Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject-verb agreement requires the grammatical subject and its verb to match in number. The practical task is to identify the true subject rather than being distracted by nearby phrases or nouns.
Match the verb to the grammatical subject in number: singular subjects normally take singular verb forms, and plural subjects take plural forms.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
Agreement can be less obvious in constructions with compound subjects, indefinite pronouns, collective nouns, measurements, or inverted word order, so the grammatical structure must be identified before applying the rule.
Further guidance
Application
Locate the grammatical subject first, then choose the verb form that agrees with that subject rather than with a nearby noun in an intervening phrase.
Core Rule
The subject and verb should agree in number.
Practical Application
Find the grammatical subject first, then make the finite verb agree with that subject in number. Ignore intervening phrases that do not change which noun controls the verb.
Reader Check
What is the actual subject of the verb, and has a nearby plural or singular noun distracted you from it?
Worked Example
“The list of required documents is attached.” The subject is “list,” so the singular verb “is” agrees even though “documents” is plural.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Proofreading for Errors — Subject/Verb Agreement (opens in a new tab)Purdue Online Writing Lab · Authority used to verify the public writing guidance.