Subject/Verb Agreement Trivia Quiz

Answer: offer

The subject is "neighbors"; because this word is plural, the verb will NOT have an "s" added to its end.

Answer: sits

Many times several words or a phrase or two may occur between the subject and verb; however, the verb must agree with the true subject of the sentence, regardless of whatever word may be before the verb. In other words, the word immediately before the verb is not always the subject of the verb. "Box" is the subject of this sentence.

As it is singular, the verb must end with an "s," and, therefore, "sits" is correct. "Chocolates" cannot be the subject as it is the object of the prepositional phrase "of delicious chocolates." Besides, if one considers the true meaning of the sentence, it's not merely the chocolates that sit on the top shelf, but the entire box.

Answer: are

First of all, the subject of the verb may not always be before the verb, as is the case here. The subject is "reasons," not "there," which is an adverb. Many sentences can be written in this inverted order, such as when one begins a sentence with "here" or "there," when one asks a question, or when one begins with a phrase. Furthermore, one can see that the irregular verbs, such as "be," still follow the rule of adding an "s" to a singular verb.

As "reasons" is plural, one cannot use a verb ending with "s"; therefore, one must choose the verb without the "s" at the end--"are."

Answer: either of these two verbs

"Deer" is the subject. However, in Standard American English, "deer" can be singular or plural. If the speaker means only one deer is eating all of the cabbage, then the speaker would say, "The deer . . . has eaten . . ." On the other hand, if the speaker means more than one deer are eating the cabbage, then he or she would say, "The deer . . . have eaten . . ."

Answer: are

When the subject is a compound one, meaning more than one word serves as the subject, then the subject is usually considered to be plural; therefore the verb will be without an "s" at the end. In this case, the correct verb is "are"--"Chitterlings and tripe are . . ." However, occasionally a compound subject may be singular--if the words being used as the subject all refer to one noun.

For example, one might say, "Spaghetti and meat sauce is" since spaghetti and meat sauce is one meal or entree. Likewise, one would say, "The winner and new champion is" since these two terms refer to the same person.

Answer: neither of these verbs

The correct verb for this occasion would be "has." The sentence does contain a compound subject; however, those two subjects are combined by the word "or." Thus, both subjects cannot be considered; only one of them or the other is performing the action represented by the verb, but not both of them.

In American English, the speaker then is, rather arbitrarily, supposed to make the verb agree with the subject that is nearest to it. In this case, "my brother" is nearer to the verb, and as "brother" is singular, the verb would have to end with an "s."

Answer: thinks

First of all, "children" is not the subject, for it is in a prepositional phrase between the subject and the verb. The true subject of the verb is "Each." "Each" is a singular indefinite pronoun; it is always considered singular no matter the occasion.

There are several indefinite pronouns that fit into this category such as "either," "neither," "everyone," "someone," "anyone," "no one," etc. If one uses one of these pronouns for a subject, the verb will always end with an "s."

Answer: rejects

The subject is indeed the word "class"; however, "class" is a collective noun and must be treated differently from other nouns. If everyone in that collection or group is doing something together as one, then the noun is treated as a singular one in American English.

This is the case in this sentence, for the class has rejected anesthesia as a unified group. On the other hand, if the everyone in that group is doing something separate from one another or against one another, then the group or collective noun is treated as a plural one.

For example, one would say, "The class fight among themselves" or "A class often choose different focuses of study or majors."

Answer: were

"Data" is the subject, but "data" is a plural word and, if used as a subject, would have to agree with a verb with no "s" added to its end. "Datum" is the singular form. Similarly, "media" is plural and "medium" is singular. Many nouns used in English do not add the letter "s" to become plural, such as "people," "children," "mice," and "feet." On the other hand, many nouns that do end with an "s" are not plural but singular--for example, "news," "politics," "charades," and "measles." One would say, "Measles is a disease" or "The news is very bad." In other words, one cannot always look at the ending of a noun to determine whether it is plural or singular.

Answer: is

The subject of this sentence is the entire noun clause "what Betsy considers the best of all bands." A noun clause is a group of words that contains its own subject and verb and that serves as a noun. As the clause itself is a noun, it can also serve as the subject of a sentence, as it is doing in this sentence.

The clause itself or the singular idea it represents is one item; the clause itself is singular rather than plural. Thus, the verb following the noun clause used as a subject is going to be singular and end with the letter "s."