer the verb.

'Neither of' and 'either of' are different. They have one head - 'neither' or 'either' - and an 'of' phrase after it.

'Neither' means 'not one', so formal grammar treats it as singular. But speakers often think of the two people together, so the plural is very common and widely accepted. For an exam or a formal letter, use 'is'. In speech, either is fine.

Person matters too. With I and you, the nearer subject still decides: 'Either you or I am wrong.' 'Either I or you are wrong.' Both are correct, but they can sound stiff, so many writers recast: 'One of us is wrong.'

Picture two people standing in a doorway, but only one can go through. With 'and', both walk through together, and the doorman counts two. With 'or' or 'nor', only one gets through - and the doorman at the verb deals with whoever is standing closest to him. 'Neither the players nor the coach' - the coach is at the front of the doorway, so the doorman says 'is'. Swap them, and the players are at the front: 'are'.

'Or' works without 'either' too: 'A pen or a pencil is fine', 'Is it Tuesday or Wednesday?'. And 'not only ... but also' follows the nearer subject in the same way: 'Not only the students but also the teacher was surprised.' In every one of these, the verb deals with the subject closest to it.

Here is a pair that seems to break the rules you have learnt. 'The coach, along with the players, is happy.' 'Neither the players nor the coach is happy.' In S12 you learnt that 'along with the players' is a note, and the head - 'the coach' - decides. The verb is singular because the coach is the only subject. In the second sentence, both 'the players' and 'the coach' are real subjects. 'Neither ... nor' does not hang one on the other as a note. It offers two subjects and says 'not this one, and not that one either'. Because the verb cannot agree with two different numbers at once, English lets the nearer subject decide. So nearness is a trap in S11 and S12, and the rule in S15. The difference is the joining word. 'Along with', 'as well as', 'of': one subject, and the head decides. 'Or', 'nor': two subjects, and the nearer decides. 'And': two subjects added together, and the verb is plural. When you are unsure, find the joining word first. It tells you which rule you are in.

Here is a sentence where the rule gives an answer that sounds strange. 'Either you or I am going to have to tell her.' Every part is correct: 'I' is nearer, and 'I' takes 'am'. Yet many people hesitate when they say it, because 'am' seems to leave 'you' out. Careful writers often solve this without breaking any rule. They put the plural subject nearer - 'Either I or the others are ...' - or they recast: 'One of us is going to have to tell her.' That is not a mistake. It is a good writer noticing that a correct sentence is awkward, and choosing a better one. So the rule tells you which verb is right. It does not force you to write a sentence you dislike.

'Neither of them is' is the formal standard; 'Neither of them are' is very common and widely accepted. This section keys 'are' as non-standard only where the stem names formal writing or an exam. 'Either you or I am' is correct. A recast such as 'One of us is' is correct too, and never keyed wrong. In questions with 'or', the verb comes first and meets the first subject: 'Is Anil or his sisters coming?'. Many writers recast these as well. 'And' is different: 'Ravi and his sisters are coming' - both together, plural.

1. Find the joining word between the two subjects: and, or, nor, along with, of.
2. With 'or', 'either...or' or 'neither...nor', find the subject nearer the verb.
3. Count that subject: one takes is, has, -s; more than one takes are, have, the plain verb.
4. If you swap the order, change the verb to match the new nearer subject.
5. With I and you, let the nearer one choose: 'you or I am', 'I or you are'.
6. If a correct sentence sounds stiff, put the plural subject nearer or recast it.
7. For 'neither of them' in formal writing, use 'is'.
8. In speech, 'neither of them are' is common and fine.

• Either Ravi or his sisters are coming to fetch you.
• Neither Meena nor her brothers have seen the film.
• Either Papa or Amma picks us up after school.
• Neither the coach nor the players are ready.
• Either Tom or Lucy has the key to the shed.
• Either the boys or Diego is going to lead the song.

• Neither the players nor the coach is happy with the pitch.
• A pen or a pencil is fine for the test, Sir said.
• Neither of the twins is ready yet, Dadi.
• Either you or I am wrong about the date, Sophie.
• Neither the cat nor the dogs were in the garden.
• Either the Garcias or their neighbour waters the plants.

Each, every, everyone

Some words count a crowd one member at a time. When they are the subject, the verb is singular.

• ☝️ every-, some-, any-, no- words: everyone, somebody, anything, nobody - singular.
• 👉 each / every + noun: singular - 'each boy', 'every day'.
• 👥 plural subject + each: the subject decides - 'They each have'.

This is the special-cases step of the Agreement Test: each, every and everyone count one at a time, so the verb is singular.

Where 'each' sits changes everything. Before the verb, as the head, it is singular. After a plural subject, it only adds 'one by one', and the subject decides.

'Each of' + a plural noun is like 'one of' in S11: the head is 'each', and 'of the rooms' is the phrase after it. In speech you will hear 'Each of the rooms have a fan' - it is common. Formal writing and exams use 'has'.

'Every' needs a singular noun after it - 'every day', 'every student' - and stays singular even with 'and': 'Every boy and girl is invited', because 'every' picks them one at a time.

Picture a teacher handing out books at the classroom door. The class is big, but the teacher gives one book to one child at a time: 'Each child gets a book.' That is how everyone, each and every work - they see the crowd, but they count it through a narrow door, one by one. 'They each get a book' is different: the whole class stands in the corridor together, and 'each' is just the teacher's note that nobody is left out.

'Either' and 'neither' on their own count one at a time too: 'Either day is fine', 'Neither answer is correct'. And the -thing words follow the same pattern: 'Everything is ready', 'Nothing was left', 'Something smells good'. S15 showed that 'Neither of them are' is common in speech; 'Each of them are' is heard too, but formal writing keeps both singular.

Here is a pair that uses the same words in a different order. 'Each of the players has a new shirt.' 'The players each have a new shirt.' They mean the same thing. So why does the verb change? Because the subject is different. In the first sentence, the subject is 'each' - with 'of the players' telling you which group. 'Each' picks one player, then the next, then the next. One at a time, so 'has'. In the second sentence, the subject is 'the players' - more than one - and 'each' has moved to sit after it. There it works like a label on a box: it tells you the shirts were given out one by one, but it does not change who the subject is. The players are plural, so 'have'. This is the Agreement Test at its most useful. Your ear hears the same words and wants the same verb. The test asks: what is the true subject? Find it, count it, and the pair stops being confusing. 'Each' in front: the head. 'Each' after a plural: a passenger.

'Everyone' can mean a whole room of people, and it still takes 'is'. 'Everyone is here.' Thirty people, one verb for one. But listen to what happens when the same sentence carries on: 'Everyone is here, aren't they?' The verb was singular, but the tag question has jumped to 'they' and 'aren't'. Your brain counted the word as one when it chose 'is' - and then remembered the crowd when it reached the end. Both parts are standard English. Grammar and meaning are pulling in different directions, and English quietly lets each win in its own place. The verb follows the word; the pronoun later on follows the people. Chapter 14 looks at that pronoun choice.

'Each of the boys have' and 'Each of them are' are common in speech. Formal writing and exams use the singular, and that is what this section keys, always with a formal or standard stem. When 'each' comes after a plural subject, the plural verb is standard: 'They each have'. Never key it wrong. Pronouns that refer back to 'everyone' - 'Everyone brought their book' - are the topic of chapter 14; this section tests only the verb. 'None', 'all' and 'some' follow different rules. Craft S22 looks at them.

1. Spot everyone, everybody, someone, somebody, anyone, nobody, everything and nothing - they take a singular verb.
2. After 'each' or 'every' + a noun, use a singular noun and a singular verb: 'Each child gets'.
3. With 'each of' + a plural noun, the head is 'each': 'Each of the boys has' in formal English.
4. With 'every ... and ...', keep the verb singular: 'Every boy and girl is'.
5. When 'each' comes after a plural subject, the subject decides: 'They each have'.
6. Ask 'What is the true subject?' before listening to the meaning.
7. In speech, 'Each of them are' is common; in writing, use 'is'.
8. Check the noun after 'every' is singular: every day, not every days.

• Everyone in Mrs Nair's class is ready for the trip.
• Each of the boys has a new cricket bat.
• Every student in the school gets a free book.
• They each have a locker, Jack.
• Nobody knows the answer, Ms Hill.
• Each player on Yuki's team wears a red cap.

• Every boy and girl in the colony is invited.
• Somebody has left a bag in Anil's classroom.
• The children each have a desk, Dadi.
• Each of the rooms in Sam's house has a window.
• Everybody loves the new park in Bath.
• Every day brings something new, Amara says.

Team, family, class

A collective noun names a group. You can count it as one unit, or as the people in it.

• 💼 One unit? Singular: is, has, owns.
• 👥 The members, each doing something? Plural is standard in British English: are, have, own.
• 🚨 Police, people, cattle? Always plural.

This is the special-cases step of the Agreement Test: a collective noun is counted by what the writer means - one unit, or its members.

Some sentences push strongly one way. When the group acts as one body, the singular fits best everywhere. When the members do different things, the plural fits best - in British English.

American English usually keeps the singular even for the members, and often adds a word to make the plural clear: 'The committee members are arguing.'

Whatever you choose, keep it steady within the sentence. 'The team is ready and are waiting' switches halfway through. Choose one: 'The team is ready and is waiting', or 'The team are ready and are waiting'.

And three nouns never take a singular verb: 'The police are', 'People are', 'The cattle are'. There is no 'a police' or 'a cattle' - you say 'a police officer', 'a cow'.

Picture a cricket team from two distances. From the top of the stadium, the team is one patch of colour moving together - 'The team is on the field.' From the boundary rope, you see eleven players, each doing a different job - 'The team are taking their places.' Same team, different distance. British English lets you describe it from either seat. American English mostly keeps the view from the top.

Team names follow the same pattern. In British English, 'India are batting' and 'Arsenal have won' are normal. In American English, 'India is batting' and 'The Lakers have won' - the Lakers is a plural name. Company names work the same way in British English: 'The BBC have announced ...' and 'The BBC has announced ...' are both used. Master S36 looks at these patterns across Englishes.

Here are two sentences, both about the same family, both standard. 'My family is large.' 'My family are all tall.' Why singular in the first and plural in the second? In the first, the sentence is about the family as a whole. Being large is something only a group can be - no single member is 'large' in that sense. So the family is one unit, and the verb is singular. That is true in British and American English alike. In the second, the sentence is about each member. Being tall is something each person is, one by one. 'All' makes this even clearer. So a British speaker counts the members and uses 'are'. An American writer might say 'The people in my family are all tall' or 'Everyone in my family is tall' instead. So the verb does not depend on the noun alone. It depends on what the sentence says about the group: a quality of the whole, or something each member does or is. Ask that question, and you will know which verb fits - and which varieties accept it.

Here is a noun that looks singular and never is: 'police'. 'The police are investigating.' There is no 'The police is'. And you cannot say 'a police' - you say 'a police officer'. 'People' is the same. It looks like one word, but it is the plural of 'person': 'People are kind.' (There is a second, rarer meaning - a nation, as in 'a people' and 'the peoples of Asia' - and that one can be counted.) And 'cattle' has no singular at all. One animal is 'a cow' or 'a bull'. So some words that name groups are free to go either way, and some are locked into the plural. Team, family and class are free. Police, people and cattle are locked. The only way to know which is which is to notice - and now you have.

Both 'The team is' and 'The team are' are standard English. This section keys the singular as the only answer only where the stem names American usage or asks for the group as one unit. Indian English uses both patterns, and you will meet both in Indian newspapers and textbooks. The choice of pronoun after a collective noun - 'its' or 'their' - belongs to chapter 14. Here, only the verb is tested. 'Staff' and 'crew' behave like team. 'People' here means persons; in the rarer sense of a nation ('a people'), it is countable. 'Data', which some treat like a collective, is in Craft S29.

1. Spot the collective noun: team, family, class, committee, audience, crowd, jury, staff, crew.
2. Ask what the sentence is about: the group as one unit, or its members.
3. For one unit, use a singular verb: 'The committee has decided'.
4. For the members, a plural verb is standard in British English: 'The team are arguing'.
5. In American English, or when unsure, the singular is widely accepted.
6. Keep the same choice all the way through the sentence.
7. Use a plural verb with police, people and cattle.
8. If a plural sounds odd to your reader, add a word: 'The team members are ...'.

• Our school team is in the final this year.
• The family are all arriving at different times for Diwali.
• The police are looking into the theft at the market.
• The team are arguing about who bats first, Harry.
• The band is playing in Chicago tonight.
• Many people in Nairobi walk to work.

• The school committee has chosen Asha as captain.
• The cattle are grazing near the river in Anand.
• My family is large, and my cousins live next door.
• The audience were clapping and cheering, Emma said.
• The jury has reached its verdict.
• The crowd in Rio is huge tonight.

News, furniture, advice

Some nouns name a mass, not separate things. English does not count them, so they take a singular verb - with or without an -s at the end.

• 💧 A mass, like water? Singular verb: news, furniture, advice, information, equipment, luggage, homework.
• 📚 A school subject in -ics? Singular: mathematics, physics, athletics, economics.
• 🧩 Counted with 'pieces of'? Now 'pieces' is the head - plural.

This is step three of the Agreement Test, the count: an uncountable noun counts as one, whatever its spelling.

To count an uncountable noun, put a counting word in front. That word becomes the head, and the verb agrees with it - just as in S11.

In Indian English, and in some other Englishes, many speakers count these nouns directly: 'furnitures', 'informations', 'advices', 'equipments', 'luggages' - with a plural verb. It is a common and understood pattern, and it follows the logic of many other languages. Standard English, and every exam, uses the uncountable form: 'The furniture is new', 'The information is correct'.

Chapter 1 covered countable and uncountable nouns in full. Here we need only their verb.

Picture a bowl of rice. You never say 'The rices are cooked' - it is one heap, however many grains are in it. 'News', 'furniture', 'advice' and 'information' are heaps too, in English's eyes. To count them you need a spoon: 'three pieces of advice', 'two items of news'. Now you are counting spoonfuls, and the spoons are plural.

Some nouns are uncountable in one meaning and countable in another. 'Paper is expensive' (the material) but 'The papers are on the desk' (sheets or newspapers). 'Work is tiring' but 'His works are famous' (books or paintings). 'Hair is' for the whole head, but 'Two hairs are in my soup'. The meaning decides whether the noun is counted - and the verb follows.

Here is a pair that trips up even strong students. 'The information in these reports is wrong.' 'The reports with this information are wrong.' In the first, the head is 'information' - uncountable, so 'is'. 'In these reports' is the phrase after it, and the plural 'reports' does not count. That is S11 and S18 working together. In the second, the head is 'reports' - plural, so 'are'. 'With this information' is the phrase, and it does not count either. The two sentences use the same nouns and swap which one is the head. If you only listened for the -s, you would get one of them wrong. If you only knew 'information is singular', you would get the other wrong. So the list of uncountable nouns is only half the job. First find the head. Then ask whether English counts it. An uncountable head takes a singular verb; a countable plural head takes a plural verb. The nouns in the phrase after it are still only passengers.

'News' was not always singular. Two or three hundred years ago, writers often treated it as a plural: 'The news are come', 'these news'. It was, after all, made from 'new things'. Over time, English began to see news as one mass of information, and the singular won. The -ics subjects have a similar story. 'Mathematics' looks plural because it came from a plural word in Greek. English now treats the name of the subject as one thing: 'Mathematics is ...'. So the -s on 'news' and 'mathematics' is a fossil - a leftover from an older way of counting. The spelling stayed; the grammar moved on. And the verb follows the grammar, not the spelling.

'Furnitures', 'informations' and 'advices' are described as a common pattern in Indian English and other Englishes, never mocked. Standard written English uses the uncountable forms, and this section keys those only where the stem names standard or written English, or asks for the standard form. Some -ics words can be plural in other meanings: 'His politics are strange' (his views). Craft S25 looks at those. 'Data' can be singular or plural; Craft S29 covers it.

1. Learn the common uncountable nouns: news, furniture, advice, information, equipment, luggage, baggage, homework, research.
2. Use a singular verb with each: 'The news is', 'Your advice was'.
3. Use a singular verb with school subjects in -ics: 'Physics is', 'Athletics is'.
4. Don't add -s to an uncountable noun in standard writing.
5. To count it, add a counting word: pieces of, items of, bits of, bags of.
6. After a counting word, let the counting word decide: 'Three pieces of advice were'.
7. With a phrase after the head, check the head first, as in S11.
8. When you hear 'furnitures' or 'informations', know the standard form beside it.

• The news from Chennai is good today.
• Mathematics is Kavya's favourite subject.
• This furniture was made by Dadu's carpenter.
• Your advice has helped me a lot, Mr Green.
• The equipment in the gym looks new, Chloe.
• The information on Luis's poster is correct.

• Physics is harder than chemistry for Rohan.
• Our luggage is already in the car, Papa.
• The homework for Monday is on the board.
• The pieces of furniture in Tom's room are old.
• Athletics is popular at Ella's school.
• Three pieces of advice from Ms Sato were useful.

Amounts and units

A number with a unit - rupees, hours, kilometres, kilos, degrees - often names one amount. Then the verb is singular.

• 📏 One amount? Swap in 'that amount' - singular verb.
• 🪙 Separate things, counted? Swap in 'those things' - plural verb.
• 👀 Look at the rest of the sentence. 'a long walk', 'enough', 'too long' point to one amount.

This is step three of the Agreement Test, the count, with a twist: an amount treated as one counts as one.

The swap test tells you which reading the sentence means.

The words after the verb are good clues. 'A long walk', 'a fair price', 'enough', 'too much', 'a long time' all describe one amount. 'Old', 'rainy', 'scattered', 'new' often describe separate things, each one.

Some sentences can be read either way, and then both verbs are heard: 'The last two hours has/have gone quickly.' When you write test items or your own sentences, make the reading clear with the rest of the sentence, so the verb has only one job to do.

Fractions and percentages - 'half of', 'fifty per cent of' - follow a different rule, and Craft S22 looks at them.

Picture a pile of coins on a shop counter. The shopkeeper can look at it two ways. Sweeping it into one hand, she says 'Five hundred rupees is enough' - one sum, one handful. Spreading the coins out to check each one, she says 'These coins are old' - many coins, many checks. The coins have not changed. What changed is whether she is holding one amount or looking at separate pieces.

The same pattern works with 'an extra' or 'another' + amount: 'An extra two hours is needed', 'Another five hundred rupees is due.' Here the 'a' or 'an' shows even more clearly that the writer is counting one amount. And a title or a name that is plural in form works the same way: 'Three Men in a Boat is a funny book.' Craft S25 looks at titles.

Here are two sentences about the same days. 'Three days is a short holiday.' 'The first three days of the holiday were sunny.' Why singular in the first and plural in the second? In the first, the sentence measures time. 'Three days' is one length of holiday, and 'a short holiday' describes that single length. Swap it: 'That amount of time is a short holiday.' It fits, so the verb is singular. In the second, the sentence describes the days one by one. Each of the first three days was sunny. Swap it: 'Those days were sunny.' 'That amount of time was sunny' makes no sense - weather belongs to days, not to lengths of time. So the verb is plural. The number and the noun are the same in both sentences. The difference is what the rest of the sentence says. A measure - long, short, enough, too much, a fair price - points to one amount. A quality of each item - sunny, old, new, broken - points to separate things. So read to the end of the sentence before you choose. The verb follows the meaning, and the meaning is often after the verb.

Maths lessons are full of sentences where English allows both verbs. 'Two and two is four.' 'Two and two are four.' Both are standard, and both have been used by careful writers for centuries. The first treats the sum as one amount; the second treats two and two as two numbers added together. Neither is a mistake. But notice how different that is from 'Ravi and Asha are here', where 'and' makes a plural subject. Numbers can be counted as amounts or as things - and English lets the speaker decide. So when you meet an amount, do not reach for a rule that says 'always singular' or 'always plural'. Ask what the sentence is measuring. The verb will tell your reader how you are counting.

Where a sentence can reasonably be read as one amount or as separate things, both verbs are heard, and neither is keyed wrong in this section. Every item here makes the reading clear from the rest of the sentence. 'Two and two is four' and 'Two and two are four' are both standard. Fractions, percentages and 'a lot of' follow the noun after 'of'; Craft S22 covers them. In casual speech, a plural verb with an amount is common. In careful writing, the singular for one amount is the usual choice.

1. Spot a number with a unit: rupees, pounds, hours, days, kilometres, kilos, litres, degrees.
2. Read to the end of the sentence to see what it says about the amount.
3. If it measures one amount - long, short, enough, too much, a fair price - use a singular verb.
4. If it describes separate things one by one - old, new, sunny, scattered - use a plural verb.
5. Swap in 'that amount' or 'those things' to check.
6. With 'of' after the amount - 'three litres of water' - the amount is the head.
7. When both readings are possible, choose one and make it clear.
8. Leave fractions and percentages for Craft S22.

• Ten kilometres is a long walk for Anu.
• Five hundred rupees is enough for the trip.
• Two hours is too long to wait, Nani says.
• Twenty pounds seems a fair price, Ben.
• Three weeks is a long holiday.
• Forty degrees is normal in Cairo in summer.

• The five hundred-rupee notes in Papa's wallet are new.
• Two and a half hours is too long for Rani's film.
• The first three days of the mela were rainy.
• Fifty pence is all Oliver has left.
• Six months is a long time, Grace.
• Three litres of water is enough for the hike, Kofi.

Explain your evidence

Every agreement choice in this band has a reason you can say in one sentence. Naming the verb, the true subject and the count is the whole reason.

• 🔍 the verb - the word that can show agreement
• 🎯 the true subject - its head, found with a check
• 🔢 the count - one, or more than one

Every row is the Agreement Test said aloud: find the verb, find its true subject, then count - and prove each step.

A guess and a reason can pick the same verb. Only the reason survives a harder sentence.

The weak reasons fall into three families. Sound: 'it sounds right'. Distance: 'the noun next to the verb is plural'. Surface: 'it ends in -s', 'two people are named', 'the last word is plural'. Each can be right by luck and wrong the next time.

Good reasons also know when there is a choice. 'The team is' and 'The team are' are both standard; 'Neither of them is' is formal and 'are' is common; 'There is a pen and two pencils' matches the first item. A strong reason names the choice instead of calling one side a mistake.

Picture a detective at a crime scene. The verb is the clue on the floor. Plenty of people are standing near it - the nearest noun, the word after 'of', the name after 'along with' - but the detective does not arrest whoever is closest. She asks who really did it, checks the alibis - cover, flip, nearer, split, swap - and only then names the true subject. Then she writes it in the report so anyone can follow her steps.

A reason can be short. 'Head colour, one: is.' 'Nearer subject, plural: are.' 'Flip it: two reasons are.' Exams that ask you to justify a correction usually want exactly this: the rule named, and the words from the sentence that prove it. Craft S30 turns this into editing a whole passage for a real reader.

Here is a sentence where two good-sounding reasons point in opposite directions. 'Neither Meena nor her brothers ___ seen the film.' Reason A: 'Meena is the first subject, and she is one person, so has.' Reason B: 'Her brothers is the nearer subject, and it is plural, so have.' Both reasons name a subject and count it. Both sound careful. But only one names the rule that applies here. With 'neither ... nor', the nearer subject decides - so Reason B is the evidence, and the verb is 'have'. Now compare this sentence: 'Meena, along with her brothers, ___ seen the film.' Reason B would say 'brothers is nearer, so have'. Here Reason B is wrong. 'Along with' adds a note, not a subject, so the head 'Meena' decides: 'has'. So a reason is only as good as the rule it picks. Before you count, name the joining word - or, nor, and, along with, of - because the joining word tells you which rule is in charge. Then count. The best explanations say both: 'Neither ... nor, so nearer subject; her brothers, plural: have.'

Here is a sentence where three different rules all give the same answer. 'Each of the boys, along with their teacher, has a ticket.' Why 'has'? Because 'each' is the head (S16). Because 'along with their teacher' adds no one (S12). Because 'boys' sits inside 'of the boys' and does not decide (S11). Any one of those reasons is correct. A student who gives all three is not wrong - but a student who gives one clearly, with its check, has done the job. 'Head each, one at a time: has' is enough. That is the surprise of good evidence: it does not need to be long. It needs to name what decides, in words someone else can check.

Where standard English allows a choice - collective nouns, 'neither of them', lists after 'there is', amounts read two ways - a strong reason names the choice and the variety or register. No explanation in this section marks a standard choice wrong. The three-part reason works for verbs that can show agreement. For past verbs other than was/were - 'The box fell' - there is nothing to explain, because no agreement is shown. The checks are tools, not extra rules: use the one that fits the trap.

1. Find the verb that can show agreement, and name it.
2. Name the joining word, if there is one: and, or, nor, along with, as well as, of.
3. Find the true subject with a check: cover, flip, turn back, nearer, split, swap.
4. Count it: one, or more than one - by how English counts it.
5. Say the reason in one sentence: verb, subject, count.
6. Reject reasons based only on sound, distance or an -s ending.
7. Where two forms are standard, name the choice instead of calling one wrong.
8. Ask a friend to repeat your check. If they reach the same verb, your evidence is good.

• The box of pencils is on Meena's desk.
• Mrs Iyer, as well as her students, is excited.
• There are two reasons Priya is late.
• Neither the coach nor the players are ready.
• Everyone in Sam's class has a locker.
• The news from Lagos is good, Tunde says.

• Where are Arjun's new shoes?
• The team are arguing about the batting order.
• Five hundred rupees is enough for Asha's trip.
• Each of the boys has a bat, Jack.
• Here come the twins, Lily!
• Mathematics is Aiko's favourite subject.

Writing with intent · ages 12–16

Keeping track in long sentences

The Agreement Test does not change for long subjects - find the verb, find its true subject, then count - but step two needs a method, because the true subject is buried.

The method is to shrink the subject until only its head is left.

• ✂ cut - bracket every of-phrase, clause and list that describes the head
• 🔍 read the skeleton - 'The results ... show'; 'The list ... is'
• 🔢 count the head - one or more, then choose the verb

Long subjects are built in layers, and each layer adds a noun that could pull the verb the wrong way.

At every layer the head is still 'quality', and the verb is still 'has': 'The quality of the photographs taken by the students in Year 9 has impressed the judges.' Three nouns sit between them - two of them plural - and not one of them gets a vote.

Picture the head of the subject holding one end of a rope, and the verb holding the other. Every phrase and clause you add hangs washing on that rope - photographs, students, Year 9. The rope gets longer and more crowded, but it is still tied to the same two hands. To check the verb, ignore the washing and follow the rope back to the hand that holds it.

Plural nouns in the middle pull harder than singular ones. Researchers who study agreement attraction have found that 'The key to the cabinets are' is a far more common slip than 'The keys to the cabinet is'. So the riskiest pattern is a singular head followed by a plural noun: the list of names, the quality of the photographs, the cost of the books. When you see that shape, check the verb twice.

Here is where long subjects need care. Some heads are hard to find because the first noun is not the head. In 'One of the reasons the buses keep arriving late is the roadworks', the head is 'One', and 'reasons' is inside an of-phrase. In 'A box of old letters, photographs and maps was found', the head is 'box', even though the list after it is plural three times over. Some subjects contain a verb that agrees with something else. 'The noise from the trucks that pass Kofi's house wakes the street.' A writer checking agreement has two jobs here: 'pass' must agree with 'trucks', and 'wakes' with 'noise'. Get either wrong and the sentence breaks. And some long subjects are not what they seem. In 'The people Yuki met on her walk were kind', the head is 'people' - plural, with no -s. Words like people, police and children are plural without looking it, and a long subject makes that easier to forget. The method holds for all three: bracket what describes, read the skeleton, count the head. 'One ... is'. 'A box ... was'. 'The people ... were'. Once the skeleton is clear, the verb is almost always obvious - the difficulty was never the rule, only the distance.

Two sentences from the same school newsletter, written by the same person. 'The price of the tickets have gone up.' 'The tickets for the concert on Saturday have sold out.' One is wrong and one is right, and they look almost the same. Both have a plural noun, 'tickets', in the subject, and both use 'have'. The difference is the head. In the first, the head is 'price' - the tickets are only there to say whose price - so the verb should be 'has'. In the second, the head is 'tickets', and 'have' is right. The writer's ear heard the same thing twice. The skeleton shows two different sentences: 'The price ... has gone up' and 'The tickets ... have sold out'.

A few long subjects really do allow two readings. 'A group of students from three schools is/are visiting' can take either verb, because 'a group of' can be counted as one unit or as the students in it - the collective and quantifier choices come up in the next sections. And 'One of the students who are/is' has its own trap inside the who-clause, which S24 deals with. Where the head is clearly singular or clearly plural, as in every sentence keyed in this section, the head decides.

1. Run the Agreement Test on every present-tense verb and every am/is/are/was/were in a long sentence.
2. Bracket every of-phrase, who- or that-clause and list that describes the head.
3. Read the skeleton aloud: 'The list ... is', 'The results ... show'.
4. Be most careful when a singular head is followed by a plural noun.
5. Check verbs inside who- and that-clauses against the noun they describe.
6. Remember that people, police and children are plural without an -s.
7. If a subject is so long that you lose the head, move some of it into a second sentence.
8. Never change a verb until you have found the head - over-correcting is an error too.

• The results of the survey that the Pune council ran last year show a clear pattern.
• The list of names on the notice boards outside the staff room is out of date.
• Meera's plan to paint the classrooms, the corridors and the library before the monsoon needs three more volunteers.
• The quality of the photographs taken by the students in Year 9 has impressed the judges.
• The girls who live next door to Emily play cricket every evening.
• The noise from the trucks that pass Kofi's house every morning wakes the whole street.

• Rahul's collection of old coins from the villages along the Ganga is worth a lot.
• The teachers who run the science club in Priya's school meet on Fridays.
• One of the reasons the buses from Kochi keep arriving late is the roadworks.
• The effect of all these late nights and early mornings is starting to show.
• A box of old letters, photographs and maps was found in Sophie's attic.
• The people Yuki met on her long walk across the mountains were kind.

None, all, some, half

Run the Agreement Test as usual - find the verb, find its true subject, then count - but when the subject begins with a quantifier, step three counts the noun after 'of'.

• 🔍 look past the quantifier - half of what? most of what?
• 🔢 count that noun - one thing or uncountable: -s form; more than one: plain form
• ⚖ none + plural - either verb; choose one and keep it consistent

Why does 'half' not decide, when 'box' did? Because 'box' names a thing and 'half' names a share. A share is always a share of something, and the something sets the number.

Picture a quantifier as a knife and the noun after 'of' as the food. Cut a cake in half and you still have cake - one amount, 'is'. Cut a plate of samosas in half and you have samosas - several, 'are'. The knife never decides what is on the plate. To choose the verb, look at the food, not the knife.

The same pattern covers 'a lot of', 'lots of', 'plenty of' and 'the rest of'. 'A lot of the work is done'; 'a lot of people are waiting'; 'the rest of the food is in the fridge'; 'the rest of the guests are outside'. In each, the first words name a share or an amount, and the noun after 'of' gives the number. 'A number of' and 'the number of' look similar but work differently - that is the next section.

Here is where quantifiers need care. The noun after 'of' can be collective. 'Half of the class' is one group, but it is also a set of students. 'Half of the class is absent' and 'Half of the class are absent' are both found, the plural more often in British English - the choice follows how you picture the group, as S17 showed. Neither is keyed wrong in this chapter. The quantifier can stand alone. 'Some are ready; some is still cooking.' With no 'of', you look back to what 'some' refers to - samosas or rice. 'None' without 'of' follows the same both-standard pattern: 'None was found' and 'None were found' both appear in good writing. Some formal style guides prefer the singular; many modern guides accept both. And 'each of' and 'every one of' are not in this family. They always pick out one thing at a time: 'Each of the students has a locker.' Remember them from S16 - they are singular even though the noun after 'of' is plural. So the rule has a clear core and two edges. Core: shares - all, some, most, half, fractions, percentages - follow the noun after 'of'. Edges: 'none' gives a choice; 'each' and 'every one' do not.

Look at these two headlines from the same newspaper, on the same day. 'Sixty per cent of the village is under water.' 'Sixty per cent of the villagers are in relief camps.' Same number. Same place. Different verbs, and both are right. The reporter did not change the rule between stories. The noun after 'of' changed: one village - a single place, part of it flooded - and many villagers - people, counted one by one. The percentage never decided anything. It only told you how big the share was.

The 'none' choice is a real choice, not a loophole: some teachers, schools and exam boards prefer 'none ... is' in formal writing, and it is safe to follow a stated house style. But 'None of the students were late' is not an error in standard English, and this chapter never keys it as one. With collective nouns after 'of' ('half of the team'), both verbs are also found. Keyed items in this section avoid both of those cases unless the question is about the choice.

1. When a subject starts with all, some, most, half, a fraction or a percentage, find the noun after 'of'.
2. Uncountable or one thing: use the -s form (is, has, was, comes).
3. Plural noun: use the plain form (are, have, were, come).
4. With 'none of' + a plural noun, choose 'is' or 'are' and keep the same choice through the piece.
5. With 'none of' + an uncountable noun, use the singular: 'None of the milk is left.'
6. Remember that 'each of' and 'every one of' are always singular.
7. Do not mark a 'none ... are' sentence wrong unless a style guide you have been given asks for 'is'.

• Half of the cake is gone, and half of the samosas are gone too.
• Most of the milk in the fridge has gone sour.
• Some of Priya's friends are coming to the match.
• None of the players was injured in the match.
• All of the information on the website is out of date.
• Sixty per cent of the students in Kenji's school walk to school.

• Sixty per cent of the village is under water after the storm.
• None of the mangoes were ripe, so Ravi waited another week.
• All of the rice has been eaten, but all of the chapatis are still here.
• A third of the money was spent on food for the trip.
• Most of the songs on Sophie's playlist are older than she is.
• Some of the water in Amara's town comes from deep wells.

A number, the number

The Agreement Test still works - find the verb, find its true subject, then count - but here step three depends on what the subject means.

• 👥 a number of = many, so plural
• 🔢 the number of = one figure, so singular
• 🔄 swap to check - 'many' or 'the figure', and read it aloud

Adjectives can go inside either phrase, and the rule does not change.

Picture a crowd, and a scoreboard above it. 'A number of fans' points at the crowd - many people, cheering, so 'are'. 'The number of fans' points at the scoreboard - one figure, lighting up 12,000, so 'is'. Before you choose the verb, ask whether your sentence is about the crowd or the scoreboard.

The same pattern shows up with other phrases that start with 'a' and mean 'several'. 'A lot of books are on the floor.' 'A couple of friends are coming round.' 'A handful of pupils have finished early.' Each phrase works like 'many' or 'a few', so the verb follows the plural noun after 'of'. Put 'the' in front of a word like 'variety' or 'range' and it usually names one thing again: 'The range of subjects on offer is impressive' is about the range, a single thing, so the verb is singular.

Here is where the pair needs a little judgement. The swap test works because the two phrases mean different things. But some writers use 'a number of' with a singular verb when they are thinking of the group as one amount, and you will see it in print. Most usage guides still recommend the plural, and exams key it, so write 'a number of ... are'. Just do not be surprised to meet the other. Some sentences put a clause inside the subject, and the clause has its own verb. 'The number of people who read newspapers is falling.' 'Read' agrees with 'people' - they read. 'Is' agrees with 'number' - the figure falls. Both are right, and a careful writer checks both. And questions and there-sentences move the subject behind the verb. 'There are a number of reasons' is plural, because the subject after the verb means many reasons. 'What is the number of seats?' is singular, because the subject is one figure. So the rule is not really about 'a' and 'the'. It is about meaning. 'A' usually signals 'many things'; 'the' usually signals 'one figure'. The swap test just makes you say which one you mean.

A newspaper printed these two sentences one paragraph apart. 'The number of students taking the exam has risen.' 'A number of students taking the exam have complained.' Same noun. Same phrase after it. Opposite verbs, both correct. Only a figure can rise: the first sentence is about the scoreboard. Only people can complain: the second is about the crowd. The small word at the front told you which, and the verb at the end agreed. Now try the verb in the wrong sentence: 'The number of students has complained.' A number cannot complain. The sentence tells you its own mistake.

'A number of' + singular verb does appear in published writing, especially where the writer means one amount, and a few speakers use it naturally. Standard written English, and every exam-style item in this chapter, uses the plural. 'The number of' + plural verb is widely treated as an error in careful writing. Both points are about written standard English; in fast speech, either slip is common and rarely noticed.

1. Run the Agreement Test and look at the first small word: 'a number of' or 'the number of'.
2. 'A number of' + plural noun: plural verb - 'are', 'have', 'were'.
3. 'The number of' + plural noun: singular verb - 'is', 'has', 'was'.
4. Swap to check: 'many' for 'a number of'; 'the figure' for 'the number of'.
5. Ask whether the verb fits people and things or a figure: complain, wait, arrive; or rise, fall, double.
6. Adjectives do not change the rule: 'a large number of ... are', 'the total number of ... is'.
7. Check verbs inside clauses separately: 'the number of people who read ... is'.

• A number of students are waiting outside the principal's office.
• The number of students in Class 10 is rising every year.
• A number of Deepa's cousins live in Chennai.
• The number of cars on the high street has doubled.
• A number of problems have come up since Monday.
• The number of languages spoken in Papua New Guinea amazes Wanjiru.

• A number of trains from Mumbai are running late, and the number of complaints is growing.
• The total number of votes was counted twice.
• A large number of volunteers have signed up for Arjun's clean-up.
• The number of people who read newspapers is falling.
• A small number of pupils have asked Mr Clarke for extra lessons.
• The number of visitors to Lake Titicaca grows each summer, Mateo says.

One of those who

This structure has two verbs, and the Agreement Test runs twice - find the verb, find its true subject, then count. The main verb agrees with its subject. The clause verb agrees with whatever 'who' or 'that' stands for.

• 👥 one of the ... who - the clause describes the group, so plural in formal writing; 'is' is common and widely accepted
• ☝ the only one of the ... who - the clause describes one, so singular
• 🔢 main verb - agrees with 'one', or with the name in front

To find what 'who' stands for, turn the sentence around.

The turned-around sentence shows the clause sitting next to what it describes, and the verb falls into place.

Picture a class photo. 'The students who are always early' is a circle drawn round a group in the photo, and Riya's face is inside the circle - she is one of them. 'The only one of the students who is always early' is a circle drawn round a single face. The clause verb counts the faces inside the circle, not the face you happen to be pointing at.

The same logic works with 'that' and 'which', and with 'among'. 'This is one of the songs that make me cry' - traditional plural. 'Hers was one of the essays that were read aloud' - several essays were read aloud, and hers was one. 'Among the students who have signed up is Riya' - the clause describes the students, and the main verb, coming after, agrees with 'Riya'.

Here is where the structure needs real judgement. The traditional answer is based on logic: the clause describes the group, so the verb is plural. The everyday answer is based on focus: the sentence is about one person, so the verb feels singular. Grammarians disagree about how much weight each should get. Some usage guides treat 'one of those who is' as an error; many others accept it, particularly in informal writing, and note that careful writers use both. So what should you do? In formal writing - an exam, an essay, a report - use the traditional plural. That is what most keys expect, and it is always defensible. In your own speech and informal writing, either is fine. And when you read someone else's 'one of the students who is', do not call it wrong unless you have been asked to apply traditional grammar. Two cases need no judgement. After 'the only one', the clause is always singular, because it really does describe one person. And the main verb always agrees with its own subject: 'One of the students ... is leaving.' So there is one flexible spot - the clause verb after 'one of the ... who' - and two fixed ones. Learn which is which, and you will never have to guess.

Two sentences, one word apart. 'Arjun is one of the boys who play football.' 'Arjun is the only one of the boys who plays football.' In the first, several boys play football, and Arjun is among them. In the second, only Arjun plays - the other boys do something else. Now read the first with 'plays': 'Arjun is one of the boys who plays football.' Many people would say it exactly like that and mean exactly the same thing as the first sentence. That is why this is a usage question. But notice that the second sentence could never take 'play' - there is no group of players for the clause to describe. 'The only' closes the door on the plural.

This section keys 'one of the ... who are' as the traditional, formal form and never marks 'one of the ... who is' wrong without a stem that names formal or traditional grammar. Usage guides differ, and a teacher or exam board may have a stated preference; follow it where it is stated. 'The only one of the ... who' is singular in every style, and the main verb agrees with 'one' in every style.

1. In 'one of the ... who' sentences, run the Agreement Test on both verbs.
2. Ask who the clause describes: the group, or one person.
3. For formal writing, make the clause verb plural after 'one of the ... who': 'one of the students who are'.
4. After 'the only one of the ... who', always make the clause verb singular.
5. Keep the main verb agreeing with 'one' or with the name in front of 'is'.
6. Turn the sentence around to check: 'Of the students who are early, Riya is one.'
7. Do not mark 'one of the ... who is' wrong in someone else's informal writing.

• Riya is one of the students who are always early.
• Kabir is the only one of the students who has finished the project.
• One of the students who are on the council is leaving.
• This is one of those books that make you laugh out loud.
• Lily is one of the few players who have scored twice this season.
• Kwame is the one person in his family who speaks four languages.

• Anjali's town is one of the towns that have banned plastic bags.
• Vikram is one of those people who never give up.
• One of the reasons that matter most is the cost.
• Tom is the only one of my friends who likes jazz.
• Hers was one of the essays that were read aloud in assembly.
• Min-jun is one of the drivers who know every street in Seoul.

Titles, names and -ics words

The Agreement Test's third step - count - means counting what the subject names. Find the verb, find its true subject, then count the thing, not the letters.

• 📖 titles and place names - one thing, so singular
• 🔬 -ics as a field - singular: physics is, economics is
• 💬 -ics as views, figures or qualities - plural: his politics are, the statistics are

Team and company names are where English allows a choice.

The plural pictures the players; the singular pictures the team as one unit - the same choice as with 'team' and 'family' in S17.

Picture every title and place name inside a frame on a wall. 'Great Expectations', 'The Philippines', 'Mathematics' - each frame holds one thing, and a frame counts as one however many letters are painted inside it. -ics words are the only frames that can open: 'politics' as a career is one closed frame; 'his politics' opens to show a whole set of views.

Other words that look plural but take a singular verb are easy to add to the same frame. 'The news is good' (from Practice). 'Measles is a serious illness.' 'Billiards is played on a table.' And names of organisations: 'The United Nations is meeting today.' Each names one thing - an event, an illness, a game, an organisation - even though its last letter is -s.

Here is where the frame needs care. -ics words need you to read their meaning in the sentence. 'Statistics is a branch of mathematics' - the field, singular. 'The statistics are alarming' - the figures, plural. 'Economics is my best subject' - the subject, singular. 'The economics of the plan do not work' - the costs and returns, usually plural, though some writers use the singular here too. Ask: is this one field, or a set of things? Team names split by the kind of name and the variety of English. A singular place name used for a team - India, England, Chelsea - can take either verb, with the plural more usual in British and Indian English. A name that is plural in form - Mumbai Indians, the Chicago Bulls - usually takes a plural verb everywhere. Company names follow the same split in British English ('Tata Motors has' or 'Tata Motors have'), though business writing mostly uses the singular. And a title can refer to more than the work. 'The Chronicles of Narnia' is a series title, but 'The Chronicles of Narnia are seven books' counts the books, not the title. When a writer is clearly counting the parts, a plural verb can follow the meaning.

Two sentences from one politics teacher, on one day. 'Politics is a hard career.' 'His politics are much more conservative than his sister's.' Same word, same spelling, and both verbs are right. In the first, 'politics' is a field - one career, like medicine or law. In the second, it means a person's political opinions - his views on tax, on schools, on the environment. Several views, plural verb. The word did not change. What it named did. And the verb, as always, counted what was named.

Usage with -ics words is not perfectly fixed. 'The economics of the plan is/are' and 'His politics is/are' both appear in print, though the plural is usual when the word means views, figures or qualities. Team names allow both verbs in standard English. This section keys only clear cases: titles and single place names as singular, -ics subjects and fields as singular, -ics sets of figures or qualities as plural, and it never keys a team plural as wrong.

1. Run the Agreement Test and count what the subject names, not its spelling.
2. Titles of books, films and songs take a singular verb: ''Little Women' is'.
3. Place names that look plural take a singular verb: 'The Philippines is', 'The Netherlands is'.
4. -ics words as a subject or field take a singular verb: 'Physics is', 'Politics is a hard career'.
5. -ics words meaning views, figures or qualities take a plural verb: 'His politics are', 'The statistics are'.
6. With team names, use the plural or the singular consistently; both are standard.
7. Do not mark 'England are batting' wrong unless an American style has been asked for.

• 'Great Expectations' is the novel Ananya is reading this term.
• Mathematics is Rohit's favourite subject.
• The Philippines is made up of thousands of islands, Maya's atlas says.
• Economics is harder than Harry expected.
• Grandad's politics are more conservative than Mum's.
• The acoustics in the new concert hall in Lagos are superb, Tunde says.

• 'The Jungle Book' was Aarav's first favourite film.
• Politics is a hard career, Nisha's aunt says.
• India are batting first, says the commentator on Kiran's radio.
• The statistics in Oliver's report are alarming.
• Statistics is Freya's favourite part of maths.
• The Netherlands is where Sven's grandparents live.

When the subject is a clause

Run the Agreement Test as usual - find the verb, find its true subject, then count. Step two changes: the true subject may be a whole phrase or clause, and step three counts it as one.

• ✅ one activity, aim or fact - singular
• ➕ two activities joined by and - plural
• ⚖ what-clause before a plural - either verb

Plural nouns inside a clause subject are the main trap, exactly as in long subjects.

Cut each subject to its first word - Learning, Taking, To visit, Whether - and the verb is easy.

Picture each clause subject packed into one box with a label on the lid: RUNNING, TO WIN, WHETHER WE GO. Whatever is packed inside - languages, photos, museums - it is still one box, and one box takes 'is'. Two boxes tied together with 'and' are two: 'Swimming and cycling are'. The what-box is the odd one: its lid can read 'the thing' or 'the things', and the verb follows the lid you read.

The same singular appears when the subject is a quotation or a word talked about as a word. ''Thank you' is often enough.' ''Children' is an irregular plural.' The subject is one saying or one word, so the verb is singular, whatever the words inside the quotation marks look like. It is the frame from the last section, applied to language itself.

Here is where clause subjects need judgement. Two -ing phrases joined by 'and' are usually plural, but not always. 'Swimming and cycling are good exercise' - two activities. But if the two make one routine, a singular can follow the meaning: 'Washing and drying the dishes is my job after dinner' treats the whole chore as one. Both readings exist; the plural is the safer default unless the sentence makes the single job clear. What-clauses depend on what follows. 'What worries Mum is the cost' - singular noun after the verb, singular verb. 'What we need is/are more volunteers' - plural noun after the verb, both verbs used. And the verb inside the what-clause agrees with its own subject: 'What worries Mum' - 'worries' agrees with 'what'; 'What we need' - 'need' agrees with 'we'. A that-clause subject is often moved to the end, with 'it' in its place. 'That the exam was postponed surprises nobody' becomes 'It surprises nobody that the exam was postponed.' The verb agrees with 'it' - still singular. So the default is simple: a clause or -ing subject is one thing. The judgement is only at the edges - two activities, and what-clauses before a plural - and at those edges, English gives you more than one right answer.

Two sentences from Mrs Nair's staff meeting notes. 'What we need is a new plan.' 'What we need are more volunteers.' The first is singular because only a singular fits: one plan. The second puzzled a student who was checking the notes. Surely it should be 'is', she asked, since 'What we need' is one clause? Mrs Nair smiled. She could have written 'is', she said, and many people would. But she had been thinking of the volunteers - the people the school needs - and they are plural. She was right, and so was the student. This is one of the few places where a subject can be read two ways and English lets both readings through. The skill is not picking the 'correct' one; it is knowing that the choice exists and keeping it consistent.

Usage guides differ on what-clauses before a plural complement: some recommend the singular in formal writing, many accept both, and the plural is common in edited prose. This section never keys either as wrong. Two coordinated -ing subjects are keyed plural only where they clearly name two activities. The -ing and to-infinitive subjects keyed singular here are the standard pattern in every variety of English.

1. Run the Agreement Test and underline the whole subject when it starts with an -ing word, 'to', 'that', 'whether' or 'what'.
2. Treat an -ing phrase, to-infinitive, that-clause or whether-clause as one thing: singular verb.
3. Ignore plural nouns inside the subject; cut it to its first word to check.
4. Two -ing subjects joined by 'and': plural, unless the sentence clearly means one combined job.
5. What-clause + singular noun after the verb: singular.
6. What-clause + plural noun after the verb: 'is' or 'are'; choose and stay consistent.
7. Check the verb inside the what-clause too: 'What worries Mum', 'What we need'.

• Running in the morning helps Kavya think clearly.
• To win the inter-school quiz is Arjun's dream.
• What we need is more volunteers, says Mrs Nair.
• Swimming and cycling are Jack's two favourite sports.
• Whether we go to the beach depends on the weather, Ella says.
• Learning new languages makes Yuki happy.

• Reading comics was how Dev learned English.
• Cleaning the windows and washing the car take all of Sunday morning at Priya's house.
• That the exam was postponed surprises nobody in Ravi's class.
• What worries Mum is the cost of the trip.
• Taking photos of the birds in the garden is Grace's new hobby.
• Seeing the pyramids at sunrise was the best part of Amira's trip.

Singular "they"

The Agreement Test works here in two places - find the verb, find its true subject, then count. When the subject is 'they', step three is fixed: 'they' takes the plain plural forms, however many people it means.

• 👥 'they' + are, were, have, do - always
• ☝ the word before it keeps its own verb - 'Someone has ... they are'
• 💬 compare 'you' - one person or many, always 'you are'

Many sentences with singular 'they' contain two subjects and two verbs. Each verb agrees with its own subject.

The trap is carrying one verb's number across to the other: 'Someone have left' or 'they is coming'. Keep the two apart.

Picture 'they' and 'you' as two pronouns that wear the same uniform - the plural verb - whatever size of group they stand for. One person, or thirty: the uniform does not change. The word they point back to - someone, a student, every player - wears its own singular uniform. Two subjects, two uniforms, side by side in one sentence.

Question tags follow the same rule. 'Everyone is here, aren't they?' The tag uses 'they', so it takes 'aren't', even though 'everyone' took 'is'. 'Somebody has called, haven't they?' 'Has' agrees with 'somebody'; the tag 'haven't they' agrees with 'they'. The pattern is the same as in every sentence in this section: two subjects, two verbs, each agreeing with its own.

Here is where singular 'they' needs a little care. It is used in two ways. The older use is for one person whose gender is unknown or not important: 'someone', 'a student', 'the winner', 'whoever calls'. The newer use is for a known person who uses 'they' as their own pronoun: 'My friend Alex is in the band, and they are the best drummer we have.' In both uses the verb is the same: 'they are'. Sometimes the sentence around 'they' has a singular noun after the verb. 'They are the best drummer in the band.' The verb is plural - it agrees with 'they' - even though 'drummer' is singular. That can look odd at first, but it is the same as 'You are the best drummer in the band' said to one person. Sometimes it is not clear whether 'they' means one person or several. 'The winners said they were surprised' - several. 'The winner said they were surprised' - one. The verb is 'were' either way, so the agreement never depends on which you mean. Only the meaning does. And style guides have their own positions on when to use singular 'they', which the pronoun chapter covers. What they agree on is the verb. No major guide recommends 'they is'.

Two messages, left on the same phone. 'Hi, it's Mum. Your cousins have arrived - they are waiting at the gate.' 'Hi, someone from the clinic called. They are ringing back at six.' In the first, 'they' means the cousins at the gate - several. In the second, it means one receptionist whose name nobody caught. Now look at the verb. 'They are' both times. The number of people changed; the verb did not. That is the whole of singular 'they' for this chapter. The meaning can be one or many. The agreement is always plural.

This section does not ask whether 'they', 'he or she', or another pronoun is the better choice; that belongs to the pronoun chapter, and style guides differ on it. The one point here - that 'they' takes are, were, have and do, and never is, was, has or does - holds across standard English. Some regional dialects use 'they was' for plural 'they' as well; that is a dialect pattern, covered in the next section, not a feature of singular 'they'.

1. Run the Agreement Test on every verb near 'they' - there are usually two subjects.
2. After 'they', always use are, were, have, do - whether 'they' means one person or many.
3. Never write 'they is', 'they was', 'they has' or 'they doesn't'.
4. Keep the singular verb for the word 'they' refers back to: 'Someone has ... they are'.
5. In question tags, match the tag to 'they': 'Everyone is here, aren't they?'
6. If 'they are' followed by a singular noun looks odd, compare 'you are the best drummer'.
7. Leave the choice of pronoun to the pronoun chapter; here, only the verb matters.

• Someone has left their bag in the lab - they are probably coming back for it.
• If a student needs help, they are welcome to ask Mr Menon.
• Each passenger on Neel's bus has a ticket, and they have to show it.
• Lucy's friend Alex goes by they, and they are the best drummer in the band.
• Somebody was at the door, but they were gone by the time Tom got there.
• When a customer calls, they are asked for their order number, Lina explains.

• The winner hasn't been named yet, but they are from Kerala.
• Anyone who wants to join knows where we meet; they don't need to ask.
• The new teacher arrives on Monday, and they have taught in Delhi for years.
• You are my best friend, Sam.
• Every player on Mia's team knows they were lucky today.
• A caller left a message for Kenji; they say they will ring again.

Agreement in speech and dialect

The Agreement Test describes standard written English - find the verb, find its true subject, then count. Dialects run the same kind of test with different results, and a writer needs to know both.

• 💬 dialogue - use the form the character would really use
• 📝 exams, reports, formal letters - use the standard written form
• 🤝 other people's speech - describe it; never mock it

Dialect agreement is not random. Each pattern follows its own regular rule.

Some of these were once common in writing too. 'You was' appears in many eighteenth-century letters, before grammar books settled on 'you were' for the standard.

Picture English as a big house with many rooms. In the kitchen, family speak the way they always have: 'We was just saying ...'. In the front office, where visitors fill in forms, everyone uses the standard: 'We were just saying ...'. Nobody in the kitchen is wrong, and nobody in the office is showing off. A good writer can walk between the rooms, and knows which room each piece of writing belongs in.

Indian English shows a different kind of pattern. Nouns that are uncountable in standard British and American English - furniture, information, advice, equipment, luggage - are often counted: 'furnitures', 'informations', 'advices'. The verb then agrees with the plural, perfectly logically: 'The furnitures are new.' In standard written English, and in exams, these nouns are uncountable and take a singular verb: 'The furniture is new', 'The information is attached'.

Here is where dialect and standard need judgement. Some patterns sit in between. 'There's' + plural is used so widely in speech that it is hard to call it a dialect; it is closer to a feature of casual English everywhere. Most usage guides describe it as informal rather than wrong. In formal writing, 'there are' is expected. This section keys 'there's three' as non-standard only when the question names formal or written English. Some patterns belong to whole varieties. Indian English 'furnitures' is used by educated speakers and appears in Indian newspapers and signs. It is a feature of a variety, not a slip. But an international exam or an employer abroad will expect 'furniture is', so knowing the standard form is still useful. And writing dialect well takes restraint. A writer who spells every word of a character's speech to show an accent can make it hard to read, and can tip into caricature. Most good writers choose one or two features - 'we was', 'he don't' - and let them carry the voice. The aim is to show a real person, not to make fun of one. So the question is always the reader and the purpose. For an exam, standard. For a character, their own voice. For another person's speech, respect.

Chen is sixteen, and she speaks two ways in one afternoon. At lunch, to her friends: 'There's three reasons I'm not doing the trip - it's expensive, it's in exam week, and there's no way Mum's saying yes.' In her English exam, an hour later: 'There are three reasons why the writer's argument is persuasive.' Is Chen making a mistake at lunch? No. She is speaking the way almost everyone speaks at lunch. Is she showing off in the exam? No. She is writing the way the exam reader expects. She has not forgotten a rule and remembered it an hour later. She has changed rooms - and that switch is one of the most useful skills in language.

Descriptions of which dialects use which forms are general, not complete; many forms are found in several varieties, and individuals vary. This section keys a dialect form as non-standard only when the stem names standard, formal or written English, and never presents dialect forms as errors in dialogue. 'There's' + plural is described as informal speech, not keyed wrong in casual contexts.

1. Run the Agreement Test for standard written English in exams, reports and formal letters.
2. In formal writing, use 'there are' + plural, 'he doesn't', 'we were', and uncountable 'furniture is'.
3. In dialogue, use the forms the character would really use.
4. Keep a character's dialect consistent from start to finish.
5. Choose one or two dialect features to carry a voice; do not spell out every sound.
6. Describe other people's agreement patterns; never mock them.
7. When you give feedback, put the standard form beside the dialect form, not in place of the speaker's voice.

• There's three buses to Mysore every morning, Raju tells the tourists.
• All the furnitures in the new flat are from Priya's uncle's shop.
• Where's my keys? Rahul shouts from upstairs.
• He don't care what anyone thinks, says Jack's grandad.
• We was only kids when the river flooded, Nan remembers.
• There are three reasons, Chen writes in her exam, though she says there's three to her friends.

• Neha writes that all the furniture is new in her formal letter to the landlord.
• Here's the tickets, Vikram says, handing over two.
• The advices Sunita's aunt gives are always useful.
• I says to him, stop right there - that is how Grandad's stories start.
• She don't live here any more, the neighbour tells Emily.
• You was right all along, says the fisherman in Mateo's story, and Mateo keeps it that way.

Agreement in formal writing

In formal writing the Agreement Test is the same - find the verb, find its true subject, then count - but step three needs to know which borrowed words are singular and which are plural.

• 📚 criteria, phenomena, bacteria, analyses - plural
• ⚖ data, media - either verb; 'are' is more formal for data
• 🔁 whatever you choose - keep it the same all the way through

'The majority of' works like the quantifiers in S22: it usually follows the noun after 'of'.

Picture a shelf of borrowed words, each with a label. 'Criteria', 'phenomena', 'bacteria' have their singular twins sitting beside them - criterion, phenomenon, bacterium - so their labels still say PLURAL. 'Data' and 'media' lost their twins long ago; their labels have been rewritten as EITHER. When you take a word off the shelf, read the label - and once you have chosen, keep the same label all the way through.

Other borrowed words follow the same pattern. 'Thesis, theses'; 'hypothesis, hypotheses'; 'crisis, crises'; 'nucleus, nuclei'; 'alumnus, alumni'. The -is words become -es, and many -us words become -i. Some borrowed plurals now have English forms too: 'formulae' and 'formulas', 'appendices' and 'appendixes' are both standard. In each case the verb follows the form you use: 'the formulae are', 'this formula is'.

Here is where formal agreement needs judgement. 'Data' is the classic both-standard case. As a plural ('the data are'), it treats the information as many separate measurements. As a mass noun ('the data is'), it treats it as one body of information, like 'information' or 'evidence'. Many scientific journals and science teachers use the plural; much other writing, including technical writing, uses the singular. Neither is keyed wrong in this chapter. 'Media' is similar. 'The media are divided' pictures many newspapers and channels; 'the media is powerful' pictures one institution. Both are used. Careful writers still use 'medium' for one channel: 'Radio is a medium that ...'. 'The majority of' + plural usually takes a plural verb: 'The majority of voters are in favour.' Some writers use the singular when they picture the majority as a single bloc, and without 'of' the singular is normal: 'The majority was large.' The plural after 'of' + plural is the safe choice in formal writing. And 'criteria' and 'phenomena' are moving slowly too - 'this criteria' and 'a phenomena' turn up in speech. But in formal writing they are still read as errors, so keep them plural. So the shelf has three kinds of label: firmly plural, either, and follow-the-noun. The skill is reading the label, choosing where you can, and staying consistent.

A school science fair has a rule sheet. 'The criteria for judging are listed below. The most important criterion is originality.' A student entering the fair writes in her report: 'The data are clear. The majority of plants in the sunny tray grew faster. This data suggests that light matters most.' Her teacher circles one word. Not 'are', not 'majority', not 'grew'. She circles 'This'. 'This data suggests' and 'The data are' are both standard on their own. Put together in one report, they make the reader wonder whether 'data' is one thing or many. The student had every form right and still needed an edit - because the rule she broke was consistency.

Style guides differ on 'data' and 'media': many scientific journals prefer 'data are', while many news and general publishers accept or prefer 'data is'. Follow a style guide when one is given. This section never keys either form of 'data' or 'media' as wrong. 'Criteria', 'phenomena' and 'bacteria' are keyed plural because careful formal writing treats them so, while noting that singular use turns up in informal speech.

1. Run the Agreement Test and check whether a borrowed subject is singular or plural.
2. Criteria, phenomena, bacteria, analyses: plural verbs. Criterion, phenomenon, bacterium, analysis: singular.
3. Never add -s to a plural that is already plural: not 'criterias'.
4. Data and media: choose 'is' or 'are'; 'data are' is more formal and common in science.
5. Follow a style guide's choice when one is given.
6. The majority of + plural noun: plural verb, in formal writing.
7. Whatever you choose, use it consistently from the first page to the last.

• The data from Dr Kulkarni's survey are available online.
• The criteria for the scholarship are listed on page two.
• The majority of students in Meena's school travel by bus.
• The data is clear, Oliver says in his report.
• This phenomenon has puzzled scientists, and similar phenomena are found in caves.
• The media are divided on the issue, Ingrid notes.

• Bacteria are everywhere, but this bacterium is harmless, Dr Rao explains.
• The main criterion is originality, Farah reads in the rules.
• Each of the analyses in Vivek's project shows a similar result.
• The media has changed a great deal since Jack's grandfather was young.
• The findings of Charlotte's study are summarised below.
• The majority of the survey's respondents were under thirty, Kofi's report says.

Edit for a real reader

The Agreement Test is the editor's tool on every line: find the verb, find its true subject, then count. Each check from Craft names a place where the test needs extra care.

• ✅ fix - the verb does not agree with its true subject
• 🔁 make consistent - two standard forms mixed in one piece
• ✋ keep - already standard, a both-standard choice, or someone's quoted words

The keeps matter as much as the fixes. Each of these looks like a slip to an editor working by rule, and each is right.

Picture the report as a row of lamps, one per verb. The Agreement Test is a switch you press under each lamp: it lights green when the verb matches its true subject. Seven lamps flicker red - fix them. One pair of lamps glows two different colours of green - make them match. And some lamps glow a green you did not expect - 'none ... were', 'who are', a student's 'there's' - and an editor who knows the rules leaves those alone.

The same judgement applies when you edit someone else's writing and when you edit your own - but your own is harder, because you read what you meant rather than what you wrote. Professional editors read their own drafts slowly, or aloud, or backwards sentence by sentence, to hear each verb fresh. For agreement, the fastest slow read is this: underline every verb that can show agreement, and draw its arrow back to the head.

Here is where editing for agreement needs judgement. Some decisions depend on house style. If Mr Pillai's school has a style sheet that asks for 'none ... is' or 'data is', the editor follows it. Without one, the council's own choices stand, as long as they are consistent. An editor should know the difference between 'wrong' and 'not what I would have written'. Some edits have more than one right answer. 'This data suggests' can become 'These data suggest', to match 'The data are'. Or 'The data are clear' can become 'The data is clear', to match 'This data suggests'. Either makes the report consistent. The better choice here is probably the formal plural, because the report is going to a principal - but both are defensible, and the editor should be able to say so. Some slips have two possible fixes, and one is better. 'A number of students has asked' could become 'A number of students have asked' or 'The number of students who have asked has grown'. The second changes the meaning. The first fixes the verb and keeps the council's point. And some sentences are right in one context and wrong in another. 'There's never enough chairs' is right as a quotation and would be an edit in the council's own voice. The question every time is the one Craft has asked all along: what does this reader expect, and does this verb, in this place, give it to them?

Two classmates edited the council's report. Editor A changed fourteen verbs. She caught all seven slips. She also changed 'None of the students were' to 'was', 'who are on the committee' to 'who is', 'There's never enough chairs' to 'There are', 'The data are' to 'The data is', 'The majority of students want' to 'wants', 'Half of the food is' to 'are', and 'This data suggests' to 'This data suggest'. Editor B made eight edits. She caught all seven slips, turned 'This data suggests' into 'These data suggest' to match page one, and left everything else alone - with a note beside each keep saying why. Editor A worked harder. Her version has two new errors in it ('are' and 'This data suggest'), a changed quotation, and four standard choices swapped for others ('was', 'who is', 'The data is', 'wants'). Editor B edited.

The keeps in this report depend on the both-standard rules taught in Craft; a school with a stated house style might change one or two, and a good editor would say which and why. Quotations are kept as spoken in reports; in some kinds of writing, such as a summary, an editor might paraphrase instead. The seven fixes are agreement slips in standard written English under any common style.

1. Run the Agreement Test on every verb that can show agreement - underline it and draw its arrow back to the head.
2. Check the Craft danger spots: long subjects, quantifiers, a number / the number, 'one of those who', titles and -ics words, clause subjects, singular 'they', formal plurals.
3. Fix a verb only when you can name its true subject and the count.
4. Keep both-standard choices - none is/are, data is/are, one of those who are - unless a house style says otherwise.
5. Keep quotations as spoken.
6. Read the whole piece for consistency: one form of 'data', one form of 'none', throughout.
7. Leave a reason beside every keep as well as every fix.
8. Read the finished piece once as its reader, start to finish.

• The results of the survey that we ran in every class last month show a clear pattern.
• None of the students were happy with the queues.
• A number of students have asked for more vegetarian options.
• The number of complaints about prices is rising.
• Riya is one of the students who are on the canteen committee.
• The data are clear, and they show that the queues are the main problem.

• 'Healthy Eating for Teens' is the booklet we want every class to read.
• Eating lunch in five minutes is bad for digestion.
• If a student is late for lunch, they have to wait for the second sitting.
• 'There's never enough chairs,' one Class 7 student told us.
• The criteria for the new menu are listed below.
• The majority of students want a second counter.

Thinking like a writer · ages 16–19

What agreement is

The Agreement Test begins by finding a verb that can show agreement; this section explains why that list is so short.

• 🔍 count the forms: an ordinary verb has two in the present (walk, walks); 'be' has three in the present (am, is, are) and two in the past (was, were); 'can' has one
• 📎 notice that only the third-person singular breaks the pattern for ordinary verbs
• 📚 check only these verbs for agreement errors - the rest cannot go wrong

English did not always have so little. The table sets the Early Modern English present (the English of Shakespeare's plays and the King James Bible) beside the modern one.

So modern English agreement is a remnant: a few endings left from a larger system, which is why the Agreement Test only has a few verbs to check.

Picture a noticeboard with five name slots - I, you, he/she/it, we, they - and a peg under each for a verb's ending. In Early Modern English several pegs held different tags: -est under 'thou', -eth or -s under 'he'. Today the board is almost bare. Ordinary verbs hang one tag, -s, under 'he/she/it'. Only 'be' still hangs three tags - am, is, are - and two in the past. Modals hang nothing at all.

Once you know where agreement lives, you can predict where errors cluster. They gather around the few verbs that change - present verbs with third-person subjects, 'is/are', 'was/were', 'has/have', 'does/do' - and they gather when the true subject is hard to find or hard to count. The rest of the band studies those hard subjects: coordinated, quantified, collective and distant ones, and the reasons they pull the verb in more than one direction.

Here is a question that shows why 'agreement' is a relation, not just an ending. 'The committee has met.' / 'The committee have met.' The word 'committee' has not changed. It is third person and, in form, singular. Yet in British English both sentences are standard, and they mean slightly different things: the first treats the committee as one body, the second as its members acting together. So the verb is not simply copying the form of a word; it is recording how the writer counts the subject. That tells us something about the system. In most sentences form and meaning line up - 'The students have met' is plural in form and in meaning - so the verb seems to copy the noun. Only when the two part company, as with collective nouns, do we see that the verb can follow either one. Other languages make this even clearer. Some mark the subject's gender on the verb as well as its number; some mark the object; some mark nothing at all. English, with its tiny paradigm, shows just enough of the system to raise the question. The next section gives the question its standard names: grammatical concord, which follows form, and notional concord, which follows meaning.

The commonest verb in English is also the most irregular in exactly the place agreement lives. 'I am. You are. She is. We are. They are.' 'I was. You were. She was. We were. They were.' Every other verb has at most two present forms. 'Be' has three, and it is the only verb whose past tense changes with the subject. So a large share of all the agreement choices an English writer makes are choices about one verb. There is a second surprise. Standard English 'you' always takes the plural forms, even for one person, but many speakers have rebuilt a plural: 'you all', 'y'all', 'you guys', 'yous' and 'you people' all appear in different varieties. The old contrast between 'thou' and 'you' was lost, and speakers have repeatedly found new ways to mark 'more than one of you' - not on the verb this time, but on the pronoun.

This section describes standard modern English and simplifies its history. Early Modern English usage varied by writer, region and register; the claim that -s spread from northern dialects and replaced -eth is a common summary in histories of English, and no date is given here because the change was gradual and uneven. The King James Bible line is a short public-domain quotation. 'Agreement' and 'concord' are used as near-synonyms, as in most grammars. Dialect forms such as 'he walk' or 'she don't' are described in S28 and S39, never mocked.

1. Before checking agreement, ask whether the verb can show it at all: present verbs, am/is/are, was/were, has/have, does/do.
2. Leave modals and ordinary past forms alone - 'can', 'will', 'walked' have one form for every subject.
3. Mark agreement once: on the first verb in the phrase that can carry it ('She does not walk', not 'does not walks').
4. Treat 'you' as taking plural forms, whether it means one listener or many.
5. Use person and number to describe a subject precisely: 'third-person singular' is more exact than 'one'.
6. Quote older forms (thou art, he hath) accurately; call them older standard English, not mistakes.

• Priya walks to college every morning.
• I am the class monitor, Arjun.
• The twins were late, but Kavya was early.
• You are right, Emma, and so are they.
• Thou walkest with him, and he walketh alone.
• Amara can swim, and her brothers can swim too.

• Rohan does not eat meat.
• Meera has two sisters, and I have one.
• The results of the test are out, Salim.
• He hath a cold, and she has one too.
• Jack walked home, and his friends walked with him.
• Wanjiru is here, but her parents are still on the bus.

Grammatical and notional agreement

Step 3 of the Agreement Test says 'count it'; this section asks what exactly you are counting - the form, the meaning, or the nearest word.

• 🔍 read the form of the head word
• 📎 ask whether the writer means one thing or many
• 📚 notice when the nearest noun is doing the deciding - and whether that is allowed

Standard English does not let one principle always win. It lets each win in its own territory.

Picture the verb as a compass needle with three magnets around it. One magnet is the form of the head word. One is the idea of number in the writer's mind. One is the nearest noun. Usually all three sit in the same place and the needle points without a wobble. The hard cases are the sentences where the magnets separate - and standard English has rules about which magnet may pull the needle in which territory.

Once you can name the three principles, every later hard case in this band has a slot. Agreement attraction (S33) is proximity leaking out of its territory. Coordination (S34) is grammatical concord with 'and' versus notional concord for one idea. Quantifiers (S35) are notional concord guided by the noun after 'of'. Collectives across Englishes (S36) are the same notional choice resolved differently in different places.

Here is a sentence where two careful writers disagree, and both can cite a principle. 'Either my parents or my sister is coming to the match.' 'Either my sister or my parents are coming to the match.' Both follow proximity: the verb agrees with the nearer subject, as standard English expects with 'either...or'. Both are correct. But many readers find the first slightly awkward - 'parents...is' sits uneasily, even though the rule is being followed. That is grammatical concord pulling against proximity: the plural 'parents' is a strong signal, and a singular verb right after a subject containing it feels wrong to the ear. The usual editorial solution is not to argue about which principle is stronger. It is to reorder, putting the plural subject second, so all the pulls point the same way. Quirk et al.'s framework explains the discomfort; a good writer uses it to avoid the collision rather than to win it. The same move helps with 'Neither you nor I am', which follows proximity but sounds stiff to many readers. Rewriting ('You are not going, and nor am I') removes the problem. Naming the principle tells you why a correct sentence can still feel wrong - and gives you the reason to rewrite it.

A plural noun can take a singular verb, and a singular noun a plural one, in the same short paragraph - and both can be right. 'The United States is a federal republic. The police are investigating.' 'The United States' is plural in form - the 's' is right there - but it names one country, so notional concord gives 'is'. 'Police' has no plural ending at all, yet it is normally used with a plural verb in standard English: 'The police are', not 'The police is'. So form is no reliable guide in either direction. What unifies the two is meaning. One country; many officers. Quirk et al.'s term 'notional concord' is the name for exactly this: the verb follows the idea of number, and sometimes the idea contradicts the ending on the noun.

The three principles and their names come from Quirk et al., A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (1985); they are paraphrased here, not quoted. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Huddleston and Pullum, 2002) discusses the same facts in its own terms. The territories in the expanded table are a teaching summary: usage varies by variety and register, and many hard cases allow both forms. 'Police' is described as usually plural in standard English; informal singular uses exist.

1. When a verb looks wrong, name the principle it is following: form, meaning or nearness.
2. Follow grammatical concord with ordinary noun heads - the head word decides.
3. Use notional concord for amounts, titles and names: one sum, one book, one country.
4. With collectives, choose singular or plural by what you mean - and keep that choice through the passage.
5. With 'or' and 'nor', follow the nearer subject, and reorder to put a plural last if the result sounds awkward.
6. Outside 'or' and 'nor' (and a list after 'there is'), do not let proximity decide in formal writing.

• The box of mangoes is on the table, Nisha.
• Five hundred rupees is enough for the tickets.
• Neither Rahul nor his cousins were at the wedding.
• The committee have been arguing among themselves, Oliver.
• 'The Canterbury Tales' is on the reading list, Emily.
• The Philippines is an island nation, Miguel.

• The government has published its plan, Mr Rao.
• Either the students or Ms Iyer has the key.
• The police are questioning two witnesses in Pune.
• Two weeks have passed since Jack wrote.
• The family is moving to Leeds, and Harry is thrilled.
• Every one of the answers was correct, Ms Okafor.

Agreement attraction

Step 2 of the Agreement Test - skip the of-phrases and take the head word - is exactly the defence against attraction.

• 🔍 find the head: the noun the rest of the subject describes
• 📎 strip the phrase in between: 'The quality ... are poor'?
• 📚 read head plus verb aloud - the error becomes obvious

What the experimental work established, described in general terms.

Picture the head noun sending a signal down a wire to the verb: 'singular'. Every word between them is a length of wire. A plural noun along the wire is like a strong radio transmitter next to it - it can leak its own signal, 'plural', onto the line. The longer the wire and the stronger the transmitter, the likelier the verb receives the wrong message. The strip test cuts the wire short: head, then verb, nothing in between.

Attraction is proximity (S32) at work where standard English does not allow it. Knowing that it comes from sentence planning explains where to look: long subjects, plural nouns just before the verb, and anything written fast. The next sections study subjects where the head itself is disputed - coordinated subjects (S34) and quantifiers (S35) - where stripping to one head word is not enough and meaning must decide.

Here is a sentence where the strip test seems to give the wrong answer. 'A number of the proposals were rejected.' Strip to the head and you get 'A number ... were'. The head word 'number' is singular in form - so is 'were' an attraction error? No. 'A number of' works as a quantifier meaning 'several' or 'many', and standard English treats the whole phrase as plural in meaning. Notional concord (S32) wins, and 'were' is correct. Compare 'The number of proposals was small', where 'the number' means the figure itself and takes a singular verb. So the strip test has a boundary. It works when the head is an ordinary noun - key, cost, quality, bridge, list. It must be adjusted when the first noun is really a quantity word - a number of, a lot of, a majority of - because those often pass the count on to the noun after 'of'. A Master editor therefore asks two questions, not one. First: what is the head? Second: is the head an ordinary noun that decides the count, or a quantity word that hands the count on? Only the first kind makes a plural verb after it an attraction error. S35 takes the second kind in detail.

The error is common enough that it shows up in careful professional writing - style guides and usage books warn against it for exactly that reason. 'The results of the survey that the council ran last year shows a clear preference.' Here the attraction runs the other way. The head, 'results', is plural. The nearest noun, 'year', is singular - and so are 'survey' and 'council'. Three singular nouns sit between the head and the verb, and the verb has drifted to 'shows'. Bock and Miller's finding predicts that this direction is rarer than the plural-attractor one, and it is. But 'rarer' is not 'never'. With a long enough subject and enough singular nouns in between, the head's signal can still be lost. The fix is the same: 'The results ... show'.

Bock and Miller (1991) is named as the classic study of attraction in speech production; its findings are described in general terms and no figures are given. The claims about reading and about the marked plural are summarised from later research without naming specific papers, and are presented as findings and proposals, not settled facts. The strip test is a teaching method, not a research result. 'A number of' and similar quantifiers are discussed in S35.

1. For every long subject, strip to the head and read head plus verb aloud.
2. Check hardest when the head is singular and a plural noun sits just before the verb.
3. Treat any preposition phrase or who-clause between head and verb as a possible attractor, not only 'of'.
4. Before stripping, ask whether the first noun is a quantity word (a number of, a lot of) that passes the count on.
5. Do not over-correct: a plural head with a singular noun in between still takes a plural verb.
6. Proofread agreement as a separate pass; attraction errors slip past readers who are reading for meaning.

• The price of the new textbooks is too high, Ankit.
• The road to the villages was washed away in July.
• The girl who sings with the twins is my cousin Fatima.
• The label on the jars has faded, Emily.
• The keys to the shed are on the hook, Jack.
• The cost of the repairs was covered by the insurer, Kofi.

• The list of absentees is on the notice board, Priya.
• A number of the applicants were from Kerala.
• The teacher of the three sections has resigned, Arjun.
• The results of the survey that the council ran show a clear preference.
• The bridge between the two towns has been closed, Oliver.
• The number of entries was smaller than expected, Chen.

Coordination and agreement

Step 3 of the Agreement Test lists 'and' and 'or/nor' as special cases to check; here is what each connector does to the count.

• 🔍 ask whether 'and' adds two things or names one
• 📎 check for 'each' or 'every' in front
• 📚 let the nearer subject decide after 'or' and 'nor' - and reorder if it sounds awkward

The hardest cases are those where 'or' or 'nor' joins subjects that differ in person, not just in number.

'As well as', 'along with' and 'together with' are not coordinators here; they do not add to the subject (S12). 'And' does.

Picture 'and' as a plus sign, 'or' as a fork in the road, and 'not' as a crossing-out. A plus sign makes two - unless the two are glued into one thing, like a dish or a single person with two titles. A fork means the verb only travels one path, and it takes the nearer one. A crossing-out removes a noun from the count, leaving only the one still standing. 'Each' and 'every' put a turnstile in front: the nouns pass through one at a time.

Coordination shows the three principles at close quarters: 'and' is grammatical concord, one idea is notional concord, 'or' is proximity. The next section moves from coordinated subjects to quantified ones - 'a lot of', 'the majority of', 'a pair of', 'more than one' - where the first noun is a quantity word and the count often passes to the noun after 'of'.

Here is a coordinated subject where both verbs can be defended. 'The chairman and managing director has resigned.' 'The chairman and managing director have resigned.' If one person holds both titles, the singular is right: one determiner, 'the', introduces a single person with two roles. If two people hold the two posts, the plural is right - though a careful writer would signal it with a second 'the': 'The chairman and the managing director have resigned'. So the verb here does more than agree. It tells the reader how many people there are. A newspaper that writes 'has' has told you it is one person; 'have' says two. The same holds for 'My friend and colleague is' versus 'My friend and colleague are', where the plural suggests two people and invites confusion. The Master move is to see that the determiner and the verb work as a pair. One determiner with a singular verb means one referent. Two determiners with a plural verb mean two. One determiner with a plural verb is the ambiguous case; if you mean two, add the second determiner, and the verb's choice will no longer have to carry the meaning alone.

A fixed pair can take a singular verb even when one half is plural. 'Fish and chips is a favourite British takeaway.' 'Bangers and mash is on the menu.' 'Chips' and 'bangers' are plural, and each dish is named with 'and', yet the verb is singular: the diner orders one plate, and notional concord follows the plate. Split the dish into its parts - 'The fish and the chips are both cold' - and the plural returns. Indian English has the same pattern with its own dishes: 'Rajma chawal is my Sunday lunch', 'Idli and sambar is the canteen's best seller'. The grammar is not local; the menu is. Any language user who names a dish, a firm or an idea by joining two nouns relies on notional concord to keep the pair together as one thing.

The nearer-subject rule for 'or' and 'nor' and the advice to rewrite awkward cases reflect common usage-guide practice and the description in Quirk et al. (1985), paraphrased here. With 'not only...but also', the nearer subject usually decides, but writers often rewrite to avoid the choice. Whether a coordinated pair names 'one idea' is partly the writer's judgement; 'bread and butter' can be one food or two things, and the verb shows which is meant.

1. Treat 'and' as plural unless the pair names one thing, one dish, one idea or one person.
2. Use one determiner for one person with two roles ('my friend and colleague is'), two for two people ('my friend and my colleague are').
3. With 'each' or 'every' before coordinated nouns, use a singular verb.
4. After 'or', 'either...or' and 'neither...nor', let the nearer subject decide person and number.
5. When the nearer-subject verb sounds awkward, rewrite: put the plural last, or split the sentence.
6. Leave a phrase set off with 'and not' or 'not' out of the count.

• Rajma chawal is Rohit's Sunday lunch.
• My friend and mentor, Dr Rao, is retiring this year.
• Neither Meera nor her brothers were at the wedding.
• Every door and every window was checked, Harry.
• Either you or Emma is giving the vote of thanks.
• Kofi, and not his sisters, has the house keys.

• Idli and sambar is the canteen's best seller, Ananya.
• The captain and the vice-captain are meeting the press.
• Either the students or the teacher has the answer key.
• Neither the coach nor the players are ready, Jack.
• Each student and each teacher has a vote, Olivia.
• Not only the players but also the coach was delighted, Diego.

Quantifiers and partitives

Step 2 of the Agreement Test takes the head word; with quantity words, step 3 must then ask whether that head passes the count on or keeps it.

• 🔍 identify the quantity word at the front
• 📎 decide whether it passes the count on or keeps it
• 📚 leave both-standard cases alone - and be consistent

Some quantity subjects are genuinely divided in careful usage. The table records where, rather than pretending there is one answer.

Picture each quantity word as a sign at a junction. 'A lot of' and 'the majority of' are arrows pointing forward: go on to the noun after 'of' and count that. 'A pair of' and 'a series of' are stop signs: count here - one pair, one series. 'More than one' is a sign that says 'one' in large letters: whatever it means, the verb reads the word. And a few signs - 'one in three', 'a majority of' - show both arrows, and either road is open.

Quantity words are the second place where notional concord and grammatical concord meet head-on, after collectives. 'The majority' alone behaves like a collective noun, which is exactly where the next section goes: collectives across Englishes, where British, American, Australian and Indian writers resolve the same singular-or-plural choice differently.

Here is a pair that looks inconsistent and is not. 'More than one student has asked.' 'Fewer than two students have asked.' The first means at least two; the second means at most one. Yet the first takes a singular verb and the second a plural. If agreement followed meaning alone, the verbs would be the other way round. The explanation is that with these quantity phrases, grammatical concord follows the noun actually written, and the noun is decided by the number word next to it. 'One' takes a singular noun, 'student', and 'student' takes 'has'. 'Two' takes a plural noun, 'students', and 'students' takes 'have'. The meaning of the whole phrase - 'at least two', 'at most one' - never reaches the verb. Compare 'One in three people say', where the meaning does reach the verb in much careful writing, and the singular also occurs. The difference is that 'one in three people' has a plural noun, 'people', for the meaning to attach to, while 'more than one student' does not. A Master answer notices which noun is written after the number, because that is what the verb can see.

A single word can flip the verb twice in one sentence. 'A lot of the cake is left, but a lot of the biscuits are gone.' The quantity word is the same - 'a lot of' - and so is its form. The verbs differ because 'a lot of' is transparent: it lets the count through to the noun behind it. 'Cake' here is treated as a mass, so 'is'; 'biscuits' is plural, so 'are'. The same transparency explains 'Lots of water is wasted'. The word 'lots' carries a plural -s, yet the verb is singular, because 'lots' is not the head that decides - 'water' is. It is one of the clearest cases in English of form being overruled: a plural ending on the first word of the subject, a singular verb, and usage guides agreeing that this is standard.

The behaviour of each quantity word is described from general usage and usage-guide practice, not from a single authority. 'One in three people say/says', 'a majority of + plural' and 'a series of' are presented as divided usage; neither verb is keyed wrong. 'A group of' and 'a number of' are related cases; 'a number of' and 'the number of' are covered in Craft S23. Uncountable nouns ('homework', 'water') are covered in Practice S18 and Chapter 1.

1. With 'a lot of', 'lots of', 'plenty of' and 'the majority of', let the noun after 'of' decide.
2. With 'a pair of' and usually 'a series of', count the pair or the series: singular.
3. With 'more than one', follow 'one' and use a singular verb.
4. With 'one in three people' and 'a majority of + plural', either verb is used; choose one and keep it through the piece.
5. Do not 'correct' a both-standard quantity sentence in someone else's writing.
6. When a quantity sentence sounds awkward either way, rewrite: 'A third of people say' or 'Several students have asked'.

• Lots of water is wasted in Chennai every summer.
• A lot of students have signed up for the trip, Kabir.
• A pair of scissors is missing from the art room.
• More than one student has asked about the fees, Mrs Clarke.
• The majority of voters are under forty, Ben.
• A series of talks is planned for March, Aiko.

• A lot of the cake is left, but a lot of the biscuits are gone.
• The majority of the budget has been spent, Mr Nair.
• One in three people say they read the news online.
• Two pairs of boots are drying by the fire, Tom.
• Plenty of room is left on the bus, Lucy.
• A series of delays has followed the storm, Mateo.

Collectives across Englishes

Step 3 of the Agreement Test flags collectives as a special case; the count depends on meaning, and the habit depends on the variety.

• 🔍 decide whether you mean the unit or its members
• 📎 consider your reader's variety
• 📚 keep every later verb and pronoun consistent with the choice

What can be said with confidence about each variety - and what cannot.

Picture a team photograph and a club badge. The badge is one thing - 'The club was founded in 1920', 'The team is top of the table'. The photograph shows eleven people - 'The team are all smiling'. British English lets you point at either the badge or the photograph with the same word. American English usually points at the badge and says 'the players' when it means the photograph. Either way, once you have pointed, keep pointing at the same thing.

The collective choice is English's clearest example of variation between varieties at the level of grammar, not vocabulary. The next section widens the view to other languages - Hindi, which marks gender on the verb and sometimes agrees with the object; Spanish and French, which mark every person; and Mandarin, which marks none - and to how those systems shape the way speakers of those languages learn English agreement.

Here is a sentence that cannot be fixed by choosing a variety. 'The jury has reached a verdict, but they have not agreed on the damages.' At first sight it breaks the consistency rule: 'has' treats the jury as one body, 'they have' as members. But read it again. The first clause reports something the jury did as a single body - a verdict is delivered by the whole jury. The second reports something the members failed to do together - agree among themselves. The shift in the verb tracks a real shift in meaning. So is it an error? Many editors would still revise it, because a reader sees the switch before seeing the reason. A cleaner version makes the shift explicit: 'The jury has reached a verdict, but its members have not agreed on the damages.' Now both clauses are consistent in form, and the plural has its own plural noun. The Master point is that the consistency rule serves the reader, and the reader needs a signal when the count changes. A new noun - 'its members', 'the players', 'the staff members' - is that signal. Switching the verb alone asks the reader to infer it.

Two newspapers writing the same headline in the same language can differ by one letter. A British headline: 'Manchester United are through to the final.' An American headline: 'Manchester United is through to the final.' The club, the match and the final are the same. The headlines differ because the two traditions point at different things with the club's name - the players, or the club. And note what does not vary: when a team's name is plural in form, both traditions use the plural. American writers say 'The Chicago Bulls are', and British writers say 'The Lions are touring'. So the variation is narrower than it first appears. It lives only where a name or noun is singular in form and plural in meaning - exactly the place notional concord operates. Everywhere else, the Englishes agree about agreement.

British and American patterns are described in general terms, as in most usage guides; individual writers and publications set their own house styles. Australian and Indian usage is described as varied because a firmer claim would be a generalisation without evidence; no survey or statistic is cited. The cricket example is illustrative. Pronoun choice ('its' or 'their') is touched on only for consistency; pronoun-antecedent agreement is Chapter 14.

1. Decide whether you mean the unit or its members, then choose the verb.
2. For an American readership, use the singular with collectives and place-named teams; for a British readership, either is standard.
3. When you mean the members and want to avoid any doubt, add a plural noun: 'the players', 'the staff members'.
4. Keep every later verb and pronoun consistent with the reading you chose first.
5. Do not 'correct' a collective verb that follows another variety's standard.
6. Treat 'police', 'people' and 'cattle' as plural in every variety.

• India are 245 for 3 at lunch on the second day.
• The school committee has approved its budget, Mrs Menon.
• The family are arguing about the wedding menu, Tanvi.
• England are batting, and they need ninety to win.
• The staff is small, but the staff members are loyal, Megan.
• The government has announced its new policy, Mr Tanaka.

• The police are questioning three witnesses in Lucknow.
• The jury has reached a verdict, but its members disagree about costs, Advocate Sharma.
• Our company was founded in 1998 in Bengaluru.
• Manchester United are through to the final, Callum.
• Manchester United is through to the final, Ashley.
• The Springboks are touring in November, Thabo.

Agreement across languages

The Agreement Test's step 3 counts person and number; other languages count different features, and some count none.

• 🔍 ask which features the verb marks
• 📎 ask which noun controls the marking
• 📚 ask whether the subject can be left out

Hindi's two patterns, side by side. (Romanisation is informal; MASC and FEM mark masculine and feminine forms.)

Picture each language's verb as a display panel with a few lights. English's panel has two lights - 'third-person singular' for the -s, and a small cluster for 'be'. Spanish has a light for every person and number, bright enough that you can read the subject off the panel and leave the pronoun out. Hindi's panel lights up for gender and number, and a switch labelled 'ne' rewires it to read the object instead. Mandarin's verb has no panel at all.

Comparing systems shows that 'agreement' is a family of possibilities: which features are marked (person, number, gender), which noun controls them (subject, object), and whether the controller must be said. English uses a small corner of that space. The next section returns to English and to exams - how agreement items are built, which traps they use, and which both-standard cases careful exams avoid.

Here is a pair of Hindi sentences that tests whether you have understood the controller. 'Ram ne Sita ko dekha.' (Ram NE Sita KO saw-MASC.SG) - Ram saw Sita. 'Ram ne roti khaayi.' (Ram NE roti ate-FEM.SG) - Ram ate the roti. In the second, the verb agrees with the object 'roti': feminine singular. So in the first, you might expect the verb to agree with the object 'Sita' and be feminine - 'dekhi'. It is not. It is 'dekha', masculine singular. The reason is the marker 'ko' after 'Sita'. In Hindi, the verb agrees with a noun that has no marker after it. In the first sentence, the subject has 'ne' and the object has 'ko', so neither is available, and the verb takes a default form - masculine singular. In the second, 'roti' has no marker, so the verb agrees with it. That is a precise, testable description, and it shows why 'agrees with the object' is only an approximation. The real rule is about which nouns are unmarked. English has no case markers on nouns to block agreement, so the question never arises: the English verb agrees with its subject, and the Agreement Test only has to find it.

In spoken French, most of the agreement you see on paper cannot be heard. 'Je parle. Tu parles. Il parle. Ils parlent.' Written, the verb has four different spellings. Spoken, all four sound the same - roughly 'parl'. The endings -e, -es and -ent are silent. Only 'nous parlons' and 'vous parlez' sound different. This is why French, unlike Spanish, does not normally drop its subject pronouns. In Spanish, 'hablo', 'hablas', 'habla' and 'hablan' all sound different, so the verb alone tells you who is speaking and 'yo' or 'ellos' can be left out. In spoken French, the verb alone often cannot tell you, so the pronoun has to stay. English is closer to French than it looks. 'I walk', 'you walk', 'we walk' and 'they walk' are identical, so English, too, must say its subjects. A language that marks little on the verb needs the subject in the sentence to show who is doing what.

Hindi examples use informal romanisation and are simplified: the full rules for 'ne', 'ko' and default agreement have more detail than shown, and Urdu shares these patterns. Spanish, French and Mandarin examples are simplified; Mandarin tones are omitted. 'Split ergativity' is a standard linguistic description, named not quoted. Transfer patterns are described as common tendencies reported in second-language research, not as predictions about any individual. No language is ranked.

1. When comparing languages, ask three questions: what does the verb mark, what controls it, and can the controller be left out?
2. Gloss examples word by word, marking gender, number and person where the verb shows them.
3. In Hindi perfective transitive clauses with 'ne', look for the unmarked object as the controller.
4. Describe learners' transfer patterns neutrally, and give the exam-standard English form beside them.
5. In English, check the -s on present verbs with he, she, it or one thing, and keep an overt subject.
6. Never rank a language by how much agreement it marks.

• Larka school jaata hai.
• Larki school jaati hai.
• Ram ne roti khaayi.
• She speaks Hindi, and her parents speak Tamil, Emily.
• Nous parlons anglais, Chloe.
• Nosotros hablamos hindi, Carmen.

• Sita ne kela khaaya.
• Sita ghar gayi.
• Larke school jaate hain.
• Ils parlent anglais, Oliver.
• My brother goes to college, and I go to school, Sophie.
• Ta shi xuesheng, wo ye shi xuesheng.

Agreement under exam conditions

Under exam conditions, the Agreement Test becomes a three-second routine: find the verb, strip to the head, check the special case.

• 🔍 find every verb that can show agreement
• 📎 strip to the head, then check the trap list
• 📚 justify in one line: verb, head, count

Both-standard cases, and how a careful item signals which reading it wants.

Picture yourself as a customs officer with a short checklist. Every verb that can show agreement is a traveller. You check its passport - the head word - not the people standing near it in the queue. Then you run down the list of known smuggling routes: of-phrases, 'as well as', 'there', 'who', uncountables, amounts, 'each', 'or'. A traveller who passes the checklist goes through, even if the queue behind it looks suspicious.

The routine turns everything in this band into a checklist that works at speed. The next section slows down again, to read agreement in literature and journalism - where writers choose non-standard or notional agreement on purpose, and the question is not 'is it correct?' but 'what does the choice do?'

Here is an item that seems to have two right answers. 'The jury ___ divided in their opinions.' (a) is (b) are A candidate thinks: 'jury' is a collective, both are standard in British English - so the item is unfair. But the stem contains two cues. 'Divided' describes members disagreeing, not a body acting as one. And 'their' is plural. Both point to the plural reading, so 'are' is the intended answer, and the item is fair. Now change the stem: 'The jury ___ reached its verdict.' Here the cues point the other way. 'Its' is singular, and reaching a verdict is something the jury does as one body. 'Has' is intended. The Master move is to treat a both-standard case as a question about cues rather than about rules. The rule allows both; the sentence, read closely, usually allows only one. If no cue exists at all - 'The jury ___ ready' - a careful item writer would not have set it, and the safest answer is the one that follows grammatical concord with the head: 'is'. Saying all of this in a one-line justification shows the examiner you know the rule, the variation and the reading.

A classic agreement item tests a sentence that many fluent speakers get 'wrong' in conversation. 'She is one of those people who always ___ on time.' In speech, many people say 'arrives', matching 'she'. In formal written English, 'who' refers to 'people' - she is one member of a group of people who arrive on time - so the verb is 'arrive'. The singular is common enough in careful writing that some usage guides accept it; exams, however, usually key the plural. Compare 'She is the only one of those people who always arrives on time.' Now 'who' refers to 'the only one', and the singular is standard. One added word, 'only', changes the antecedent and the verb. That is why the item recurs: it tests whether a candidate reads for structure, not sound.

Item types are described generically; no particular board, paper or year is cited, and no claim is made about how often any item appears. The advice on both-standard cases reflects common item-writing practice, not a published rule of any exam. Usage guides differ on 'one of those who' with a singular verb and on 'there is' before a compound subject; the exam-standard forms given here are the conservative choices.

1. Find every verb that can show agreement before reading for meaning.
2. Strip each subject to its head, then check the trap list: of-phrase, 'as well as', 'there', 'who', uncountable, amount, 'each', 'or'.
3. In an editing task, change the verb, not the noun.
4. With a collective or quantifier, look for the cue - a pronoun, 'as a whole', 'among themselves' - before choosing.
5. Never 'correct' a both-standard form when the sentence is consistent.
6. Justify in one line: verb, head, count, and the special case if there is one.

• The list of successful candidates, along with their roll numbers, has been displayed.
• There are three reasons for the delay, Mr Kulkarni.
• Divya is one of those students who always arrive early.
• The information you sent was incorrect, Oliver.
• The jury are divided in their opinions, Charlotte.
• Neither the manager nor the clerks were aware, Mr Mensah.

• Five thousand rupees is a fair price for the bicycle, Suresh.
• Each of the boys has a locker, Pooja.
• Rekha is the only one of the students who has finished.
• The committee has published its findings, Mrs Wright.
• The principal, as well as the teachers, was present, Mr Evans.
• Mathematics is Wanjiru's strongest subject.

Close reading agreement

The Agreement Test still runs first - find the verb, find its true subject, count - but in close reading its result is a description, not a correction.

• 🔍 run the Agreement Test and note any mismatch
• 📎 name the choice: dialect, spoken, notional, register
• 📚 say what it does for the voice, the stance or the reader

Twain's own explanatory note at the front of the novel says that several dialects are used in the book and that the differences were made deliberately; that note is paraphrased here, not quoted. The table sets out the kinds of agreement choice a close reader can find in fiction and in news.

Picture agreement as the accent of a sentence. Standard agreement is the accent of the newsreader - clear, neutral, placeless. A dialect form is a regional accent: it tells you where a speaker comes from and who they are talking to. A notional choice is a tone of voice: the same words, said with a slight lean towards the people or towards the institution. A close reader listens for the accent and the tone, not only for the words.

Close reading completes the band's arc: the paradigm (S31), the forces (S32), the errors (S33), the hard subjects (S34-S36), other languages (S37), exam precision (S38), and now agreement as a writer's tool. The final section asks you to use all of it at once on an unseen passage - analysing, editing where the reader needs it, leaving voice alone where it serves, and defending every decision.

Here is a passage where one agreement form must be read two ways at once. Imagine a novel whose narrator writes in standard English, and a character who says: 'Me and my brothers was always out on the river.' A close reader notices two departures from standard agreement: 'Me and my brothers' as a subject (a pronoun case choice, not agreement, and outside this chapter), and 'was' with a plural subject (agreement). Naming both precisely matters; only the second is ours. Now the harder question: what does 'was' do here that 'were' would not? One reading says it marks the character's variety, setting him off from the standard narrator. A second reading notices that the character may be thinking of 'me and my brothers' as one unit - the family gang - which is a notional pull towards the singular, of the kind S32 described. Both readings can be true together. Dialect agreement is often not random: many varieties that use 'was' with plural subjects use it consistently, as part of their grammar. The Master answer holds both readings: 'The singular "was" marks the character's regional speech against the narrator's standard English; it also presents the brothers as a single band, which fits his nostalgia.' That answer describes, names and interprets - and never calls the character's English wrong.

A single agreement choice can carry a political stance in a news headline. 'Opposition are united on the bill.' 'Opposition is united on the bill.' Both are standard in British English. The first, with the plural, presents the opposition as many people who have come together - the unity is an achievement of individuals. The second presents the opposition as one body - the unity is a property of an institution. Now try the negative: 'The party are divided' feels natural, because division is something members do to each other. 'The party is divided' is also standard, but it presents the division as a condition of the institution. Writers and sub-editors do not always choose consciously - house style may decide - but the reader still receives the lean. Close reading notices it, and says 'presents' rather than 'proves'.

The quotation from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) is a single short line from the public-domain text; Twain's explanatory note on dialects is paraphrased, not quoted. Other literary lines are written for this section. Dialect agreement forms are described as features of real varieties, never as errors in their own setting; the exam-standard form is given beside them. Whether a journalist's collective verb reflects stance or house style cannot be known from one sentence, so interpretations are hedged.

1. Run the Agreement Test first; in literature, record the mismatch rather than correcting it.
2. Name the choice precisely: dialect agreement, 'there's' + plural, notional plural, register.
3. Say what the choice does for voice, character, stance or reader.
4. Give the exam-standard form beside a dialect form, as information.
5. Never describe a dialect form as 'bad grammar' or use it to judge a character's intelligence.
6. In journalism, hedge interpretations of collective verbs - 'presents', 'suggests' - and check for consistency first.

• 'There's two trains to Nashik, beta,' said Nani.
• The cabinet have been quarrelling over the budget since March.
• The cabinet has approved the budget, Mr Joshi.
• There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth.
• 'We was only joking, miss,' Jack muttered.
• The data show a steady rise in rainfall, Dr Mwangi.

• 'The mangoes is ripe now, Munni,' said the fruit-seller.
• The party are divided over the new leader, reports say.
• There were things he left out, Ananya admitted.
• 'He don't come round here no more,' said Mrs Brown.
• The opposition is united on the bill, Harry.
• 'There's many reasons, sir,' Kwame said quietly.

Independent performance

Every decision still begins with the Agreement Test - find the verb, find its true subject, count - and then the band's tools decide.

Here is the report after the five fixes, and the defence of each change - and of each thing left alone.

Picture yourself walking through the report with two stamps: FIX and KEEP. Before either stamp comes down, you check the verb's passport - its head word - and look up the rule for its kind of subject. Some verbs that look odd get KEEP, because the passport and the rule agree. Some that sound fine get FIX, because the queue fooled the ear. And the quoted words get no stamp at all: they belong to someone else.

This is the whole band in one passage: the paradigm tells you which verbs to check; the three principles and attraction tell you why a verb went wrong; coordination, quantifiers and collectives tell you what the right count is; close reading tells you when to leave a form alone. The same routine carries into Chapter 13, where the question shifts from which form agrees to which tense the passage keeps.

Here is the decision in this passage on which careful editors might disagree. 'Our robotics club are through to the state final, and their robot has already drawn a crowd.' One editor says: keep it. The plural is standard British English, the pronoun 'their' matches, and the plural presents the club as the students who built the robot - which is what a school newsletter celebrating them wants. That is an argument from meaning and audience. Another editor says: change it. The newsletter is read by parents who may have learned that collectives take singular verbs, and the rest of the report treats the committee as singular. 'Our robotics club is through to the state final, and its robot has already drawn a crowd.' That is an argument from consistency across the whole document and from house style. The Master move is not to pretend that one editor is wrong. It is to state the decision and its grounds precisely: 'I kept "are ... their" because it is standard, consistent within the sentence, and presents the club as its members; if the newsletter's style sheet prefers singular collectives, I would change both words together.' That defence shows the editor knows the variation, respects both readings, and chose by the reader and the document.

The most important decision in the passage is one you make by doing nothing. '"There's too many plates and not enough hands," laughed Ramu bhaiya at the canteen.' Run the Agreement Test and it flags the verb at once: the subject after 'there' is 'too many plates', plural, and standard written English would use 'There are'. Every rule in this chapter points to a fix. And yet the right edit is none at all. The words are inside quotation marks. They are what a real person said, in his own voice, and the report quotes him to bring the fair to life. Changing them would make him say something he did not say. S39's lesson applies directly: a form that is non-standard in the report's own voice can be exactly right in a speaker's. So the Agreement Test identifies; the editor decides. The test is never switched off - you still notice the form - but noticing is not the same as correcting.

The passage was written for this section; the school, the fair and the people are invented. The decisions follow the stated reader - parents and teachers of an Indian school, in standard English - and would differ for another readership or a newsletter with a house style for collectives. Pronoun choice ('it' or 'they' for the committee) is touched on only for consistency; pronoun-antecedent agreement belongs to Chapter 14.

1. Run the Agreement Test on every verb that can show agreement before changing anything.
2. Fix with the minimum change: the verb, not the nouns around it.
3. Leave both-standard forms alone unless house style requires a change - and then change consistently.
4. Leave quoted speech exactly as spoken.
5. Make every collective and its pronouns agree through the sentence and the piece.
6. Defend each decision in one sentence that names the tool: attraction, coordination, quantifier, collective, both-standard, quoted voice.

• The list of winners, along with their photographs, is on page 4, Aarav.
• Rajma chawal is still the canteen's best seller on fair days.
• Neither the principal nor the teachers were told the results in advance.
• Each of the eight teams has worked for months, Mr Collins.
• More than one parent has written in to thank the volunteers, Mrs Hughes.
• The committee has decided, and it is planning a bigger venue, Ms Tanaka.

• One in three students say the hall needs more seating.
• Our robotics club are through, and their robot has drawn a crowd, Riya.
• "There's too many plates and not enough hands," laughed Ramu bhaiya.
• Our robotics club is through, and its robot has drawn a crowd, George.
• The data from the survey show a clear preference, Mr Hall.
• The results of the fair are posted outside the hall, Nadia.