Subject Verb Agreement Quiz

Explanation
"Everyone" is a collective noun, meaning it works as a singular, so it takes the plural verb "needs." To review, see Trouble Spot 1. The subject seems plural but is considered singular.

Explanation
Each is always singular. The correct verb form is "receives" because it agrees with the singular subject "Each." Therefore, the sentence should be: "Each of the winners receives a scholarship and a trophy."

Explanation
The subject "The football team" is a collective noun, and in this context, it is treated as a singular entity. Therefore, the correct verb form is "practices," which agrees with the singular subject.

Explanation
The sentence "Near the center of the campus is the counselors' office" uses the singular verb "is" because it refers to a single location. The counselors' office, positioned centrally on the campus, is described as a singular entity, hence the use of "is" to maintain grammatical agreement.

Explanation
Subject-verb agreement is the grammatical principle that ensures that the verb in a sentence matches the number (singular or plural) of the subject. In correct sentences, the verb agrees with the subject in terms of number. For example, in the sentence "Neither the teacher nor the student is attending the meeting," the singular subject "neither" is correctly paired with the singular verb "is." It's important to apply this rule to maintain proper grammar in writing and speaking.

Explanation
The sentence has more than one subject. In this sentence, the correct choice is "are." "Anthony and DeShawn" is a plural subject, so it requires a plural verb. Therefore, it should be "Anthony and DeShawn are finished with the essay."

Explanation
The sentence should be: "Twenty dollars is not a lot of money these days." The reason for this is that "twenty dollars" is a singular amount, so it should be followed by the singular verb "is." Even though "dollars" is a plural noun, it's the amount of money that is being considered as a single unit in this context. Therefore, the verb should agree with the singular subject "twenty dollars."

Explanation
In English, when we use phrases like “as well as”, “along with”, or “together with”, the verb agrees with the first subject. In this case, “Claudia” is the first subject and it is singular, so we use “speaks” instead of “speak”. If both Claudia and Judy were the subjects without the “as well as”, we would use “speak”. For example, “Claudia and Judy speak American Sign Language.”

Explanation
"There" is never a subject. In this sentence, the verb comes before the subject, which is "reasons." The subject comes after the verb. (Remember, to see if subjects and verbs agree, find the verb first and then ask “who or what does it?” to find the subject.)

Explanation
The singular form of the irregular verb HAVE is "has": He has. The verb is a tricky form of BE (is, am, are), HAVE (has, have) or DO (does, do).

Explanation
In the sentence "Some of the fruits in our local market come from Chile," "fruits" is a plural subject, as it refers to more than one fruit. Therefore, the verb that corresponds to the subject must also be in the plural form. In this case, the plural verb is "come." If the sentence were "Some of the fruit in our local market comes from Chile," with "fruit" as a singular subject (referring to a single type of fruit), the singular verb "comes" would be used to maintain subject-verb agreement. In summary, the correct choice of verb depends on whether the subject is singular or plural. In the given sentence, "come" is the appropriate verb choice because the subject "fruits" is plural.

Explanation
In this sentence, the subject is “some of the grapes,” which is plural, so the verb should also be plural. Therefore, “come” is the correct form to use. The verb “comes” would be used if the subject were singular. In English, subject-verb agreement is important for correct grammar.

Explanation
The sentence "Where do your grandmother and grandfather live?" involves subject-verb agreement. The subject, "grandmother and grandfather," is a compound subject, and since it includes more than one person, it is considered plural. In English, plural subjects take plural verbs. Therefore, "do" is the correct plural form that agrees with the plural subject in this sentence.

Explanation
In this case, “the famous star” is a singular subject, so we use “comes” instead of “come”. If it were a plural subject, we would use “come”. 

Explanation
The sentence "Math is a required subject for a college degree" is correct because it treats "math" as a singular subject. In this context, "mathematics" refers to the academic discipline or the field of study, and it is considered a singular noun. When discussing requirements for a college degree, we treat the subject as a singular entity, which is why we use "is" (the singular form of the verb "to be") to agree with it.