Sentence Structure Intermediate

Subject-Verb Agreement

Master subject-verb agreement in English. Learn the core rules, tricky cases (collective nouns, indefinite pronouns, compound subjects), and the most common errors in PTE and IELTS writing tasks.

What is Subject-Verb Agreement?

Subject-verb agreement means that a verb must agree in number (singular or plural) with its subject. While the basic rule is simple, many tricky cases arise with collective nouns, indefinite pronouns, compound subjects, and intervening phrases. These are frequent sources of errors in PTE and IELTS writing.

Rules & Formation

Basic rule: singular subject → singular verb; plural subject → plural verb.
Intervening phrases (with/including/as well as/together with) do NOT change the verb: "The teacher, together with her students, is attending the conference."
Collective nouns (team, committee, government, family) take singular verbs in American English and can take singular or plural in British English.
Indefinite pronouns: singular (everyone, someone, anyone, nobody, each, every, either, neither) take singular verbs; plural (both, few, many, several) take plural verbs; either/neither (all, some, any, none) depend on the noun that follows.
Either...or / neither...nor: verb agrees with the subject closest to it: "Neither the students nor the teacher was prepared."
Titles, subjects, and phrases as single units take singular verbs: "Economics is a complex subject."

Examples

The quality of the results has improved significantly. (subject is "quality", not "results")

Each of the students is responsible for their own application.

Neither the report nor the presentation has been submitted.

Mathematics requires strong analytical thinking. (subject/field name = singular)

The committee is reviewing the proposal. (collective noun = singular)

❌ The group of students are studying. → ✅ The group of students is studying.

🎯 Exam Tip — PTE & IELTS

Subject-verb agreement errors are heavily penalised in PTE Write Essay and IELTS Writing because they suggest a basic gap in grammar control. The most common trap: a long subject phrase where the head noun is far from the verb. Always identify the actual head noun: "The impact of technological changes on employment markets [is / are] significant." — head noun is "impact" (singular) → "is".

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the verb agreement rule with "none"?

"None" can be singular or plural depending on the noun it refers to. Traditionally, "none" is singular: "None of the information is correct." However, when referring to a plural noun in informal usage, plural is acceptable: "None of the students were absent." In formal IELTS/PTE academic writing, singular is preferred: "None of the evidence supports this conclusion."

How does subject-verb agreement work with "There is/are"?

The verb agrees with the actual subject (which comes after the verb in "There is/are" constructions). Singular subject → "There is": "There is one major problem." Plural subject → "There are": "There are several important factors." A common error: "There's many factors..." → "There are many factors..." The contraction "there's" is singular and should not be used with plural subjects in academic writing.

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