Common Errors 1 – Verb Agreement
Verbal Agreement
1) What is verbal agreement ?
In English a verb must agree with its subject. Usually, if the subject of a verb is
singular then the verb also must be singular and if the subject is plural then the verb
must also be in a plural form.
Look at the examples below. The verbs and subjects are labelled so you can see
how the verb agrees with its subject.
More and more British
citizens
are realising
citizens  plural
the importance of saving for their
futures.
are  plural
SUBJECT
VERB
is  singular
global  singular
warming
Global
warming
is
one of the biggest problems facing the world
today.
2) Irregular plurals
Below is a list of the most common irregular plural nouns which you may need to use
in the IELTS exam.
Singular
Plural
man
men
woman
women
child
children
person
people
thesis
theses
crisis
crises
analysis
analyses
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3) Collective nouns
Collective nouns are usually singular nouns (i.e. they don’t end in an ‘s’) that refer to
a group of people. These nouns can be followed by a singular verb or a plural verb.
However, when the noun refers to the individuals in the group we prefer a plural
verb and when it refers to a group as an organisation we use a singular verb. Often
either a singular or plural verb can be used.
Examples of collective nouns:
government
team
party
company
committee
Example:
people)
firm
The government are going to review this law (thinking about the
The government has a problem with corruption (thinking about the
whole organisation, not just the people)
4) Make your verb agree with the most important noun!
A lot of words can come after the main noun in a sentence. These usually give extra
information about this noun. You should ignore these words when deciding on
whether to use a singular or plural verb.
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Below are some example sentences. In each sentence the relative clause has been
underlined.
1. People who live in poor quality housing are at greater risk of
suffering from health problems.
2. Students studying for university degrees have to borrow large sums of
money in order to pay for their courses.
3. An elderly person with no relatives has to rely on the state for all their
support.
In sentence 1, the main noun is “people”, which is plural. So, the verb
after the relative clause is plural (“are”)
In sentence 2, the main noun is “students”, which is plural. So, the verb
after the relative clause is plural (“have”)
In sentence 3, the main noun is “person”, which is singular. So, the verb
after the relative clause is singular (“has”)
Don’t be confused by quantifiers!
Quantifiers come before the head noun in the subject. These words refer to
quantities and amounts.
Examples include:
much
many
few
a few
a lot of
lots of
Sometimes these words can be confusing. For example, ‘a lot of’ looks singular
because there is no ‘s’ on the end of ‘lot’. However, you should ignore these words
when deciding if the verb is singular or plural and look at the noun that follows
them.
A lot of
people
disagree
people  plural
MAIN NOUN
disagree  plural
VERB
debate  singular
A lot of
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debate
with this opinion.
has gone on singular
has gone on
about this issue recently.
Difficult cases
The following words appear to have a plural meaning. However, they are singular
and need a singular verb when they are the subject of a sentence or clause.
somebody, someone
everybody, everyone
anybody, anyone
nobody, no one
Nobody
really understands
Nobody  singular
why the crime rate has continued to increase.
understands  singular
SUBJECT
VERB
Everyone  singular
has  singular
Everyone living in Britain
to free health care.
has the right
The following phrases look singular. However, they are in fact plural and require a
plural verb:
The majority
A number of
Nowadays
the majority of school leavers
the majority  plural
SUBJECT
A number of plural
A number of politicians
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go on
to study at university.
go on  plural
VERB
have highlighted  plural
have recently highlighted
the issue of child poverty.
PRACTICE
Now, have a go at these exercises and then check the answers.
Exercise 1. Look at the sentence below and answer the three questions.
Increased reliance on fossil fuels such as gas and coal has resulted in
global warming.
1.
How many nouns can you find in the subject?
2.
Which noun is the most important?
3.
Which is the main verb in the sentence?
Exercise 2. Look at the sentences below and decide which word is the head noun
in the subject and which word is the main verb in the sentence.
1.
Driving while under the influence of drugs is extremely dangerous.
2.
People who smoke for a number of years are at much higher risk of getting
cancer than non-smokers.
3.
More and more people of retirement age are choosing to continue working
until well into their seventies.
4.
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Children who come from a wealthy family usually do well at school.
Exercise 3. Complete the following sentences by choosing the appropriate form of
the verb.
1. Most people agree / agrees that global warming is real and is a major
threat to the planet.
2. Nowadays almost everyone has / have a mobile phone.
3. The vast majority of citizens supports / support the police and believes /
believe that they are doing a good job.
4. Children who stay on at school until the age of 18 is / are in a better
position when they leave to find work.
5. People living in sheltered accommodation such as hostels and old
people’s homes often suffers/ suffer from mental health problems.
6. Driving without a licence or insurance is / are a serious public safety
issue.
Exercise 4. Some of the sentences below have errors with verbal agreement.
Decide which sentences have mistakes and correct them.
1. A lot of research now suggests that people are starting to lead
healthier lives.
2. Reducing the number of hours of TV that children watch each day help
children to develop social skills.
3. Studying a variety of subjects at school help children to decide what
career they would like to pursue in the future.
4. Everyone working in childcare understand the importance of providing
children with emotional support.
5. The introduction of tougher sentences for criminals has resulted in an
improvement in the crime statistics.
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