Agreement with subject, not with intervening words

Word groups—often prepositional phrases—sometimes come between the subject and the verb. Such word groups, usually modifying the subject, may contain a noun that at first appears to be the subject. By mentally stripping away such modifiers, you can isolate the noun that is in fact the subject.

Example sentence: The samples on the tray in the lab need testing. Explanation: The subject is 'samples,' so the verb must be 'need.'

Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: High levels of air pollution causes damage to the respiratory tract. Revised sentence: High levels of air pollution cause damage to the respiratory tract. Explanation: The word 'causes' has been changed to 'cause.'

The subject is levels, not pollution. Strip away the phrase of air pollution to hear the correct verb: levels cause.

Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: The slaughter of pandas for their pelts have caused the panda population to decline drastically. Revised sentence: The slaughter of pandas for their pelts has caused the panda population to decline drastically. Explanation: The word 'have' has been replaced by 'has.'

The subject is slaughter, not pandas or pelts.

NOTE:Phrases beginning with the prepositions as well as, in addition to, accompanied by, together with, and along with do not make a singular subject plural.

Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: The governor as well as his press secretary were shot. Revised sentence: The governor as well as his press secretary was shot. Explanation: The word 'were' has been replaced by 'was.'

To emphasize that two people were shot, the writer could use and instead: The governor and his press secretary were shot.

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