Subject-Verb Agreement

Theory

Subject-verb agreement is one of the most basic parts of English Grammar and commonly repeated in exams. Subject-verb agreement simply means the subject and verb must agree in number, both need to be singular or both need to be plural.

Subject that tells us what sentence is about, it can be either a noun (pencil, cars, Beth, etc) or a pronoun (she, he, they, etc). It can be either singular or plural. Verb represents the action of a sentence (is, went, have taken, etc). 

In present tenses, nouns and verbs form plurals in opposite ways:

nouns ADD an s to singular form

BUT

verbs REMOVE an s from singular form.

10 Rules of Subject Verb Agreement

1.  Subjects and verbs must agree in number.

     ex: - The cat meows when he is hungry. (singular)

           - The cats meow when they are hungry. (plural)

2.  The words between the subject and verb do not affect agreement.

     ex: The little girl, who is wearing gloves, is well-dressed.

3.  The verb is plural if two subjects are joined by "and".

     ex: The man and the woman were late for appointment.

4.  The verb is singular if two subjects refer to the same person or thing and are joined by "and".

      ex: Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite sandwich.

5.  The verb is singular if "each", "every" or "no" comes before the subject.

     ex: No yelling is allowed. Every man and woman is coming.

6.  The verb is singular for units of measurement or time.

      ex: Five minutes is enough time.

7.  The verb is plural for pronouns.

     ex: All of them were going to the parade.

8.  The verb is singular for indefinite pronouns.

     ex: Everyone is waiting for the movie to start.

9.  The verb is singular for collective nouns.

     ex: The crowd is yelling.

10. The verb is singular for titles of books and movies.

      ex: The Birds is a scary movie.

Example

Multiple Choices

1. Some of the students in my class ________ angry that they did not pass.
    a. was
    b. were
    c. is
    d. are
Pembahasan:
Subjek students adalah plural subject, sehingga harus menggunakan plural verb were.

2. The coat or the hats _____ in that closet.
    a. was
    b. were
    c. is
    d. are
Pembahasan:
Saat singular dan plural subject terhubung oleh or, either/or, or neither/nor, gunakan kata kerja yang paling dekat dengan subjek. Subjek yang paling dekat adalah the hats (plural), sehingga jawabannya adalah are.

3. This singer, along with a few others, ______ the harmonica on stage.
    a. played
    b. playing
    c. plays
    d. play
Pembahasan:
Terkadang subjek dipisahkan dari verb dengan kata-kata seperti along with, as well as, besides, or not. Abaikan "along with a few others" dan fokus pada singer yang merupakan subjek tunggal, sehingga kata kerja tunggalnya adalah plays.

4. Mumps usually ____ through saliva.
    a. spread
    b. spreads
    c. spreading
    d. spreaded
Pembahasan:
Nama penyakit dengan akhiran -s, seperti measles atau mumps bermakna singular sehingga membutuhkan singular verb.

5. Each of the the dancers ____ brilliantly.
    a. twirls
    b. twirl
    c. is twirl
    d. are twirl
Pembahasan:
Kata ganti each adalah singular sehingga membutuhkan kata kerja singular yaitu twirls.

Error Analysis

1.  Sandals and towels is essential gear for a trip to the beach. (Incorrect)
Pembahasan:
Terdapat dua subjek yang dihubungkan dengan "and", sehingga memerlukan kata kerja plural yaitu are.

2.  He drive a minibus. (Incorrect)
Pembahasan:
Tambahkan -s pada kata kerja jika subjek adalah third-person singular pronoun (she, he, it, etc).

3.  Mustard greens are my favorite vegetable. (Correct)
Pembahasan:
Subjek "mustard greens" adalah plural, sehingga memakai are sebagai kata kerjanya.

4.  The president or the vice president is speaking today. (Correct)
Pembahasan:
Dua subjek singular terhubung oleh or yang berarti salah satu dari kedua objek tersebut, maka membutuhkan kata kerja singular yaitu is.

5.  It was the speaker, not his ideas, that have provoked the students to riot. (Incorrect)
Pembahasan:
If your sentence compounds a positive and a negative subject and one is plural, the other singular, the verb should agree with the positive subject. The speaker merupakan subjek tunggal positif, jadi seharusnya adalah has.


6. Every one of the shirts has a green collar. (Correct),
Pembahasan:
The pronoun one is singular and requires singular verbs. 

7.  Some of the puzzles is missing. (Incorrect)
Pembahasan:
Some indefinite pronouns, such as all, some, etc, are singular or plural depending on what they're referring to. Karena 'puzzles' adalah plural, jadi yang benar adalah are. 

8.  There was four books on the shelf. (Incorrect),
Pembahasan:
Subject 'four books' adalah plural, jadi menggunakan plural verb yaitu were.

9.  There was a Pokemon card stick to the refrigerator. (Correct)

Pembahasan:
Karena 'card' merupakan singular subject, jadi menggunakan singular verb.

10. Every year, during the midsummer festival, the smoke of village bonfires fill the sky. (Correct)
Pembahasan:
Berdasarkan aturan no.5, the verb is singular if "each", "every" or "no" comes before the subject (the smoke).

Source

[1] https://cetking.com/10-must-know-rules-for-subject-verb-agreement-grammar/

[2] https://www.yourdictionary.com/index.php/pdf/articles/75.subject-verb-agreement.pdf

[3] https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/sub-verb.htm
[4] https://www.menlo.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/SUBJECT-VERB_AGREEMENT.pdf