SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT EXERCISE 1 (ESL)

level: Intermediate (B1/B2)

Subject-verb agreement sounds simple at first — singular subject, singular verb — but English has a number of patterns that complicate that basic rule. This exercise focuses on some of the trickiest ones, including neither/nor, either/or, collective nouns, and nouns that look plural but take a singular verb.

GRAMMAR REVIEW! Subject-Verb Agreement — tricky cases

The basic rule is simple: a singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb. The difficulty lies in a number of special cases.

Neither/nor and either/or:
When two subjects are joined by neither/nor or either/or, the verb agrees with the subject closer to it:
Neither the teacher nor the students were ready.
Neither the students nor the teacher was ready.

Collective nouns:
Words like team, family, group, committee can take a singular or plural verb depending on whether you view the group as a unit or as individuals:
The team is well prepared. (unit) / The committee are arguing. (individuals)

Nouns that end in -s but are singular:
Some nouns look plural but always take a singular verb: news, mathematics, physics, economics, measles.
The news is good.

Indefinite pronouns:
Each, every, either, neither, one, nobody, somebody, anyone are all singular.
Neither of the candidates has answered the question.

There is / There are:
The verb agrees with the noun that follows it, not with there:
There is a problem. / There are several problems.

READY TO PRACTICE? LET’S GO!

Choose the correct verb form to complete each sentence.

Subject-verb agreement 1 (B1/B2)
Subject-verb agreement 2 (B1/B2)
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