When you are writing about units of money, making the verbs you use agree can be difficult, as monetary units take on singular or plural forms in different situations. Indeed, choosing the appropriate verb depends on how the money is referred to.

Money, currency, or cash are always considered single units that refer to something plural, similar to “humanity” or “news.” These words always require require a singular verb.

EX: Some say that money is the root of all evil.

EX: Is there enough cash in your account to pay the balance?

Dollars, when referred to as a single dollar or a collective amount, requires a singular verb.

EX: There is one dollar on the table.

EX: Twenty dollars is too much money to spend on a pair of socks. (Rearrange the sentence to see the agreement: Too much money to spend is twenty dollars.)

Dollars only requires a plural verb when the situation implies that the currency is considered to be separate bills. In other words, the dollars themselves are the subject.

EX: How many dollars are in your wallet? (Hint: Insert the phrase dollar bills in place of dollars to check for verb agreement.)

EX: The dollars that have been in my back pocket all day are rather crumpled.

The following website discusses subject-verb agreement from the basic level to some of the more confusing collective noun cases: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/599/01/
 

Test your understanding of the correct noun-verb agreement using money:

1. Five hundred dollars in the current economy (equal, equals) the value of two hundred dollars in 1955.

2. The dollars on the table (is, are) just tempting me to snatch them!

3. The kiosk limits how much money it will take because there (is, are) limited dollars in change that it can provide.

Answers:

1. Five hundred dollars in the current economy equals the value of two hundred dollars in 1955.

2. The dollars on the table are just tempting me to snatch them!

3. The kiosk limits how much money it will take because there are limited dollars in change that it can provide.

Grammatically Correct is a grammar tip of the week created by Academic Center Peer Writing Tutors at the University of Houston-Victoria in Victoria, Texas.

Comments about this newsletter should be directed to Summer Leibensperger, leibenspergers@uhv.edu.

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