A verb agrees with its subject in person and in number.
Wrong: They doesn't understand what to do.
Right: They don't understand what to do.
The number of the noun in a phrase introduced by the preposition of does not affect the number of the verb.
Wrong: A list of books were made by Merry.
Right: A list of books was made by Merry.
Compound subjects joined by and ordinarily take the plural form of the verb.
Wrong: Here comes Alvin and Junjun.
Right: Here come Alvin and Junjun.
When two or more singular subjects are joined by or or nor, a singular form of the verb is required.
Wrong: A man’s success or failure lie in his hands.
Right: A man’s success or failure lies in his hands.
Intervening phrases introduced by of, with, together with, as well as, including, besides, no less than, in addition to, accompanied by, not do not affect the form of the verb.
Wrong: The teacher, together with her pupils, were there.
Right: The teacher, together with her pupils, was there.
Compound nouns joined by and use the singular form of the verb if they are regarded as a unit.
Bread and butter was all she asked for.
Rice and vegetables is the staple food of the Filipinos.
When the subject and predicate nominative differ in number, the verb must agree with the subject, not the complement.
Wrong: The theme of the essay are the experiences of our heroes.
Right: The theme of the essay is the experiences of our heroes.
Compound subjects joined by either-or, neither-nor, not only-but also ordinarily take verbs agreeing in number with the nearer subject.
Wrong: Not only the students but also the teacher are learning.
Right: Not only the students but also the teacher is learning.
When the subject comes after the verb, make sure that the verb agrees with its subject.
Wrong: In this school is enrolled several alien students.
Right: In this school are enrolled several alien students.
Never begin a sentence with a participle that does not logically modify the subject of the sentence.
Wrong: Walking around the campus, the bell rang.
Right: Walking around the campus, I heard the bell ring.
Sentence elements that are grammatically connected should be kept close together.
Wrong: I, after the class, went to the movies.
Right: I went to the movies after my class.
Modifiers should be placed as near as possible to the words they modify.
Wrong: He rushed into the room just as we are singing the last song breathless with excitement.
Right: Breathless with excitement, he rushed into the room just as we are singing the last song.
Avoid dangling modifiers.
Wrong: Having taken the entrance examinations, the President of the college accepted me.
Right: After I had taken the entrance examinations, the President of the college accepted me.
Ordinarily, this and that take the singular form of the verb, while these and those take the plural form of the verb.
That is a good idea.
These are times that try man’s soul.
The following indefinite pronouns belong to the third person. Take the plural form of the verb: all, both, few, several, some.
All were satisfied.
Both are to be blamed.
The following indefinite pronouns, whether singular or plural in meaning, are ordinarily used with the third person singular form of the verb: each, everybody, everyone, everything, any, anybody, anything, somebody, someone, something, one, thing, nobody, either, neither, the other.
Each arrives on time. Everything is in order.
The title of a book is considered singular.
The “Dialogs” of Plato is a great classic.
The word people, meaning many persons, is plural. Peoples refers to different races.
The people were excited about the news.
The peoples in Asia need to be united.
The expression the number of takes the singular form of the verb, while the expression a number of takes the plural form of the verb.
The number of students in the class is limited.
A number of books are on reserve in the library.
Nouns referring to money, time, measurement or distance that are preceded by an expression of amount or quantity are considered singular and take the singular form of the verb.
Five hundred pesos is yours. Four weeks is a long time to wait for you.
The number of the noun that follows an expression of fraction or portion determines the number of the verb to be used.
Half of the apple was eaten by the rats. One half of the apple is yours.
Sentences introduced by it take the singular form of the verb.
It is time to say goodbye.
It is my duty to take care of our parents.
The number of the subject of a sentence introduced by there determines the verb to be used.
There are times when she is lonely. There are six school days in a week.
The verb takes an s when it is used in the third person singular of the present tense.
Ramen Lloyd plays football vigorously.
The expressions one of the, the number of and a number of are always followed by plural nouns.
One of the girls is absent.
A number of books were stolen.
The number of apples was rotten.
Some nouns are plural in form: measles, mumps, pants, shorts, scissors, trousers.
The news for today is about the Government’s corruption.
Nouns such as mathematics, statistics, economics, politics and physics are used with the singular form of the verb when they refer to an area of study.
Mathematics is required for Math majors.
Politics is not dirty per se, but the politicians are the ones making it dirty.
Possession is usually shown by adding an apostrophe (’) or an apostrophe and s (’s) to a noun.
The student’s club.
The infinitive of the verb is always in the simple form.
To love is an adventure.
Long ago, Pidoy’s dream was to live in a forest.
Nouns singular in form but functioning collectively: information, food, equipment, jewelry.
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