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DEMO: Subject–verb agreement

Worked examples

• The flowers in the vase ___ fresh. The subject is "flowers" (plural): The flowers in the vase are fresh.
• Neither the boys nor the girl ___ absent. The nearer subject is "girl" (singular): Neither the boys nor the girl was absent.
• Each of the girls ___ a pen. "Each" is singular: Each of the girls has a pen.
• Physics ___ an interesting subject. Physics is singular: Physics is an interesting subject.
• Ali and Sara ___ friends. Two subjects joined by "and": Ali and Sara are friends.
• There ___ a cat on the roof. The real subject "a cat" is singular: There is a cat on the roof.

Key points

• Find the subject: "books", not "table".
• "Books" is plural, so use a plural verb.
• With "neither ... nor", the verb agrees with the nearer subject.
• The nearer subject is "students" (plural).
• "Each" means one at a time, so it is singular.
• A singular subject takes "has".
• Names of subjects ending in -s (mathematics, physics) are singular.
• One subject takes "is".
• Two subjects joined by "and" make a plural subject.
• A plural subject takes "are".
• In "There ___ ..." sentences, the real subject comes after the verb.
• The real subject is "students" (plural).

Teacher video

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