How can I practice Subject-Verb Agreement?

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Is Subject-Verb Agreement important for exams?

Subject-Verb Agreement appears in school exams and competitive exams like SSC and Bank PO English sections. Practising with exam-style questions improves accuracy and speed.

Subject-Verb Agreement

Sentence Structure elementary medium

The verb must agree with its subject in number and person.

Sentence Structure — How sentences are built and transformed.

Rules

1. Singular subject → singular verb: He goes; The boy plays. 2. Plural subject → plural verb: They go; The boys play. 3. "Each/every/either/neither + singular noun" takes a singular verb: Each student has a book. 4. "Neither...nor / either...or" agree with the nearer subject. 5. Collective nouns (team, family) take a singular verb when acting as one unit. 6. "The number of" → singular; "A number of" → plural. 7. Uncountable nouns take singular verbs: The information is useful.

Explanation

Look past phrases that come between subject and verb: "The box of chocolates is on the table" — subject is "box", not "chocolates".

हिंदी में

कर्ता और क्रिया में संख्या का मेल होना चाहिए। एकवचन कर्ता के साथ एकवचन क्रिया। बीच में आने वाले वाक्यांशों से बहकना नहीं चाहिए।

Examples

The box of chocolates is on the table. — चॉकलेट का डिब्बा मेज़ पर है।
Each student has a laptop. — हर छात्र के पास लैपटॉप है।

Common Mistakes

{"mistake":"The list of items are long.","correction":"The list of items is long.","note":"Subject is \"list\" (singular)."}
{"mistake":"Either Ravi or his friends is coming.","correction":"Either Ravi or his friends are coming.","note":"Agree with the nearer subject \"friends\"."}

Practice Questions

Q1. Translate into English: "लोग खुश हैं।"

Answer: The people are happy.

💡 People is plural → are.

Q2. Complete: "Everyone in the class ___ the assignment."

has finished
have finished
are finishing
were finishing

Answer: has finished

💡 Everyone is singular → has.

Q3. Which sentence contains an error?

The class is studying hard.
The class are taking their seats.
The audience was very quiet.
The jury has announced its decision.

Answer: The class are taking their seats.

💡 The class acting as one unit → "is taking its seats" (or members acting separately is acceptable in BrE; the singular is safer here).

Practice & Test Yourself

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Topic	Level	What it covers
Subject & Predicate	beginner	Every sentence splits into subject and predicate.
Objects	elementary	Direct and indirect objects receive the action of the verb.
Complements	elementary	Subject and object complements complete the meaning of the sentence.
Phrase	elementary	A phrase is a group of words without a subject-verb unit.
Clause	intermediate	A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb.
Sentence Types	elementary	Sentences are classified by function: statement, question, command, exclamation.