1. Subject-Verb Agreement

2. Subject-Verb Agreement
A verb must agree with its subject in person and number.
Examples:
Dora runs. (Dora is the singular subject; runs is the singular verb.)
The children are singing. (Children is the plural subject; are is the plural verb.)

3. Rule # 1:
**Subjects combined with AND or BOTH use plural verbs unless the parts are of a whole unit. (See exception below.) Also beware of subjects that are preceded by each, every, and many a; these take singular verbs.
Example:
Chocolate and vanilla are common ice cream flavors.
Exceptions:
In my opinion peanut butter and jelly is a tasty combination.
Each boy and girl has an assigned seat.

4. Rule # 2:
** To decide which verb to use when a singular subject and a plural subject are joined by the words OR or NOR, use the subject nearer the verb.
Examples
Neither the dog nor the cats were able to get any water. (cats-plural noun, were-plural verb)
Neither the cats nor the dog was able to get any water. (dog-sing. noun, was-sing. verb)

5. Rule # 3:
**Beware of prepositional phrases. Do NOT mistake a word in a prepositional phrase for the subject. Examples: The boss of the employees works very hard. (boss-singular subject, works-singular verb) The teachers at the school meet today. (teachers-plural subject, meet-plural verb)

6. Rule # 4:
**A subject remains singular or plural regardless of any intervening expressions.
Examples:
Gloria, as well as the rest of her family, was late.
The players, accompanied by the coach, enter the field from that side.

7. S-V Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns
The following pronouns are ALWAYS singular and will therefore take a singular verb.
everything
everyone
everybody
anyone
anything
anybody
no one
nothing
nobody
someone
something
somebody
each
either
neither
none

8. S-V Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns
The following pronouns are ALWAYS plural and will therefore take a plural verb.
Several Few Both Many