Agreement with words such as athletics, economics, statistics, news

Words with plural form such as athletics, economics, mathematics, physics, politics, and so on are usually treated as singular.

Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: Politics are among my mother's favorite pastimes. Revised sentence: Politics is among my mother's favorite pastimes. Explanation: The word 'are' has been replaced by 'is.'

EXCEPTION:Occasionally some of these words—especially economics, mathematics, politics, and statistics—have plural meanings:

Example sentence: Office politics often sway decisions about hiring and promotion.

Example sentence: The economics of the building plan are prohibitive.

Subject-verb agreement at a glance

When to use the -s (or -es) form of a present-tense verb

Exercises:

Subject-verb agreement 1

Subject-verb agreement 2

Subject-verb agreement 3

Subject-verb agreement 4