Writing EffectivelyAvoiding Errors in Subject-Verb and

Pronoun Antecedent Agreement

Getting Sentence Parts to Agree

Avoiding The Most Common Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement

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Ribbons of sinewy, pulsating highways weave throughout Austin, the heart of

Travis County.

A verb must always agree in number (singular or plural) with its subject.

In the sentence above, ‘ribbons’ is the subject and ‘weave’ is the verb. Generally, singular verbs end in ‘s’; plural verbs do not.

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The professor, together with her precocious young scholars, is tackling the

unnerving subject of grammar with unflappable enthusiasm and aplomb.”

Don’t be confused by words that come between the subject and the verb.

While the context of the sentence might suggest a plural subject, look only to the word ‘professor’ as the subject of the sentence, not

‘scholars.’

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Neither inadequate resources nor a dearth of creativity prevents our hero from

pursuing his quest.”

For compound subjects joined by ‘or’ or ‘nor,’ the verb should agree in number with the subject closest to it.

Inadequate resources prevent. A dearth of creativity prevents. Remember: compound subjects joined by and require a plural verb.

Alacrity and drive are requisite characteristics of a capable grammarian, not intellect alone.

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There are many spirited students at James Bowie High School, and there is present

among them a yearning to excel.

Watch out for so-called delayed subjects when the verb comes before the subject in a sentence.

Spirited students are at JBHS, and a yearning to excel is present among them.

If a sentence contains a form of the verb to be (think: is, are, was or were) and a noun precedes

and follows that verb, the verb must agree with the noun that comes before the verb (the subject), not the complement (the noun coming after the verb).

• The cause of his malaise was the slings and arrows of his outrageous fortune.

• The slings and arrows of his outrageous fortune were the cause of his malaise.

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The committee leads the assembly as a unified force for positive change, but the committee advocate for many different

ways to effect that change.Always consider the context of the sentence to ensure that collective

nouns and their verbs agree.

Collective nouns, like faculty, committee, team, congress, species, crowd, army, pair or squad, must be paired with singular verbs when

they refer to a group acting as a unit, but when they refer to the members of the group acting individually, the verbs paired with those

collective nouns must be plural.

Agreement in the Case of Indefinite PronounsSome indefinite pronouns are singular and require singular verbs.

Each

Either

Neither

One Everybody

Another

Anybody

Everyone Nobody

Everything

Somebody

Someone

Some indefinite pronouns are always plural.

Both

Few Several

Many

Singular Indefinite Pronouns

• “To each his own”

• Everyone is welcome.

• Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.

• Neither answer is correct.

• Either opinion is ludicrous.

Plural Indefinite Pronouns

• Several know how this process works.

• Many are chosen; few succeed.

• Both are absurd.

Some indefinite pronouns can be

singular or plural.

All

Any

Most

None

Some

These pronouns are singular if the nouns that

are the objects of the prepositional phrases modifying them are

singular. They are plural if the noun/objects are

plural.

Most of the ruckus was caused by the

unruly mob.

Ruckus—a singular noun—is the object of

the proposition of; therefore, most is considered to be

singular and takes the singular past tense

form of the verb to be or was.

Some of the mistakes were the result of inadvertent error.

Mistakes—a plural noun—is the object of the

proposition of; therefore, some is considered to be

plural and takes the plural past tense form of the verb to be or were.

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One of the most difficult grammatical concepts to grasp is the rule for relative pronouns, and this is one of the concepts

that are the most challenging for newly minted grammarians.

Relative pronouns are pronouns like who, which, and that.

When a relative pronoun is used as the subject of a clause, the number of the verb must agree with the antecedent of the pronoun. The antecedent is the

word to which the pronoun refers. In the sentence above, the clause ‘that are the most challenging for newly minted grammarians’ is a clause modifying the word concepts, and the antecedent of the relative pronoun that is the word concepts.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Remember: the antecedent is the word to which the pronoun refers.

Earnest gave his best effort to the task, while Grace brought her patience.

Use a singular pronoun to refer to these antecedents.

Each

Either

Neither

One Anybody

Anyone

Everyone

Everybody

Somebody

Another

Nobody

A person

Neither of the students dislikes his or her professor.

Everybody has his or her own ideas of what constitutes the

‘good life.’

A person must follow his or her unique path through life.

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Neither the trapeze artists nor the acrobat was daunted by the alarming height from

which she was required to descend.

Neither the manager nor the employees were vexed by the throng of customers clamoring for their attention.

If one of the antecedents joined by or or nor is singular and the other is plural, the

pronoun should agree with the antecedent closest to it.