Subject Verb Agreement Trivia

The correct choice for the sentence is "needs." In English grammar, the word "everyone" is treated as a singular pronoun despite referring to a group of people. It is grouped with other indefinite pronouns such as "everybody," "someone," and "nobody," which also take singular verbs. This rule applies even when it seems like these pronouns represent more than one person. Therefore the correct sentence would be: Everyone in class needs to study.

The correct choice for the sentence "Each of the winners (receives/receive) a scholarship and a trophy, every year." is "receives." In English grammar, "each" is another example of an indefinite pronoun that, similar to "everyone," is always treated as singular. When you use "each" to refer to individuals within a group, it emphasizes their individuality within that group. Thus, any verb that follows should be in the singular form to agree with "each."

In American English, collective nouns like "team," "group," "committee," and others are typically treated as singular entities. This means that when referring to these nouns, the verb forms also need to be singular to maintain subject-verb agreement. For the sentence provided, the correct choice in American English is "practices." This is because the football team is viewed as a single unit performing the action together. The grammatically correct sentence would be: "The football team practices every day."

For the sentence "Near the center of the campus (is/are) the counselor's office," the correct choice is "is." The term "the counselor's office" refers to a single office that belongs to a counselor. Therefore, it requires the singular verb form "is" to agree with the singular noun phrase. Thus, the correct sentence would be: - "Near the center of the campus is the counselor's office." This construction correctly matches the singular subject "the counselor's office" with the singular verb "is," indicating the location of one specific office on the campus.

The correct choice for the sentence "Anthony and DeShawn (is/are) finished with the essay." is "are." In this sentence, "Anthony and DeShawn" constitute a compound subject, consisting of two individuals joined by the conjunction "and." When subjects are combined with "and," they are treated as plural. Therefore, the plural verb "are" is needed to correctly agree with the subject. Here's the correct version: "Anthony and DeShawn are finished with the essay."

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."

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.”

The correct choice for the sentence "There (is/are) several reasons for Desiree’s happy expression today." is "are." In English grammar, when using the introductory "there is" or "there are," the verb should agree with the subject that follows it. In this case, the subject is "several reasons," which is plural. Therefore, the plural verb "are" is appropriate to use: "There are several reasons for Desiree’s happy expression today." This structure ensures proper subject-verb agreement, emphasizing the presence of multiple reasons behind Desiree's happiness.

The correct choice for the sentence "He (has/have) been my best friend since first grade." is "has." In English, the verb "has" is used with singular third-person pronouns such as "he," "she," and "it." Therefore, the correct sentence is: - "He has been my best friend since first grade." This usage aligns with standard English grammar, where "has" is the correct auxiliary verb form for the present perfect tense when referring to a singular subject.

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.

The correct choice for the sentence "Some of the grapes in our local market (comes/come) from Mexico." is "come." In this case, "some" refers to a portion of a plural noun ("grapes"), and when "some" is used with a plural noun, the verb should also be plural. Therefore, the correct sentence is: - "Some of the grapes in our local market come from Mexico." This usage emphasizes that the action (coming from Mexico) is associated with a plural subject (grapes), thus requiring a plural verb form, "come."

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.

The correct choice for the sentence "Here (comes/come) the famous star from that movie." is "comes." In this sentence, "the famous star from that movie" is a singular noun phrase, referring to one individual. Therefore, the singular verb form "comes" is appropriate: - "Here comes the famous star from that movie." This construction uses the singular verb "comes" to match the singular subject, emphasizing the arrival of a specific individual.

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.

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.