Subject-Verb Agreement Exercise & Practice with Explanation

1. Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject: His pants ____ torn during the match.
Correct Answer: were
Explanation: Some nouns are always considered as a plural noun like ‘pants’ in this sentence and the main verb here is in past form, so the auxiliary verb should be in plural and past form.
2. Aron, together with his wife ____ the guests of the party.
Correct Answer: greets
Explanation: Multiple subjects are connected by ‘together with’ so only the noun before it will affect the verb.
3. Tweezers ____ always useful to handle small objects.
Correct Answer: are
Explanation: Some nouns are always considered as a plural noun like ‘tweezers’ in this sentence.
4. The jury ____ not convinced.
Correct Answer: was
Explanation: ‘jury’ is a collective noun which is always considered as a singular subject.
5. The truthful ____ always trustworthy.
Correct Answer: are
Explanation: The subject of this sentence is an adjective which started with ‘the’, so the verb will always be plural in this kind of situation.
6. To cry ____ never the solution to any problems.
Correct Answer: is
Explanation: An infinitive is used as the subject so the verb should be singular here
7. A number of soldiers ____ injured during the war.
Correct Answer: were
Explanation: The subject ‘soldier’ is accompanied by ‘A number of’ which makes it plural.
8. The number of deceased soldiers ____ not stored in the record book.
Correct Answer: is
Explanation: The subject ‘deceased soldiers’ is accompanied by ‘The number of’ which makes it singula
9. A pack of lions ____ approaching the camp.
Correct Answer: was
Explanation: The subject ‘A pack of lions’ is considered as a singular noun so the verb should be singular as well.
10. Killing ____ not always considered a bad thing.
Correct Answer: was
Explanation: The subject of the sentence is a ‘gerund’ so the verb should be in singular form.
11. There ____ many difficulties regarding the situation.
Correct Answer: were
Explanation: The sentence started with ‘there’, so the subject came after the verb. As the subject is plural so the verb should be plural as well.
12. Here ____ the tomb of Albert Einstein.
Correct Answer: lies
Explanation: The sentence starts with ‘Here’, so the verb comes before the subject. As the subject is singular so the verb should be singular as well.
13. Either she or her friends ____ responsible for this accident.
Correct Answer: are
Explanation: Two subjects are accompanied by ‘Either… or’ so only the subject after ‘or’ will have any effect on the verb
14. Neither me nor my parents ____ aware of the incident.
Correct Answer: were
Explanation: Two subjects are accompanied by ‘Neither… or’ so only the subject after ‘or’ will have any effect on the verb.
15. None ____ none under the sun.
Correct Answer: is
Explanation: Here ‘None’ is used alone in the sentence so it is singular and so the auxiliary verb should be singular as well.
16. None of them ____ able to solve this question.
Correct Answer: were
Explanation: Although ‘None’ is singular when used alone but in this sentence, it is accompanied by a prepositional phrase consisting of a plural subject. So the verb should be plural as well.
17. Eight fifty dollars ____ what it would cost to buy the new pixel phone.
Correct Answer: is
Explanation: The subject is a collective noun so the verb should be singular.
18. A pair of trousers ____ all that I brought along
Correct Answer: is
Explanation: Here the noun ‘trousers’ is preceded by ‘A pair of’ which makes it a singular subject. So the verb should be singular in this sentence.
19. Everything ____ fine when it’s done correctly.
Correct Answer: works
Explanation: Here the subject ‘everything’ is singular so the verb is modified accordingly.
20. Ronaldo and Messi ____ the greatest football players of the 21st century.
Correct Answer: are
Explanation: Both nouns are connected by ‘and’ so the verb should be plural in this sentence.
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