UH-Victoria

Subject /Verb Agreement

Exercise 5

 

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. Either the judge or the jury (decide, decides) whether or not the defendant is guilty.
  2. Every member of the American Humanics program (contribute, contributes) many hours to community service.
  3. Five milliliters (seem, seems) to be an adequate amount of base to neutralize the acid.
  4. Any death that occurs in our family (remind, reminds) us about the precious nature of life.
  5. There (are, is) numerous points about Darwin’s theory of evolution that today’s scientists simply no longer believe.
  6. All employees (record, records) the number of hours worked for each day.
  7. Drs. Smith and Jones (do, does) not agree on the historical foundations of capitalism in our society.
  8. Data from the study (support, supports) Taylor’s original hypothesis that stress is an important factor in a person’s health.
  9. According to some fans, The Three Stooges (are, is) the best comedy show that has ever been aired.
  10. The family (attend, attends) a reunion in Austin every five years.
  11. The logic behind this new computer program (confuse, confuses) almost all of the company’s telephone operators.
  12. The medium the artist often chooses to use while painting (are, is) rather unconventional.
  13. Four quarters (need, needs) to be inserted into the slot machine before anyone can pull the lever.
  14. Each of the company’s employees (access, accesses) the computer program with a different user name and password.
  15. Neither the manager nor the employees (know, knows) the plan of action to take in case of a fire.
  16. There (are, is) a special place in the park where the family often goes for a picnic.
  17. Pat’s analyses of Shakespeare (look, looks) at the author’s works in relation to the culture of the time during which they were written.
  18. The majority of her employees (receive, receives) cash bonuses at the end of each year.
  19. In addition to icing, raisins and nuts (add, adds) extra flavor and texture to cinnamon rolls.
  20. Enough mail to fill the post office box (arrive, arrives) every day.

View the answers to this exercise (A new window will open; close the window to return to this exercise.)