UH-Victoria

Subject /Verb Agreement

Exercise 3

 

Correct each of the following sentences by identifying its simple subject and determining whether the subject is singular or plural (you may need to refer the rules discussed on the Subject/Verb Agreement Part 1 and Part 2 handouts). To check whether you have made the correct verb choice, substitute it for singular subjects or they for plural subjects to check whether the core of the sentence agrees in number.

  1. Everyone attending today’s seminar (receive, receives) four continuing education credits.
  2. Syllabi for the technical writing course (suggest, suggests) that mastery of basic grammatical concepts is necessary to perform well in the course.
  3. There (are, is) no truth to the rumor that the coach will be fired at the end of the season.
  4. Neither Jack nor Jill (want, wants) to go up that same hill.
  5. Upon straightening up the classroom, the children and their teacher (spend, spends) the remainder of the afternoon singing songs.
  6. The musical group, as well as the fans, (were, was) disappointed by the cancellation of the concert.
  7. Some of the paragraphs still (need, needs) to be revised before submitting the final draft.
  8. Will and Grace (were, was) nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the category of outstanding comedy program.
  9. A presence of three absences (result, results) in a deduction of ten points from the final grade earned in the course.
  10. Excited about being in the Super Bowl, the team (rush, rushes) onto the playing field.
  11. The phenomenon of alien sightings (are, is) questioned by many scientists.
  12. Each of Freud’s five stages of development (involve, involves) a psychological conflict that must be resolved in order to achieve heath and happiness later in life.
  13. Mathematics (excite, excites) many students majoring in scientific disciplines.
  14. The pilot, as well as his crew, (believe, believes) the inclement weather will result in a flight delay.
  15. All flight attendants for the airline (announce, announces) the same greeting and safety speech at the start of every flight.
  16. Midlife crises (trouble, troubles) many people who are unsure of the meaning of life.
  17. Either cereal or pancakes (are, is) eaten by Sam for breakfast each morning.
  18. As far as we know, neurons and glia (comprise, comprises) the majority of the cells located in the human brain.
  19. There (are, is) three things Chris needs to do for school before I can go to the movies tonight.
  20. Enough organizations (donate, donates) various goods and services to this particular charity.

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