Tricky Situations for Subject-Verb Agreement

Tricky Situations for Subject-Verb Agreement

Even experienced writers can stumble on subject–verb agreement, especially when sentences become long, technical, or full of embedded phrases. For researchers writing in English, accuracy here is more than a grammar nicety: it affects clarity, credibility, and reviewer confidence. This guide explains the most common tricky cases you’ll face in scholarly prose, with clear rules, memorable tips, and field-tested examples.

---

1) A 30-Second Refresher: The Core Rule

The verb must agree in number with the sentence’s true subject—not with nearby nouns, not with objects, and not with words inside interrupting phrases.

• Singular subject → singular verb: The dataset is complete.
• Plural subject → plural verb: The datasets are complete.

Simple—until real research sentences show up. Let’s handle the tough cases.

---

2) Subjects Joined by or / nor

With or and nor, the verb agrees with the part of the subject that is closest to the verb (the “proximity rule”).

• Neither the supervisor nor the students were available.
• Either the instruments or the protocol was flawed.
• Either the protocol or the instruments were flawed.

Tip: When revising, place the plural element next to the verb to avoid awkward agreement: “Either the protocol or the instruments were flawed.”

---

3) Interrupting Phrases (Don’t Be Distracted!)

Prepositional and relative clauses often sit between subject and verb. Ignore their nouns when deciding agreement.

• The paper that the researchers wrote is rigorous.
• The results, which the student obtained despite setbacks, have surprised the examiners.

Watch for long insertions with tempting plural nouns. Grammar tools sometimes flag the correct verb here—trust the subject, not the nearest noun.

---

4) Subjects Expanded with “along with,” “together with,” “as well as”

These add-ons do not make the subject plural. They are modifiers, not compound subjects.

• John, along with his colleagues, attends the conference.
• The students, as well as their instructor, are drafting a complaint.

---

5) Compound Subjects with and

Generally, and makes the subject plural because it combines elements.

• Accuracy and reliability are essential.

Exceptions: If the pair forms a single idea/set (“bread and butter,” “time and space”) or names one entity/title, a singular verb is common.

• Research and development is central to our strategy.
• The Journal of Teaching and Learning publishes quarterly.

---

6) Collective Nouns (team, committee, data set)

Usage varies by dialect and intention:

• American English: collective nouns usually take a singular verb when acting as a unit: The team is meeting.
• British English: plural verbs are common when emphasising individuals: The team are discussing their results.

Be consistent within a document. Switch to plural pronouns/verbal forms only if you truly emphasise members acting separately.

---

7) Indefinite Pronouns (each, everyone, none, some)

Pronoun	Agreement	Example
each, every, either, neither	Singular	Each of the samples was tested.
everyone, everybody, somebody, anyone	Singular (take singular verbs; pronoun choice may be singular “they” for inclusivity)	Everyone agrees with the protocol.
none, some, all, most, half	Singular or plural—depends on the of-phrase	None of the evidence is conclusive; none of the participants were excluded.

---

8) Plural-Looking Nouns that Are Singular (and vice versa)

• Singular in form but looks plural: mathematics, economics, physics → Mathematics is challenging.
• Pluralia tantum (always plural): scissors, pants, premises, analytics (often plural), ethics (contextual) → The scissors are on the desk.
• Data: In scientific contexts, often plural (the data were), but singular usage (the data is) appears in some fields. Follow your journal’s style.
• Media, bacteria, criteria: Plural; singular forms are medium, bacterium, criterion.

---

9) Amounts, Fractions, and Percentages

Agreement depends on whether the measurement is treated as a single unit or as countable items.

• Ten million dollars is allocated (the sum as a unit).
• Ten million coins are missing (countable items).
• Sixty percent of the sample is female (sample = a unit).
• Sixty percent of the participants are female (participants are countable).
• Half of the water was lost; half of the participants were lost to follow-up.

---

10) Titles, Terms, and Quoted Phrases

Titles of works, names of entities, and quoted terms usually take a singular verb—even if they contain plural words.

• “Findings and Perspectives” is the most cited section.
• Statistics and Probability is a required course.

---

11) Relative Clauses with who/that/which

Agreement follows the antecedent of the relative pronoun, not the nearest noun inside the clause.

• The researchers who analyse the samples work off-site.
• The researcher who analyses the samples works off-site.

---

12) Inverted Constructions with “there is/are”

Here, the verb agrees with the noun that follows.

• There is a difference in yield.
• There are significant differences in yield.

---

13) Gerunds and Infinitives as Subjects

Gerunds (-ing forms used as nouns) are singular; infinitives are typically treated as singular subjects.

• Measuring baseline variability is essential.
• To replicate the analysis takes time.

---

14) Each/Either/Neither with Plural Nouns

Each, either, neither before a plural noun phrase typically governs a singular verb.

• Each of the results is tabulated.
• Neither of the explanations fits the data.

---

15) Appositives and Parenthetical Nouns

Appositives rename the subject; they don’t change number unless they create a true compound subject with and.

• The principal investigator, a leading epidemiologist, was present.
• The principal investigator and a leading epidemiologist were present.

---

16) Acronyms, Symbols, and Letters as Subjects

Treat them as singular unless inherently plural in meaning or used that way in your field.

• HIV is detectable after exposure.
• GPS is used in the survey.
• CFU (colony-forming units) are counted per plate (plural sense in context).

---

17) “More than one” and “One of the … who”

• More than one usually takes a singular verb: More than one student has raised the issue.
• One of the X who … → the verb in the relative clause agrees with X (plural), not with “one”: She is one of the researchers who publish regularly.

---

18) Practical Editing Checklist

• Underline the true subject; ignore nouns in prepositional/relative clauses when choosing the verb.
• Circle and, or, nor, and add-ons (“along with…”) to test compound vs. modified subjects.
• Check indefinite pronouns (“each,” “none”) and quantity phrases (“% of,” “fraction of”).
• Confirm discipline conventions for data, media, bacteria, criteria.
• Scan for “there is/are” inversions; make the verb match the following noun.
• Keep dialect choices (US/UK) consistent for collective nouns.

---

19) Mini-Practice: Choose the Correct Verb

1. (Either the sensors or the control unit) ___ faulty. is / are
2. (The prevalence of resistant strains), which (the recent reports) ___, ___ increasing. note / is — notes / are
3. (Each of the reviewers) ___ requested additional data. has / have
4. (Fifty percent of the participants) ___ consenting. is / are
5. (Statistics and probability) ___ taught in the first year. is / are
6. (The committee) ___ divided in their opinions. (BrE style) is / are
7. There ___ several limitations to acknowledge. is / are
8. (The data) ___ conclusive in this subset. (Your journal prefers plural “data.”) is / are

Show suggested answers

1. is (nearest subject “unit” is singular)
2. note, is (reports note—plural; main subject “prevalence” is singular → is)
3. has (“each” is singular)
4. are (“participants” = plural count)
5. is (treated as a single course/field title)
6. are (BrE collective used plurally; AmE commonly “is”)
7. are (plural “limitations”)
8. are (discipline expects plural “data”)

---

20) Research-Style Examples and Fixes

Problem: Long interrupting clause pulls agreement off course.
The correlation between the biomarkers, which in several independent longitudinal cohorts has been shown to vary seasonally, are weak.
Fix: Subject is correlation (singular) → is.
The correlation between the biomarkers, which in several independent longitudinal cohorts has been shown to vary seasonally, is weak.

Problem: “Along with” wrongly treated as a compound subject.
The principal investigator, along with two statisticians, were consulted.
Fix: Singular subject → was.
The principal investigator, along with two statisticians, was consulted.

Problem: Percentage with plural of-phrase.
Forty percent of the samples is contaminated.
Fix: “Samples” = plural → are.
Forty percent of the samples are contaminated.

---

21) When Grammar Tools Disagree

Automated checkers are helpful but imperfect—especially with technical prose. Where a tool flags your verb, double-check:

• Have you identified the true subject?
• Is a nearby plural/singular noun inside a modifier confusing the tool?
• Are you following your field’s convention (e.g., data are)?

When in doubt, test the sentence by stripping away modifiers and reading the core subject–verb pair aloud.

---

22) Final Takeaways

• Agreement follows the real subject, not the nearest noun.
• Or/Nor: match the element closest to the verb.
• Along with / as well as: do not change the number of the subject.
• Quantities: treat as singular when a single unit, plural when counting items.
• Collectives & data: follow your journal’s dialect and disciplinary norms—stay consistent.

Mastering these patterns frees you to write research sentences that are long, precise, and nuanced—without losing grammatical control. That accuracy helps reviewers trust your prose and focus on your results.

Need a second pair of eyes on complex manuscripts? Professional academic editors at Proof-Reading-Service.com can review your grammar, style, and journal conformity so your findings—not avoidable agreement errors—take centre stage.