Subject-Verb Agreement is the grammatical rule that the subject and verb in a sentence must match in number and person. Simply put, if the subject is singular, the verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural.
Singular subjects take singular verbs (He runs)
Plural subjects take plural verbs (They run)
Collective nouns are usually singular (The team is playing)
'And' makes subjects plural (Ram and Shyam are friends)
'Or/Nor' follows the nearest subject (Either Ram or his friends are coming)
SSC CGL consistently asks 2-3 questions on Subject-Verb Agreement. Common question types include: - Error detection in sentences - Fill in the blanks with correct verb form - Sentence improvement questions - Para jumbles where agreement affects meaning Shortcut Formula for Collective Nouns: Team/Committee/Family/Government + acting as ONE unit = Singular verb Team/Committee/Family/Government + acting as INDIVIDUALS = Plural verb
Identify the structure - 'Neither...nor' construction
Apply proximity rule - verb agrees with nearest subject
Nearest subject is 'students' (plural)
Therefore, use 'were' (plural verb) Answer: Neither the teacher nor the students WERE present. Worked Example 2: Question: The committee (has/have) decided to postpone the meeting.
Identify subject - 'committee' (collective noun)
Determine if acting as unit or individuals
'Decided' suggests unanimous action = acting as one unit
One unit = singular verb Answer: The committee HAS decided to postpone the meeting. Powerful Exam Shortcuts: Trick 1 - FANBOYS Rule for Subjects: When subjects joined by 'For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So' - only 'And' makes it plural, others follow proximity rule. Trick 2 - Percentage/Fraction Formula: Percent/Fraction + OF + Singular noun = Singular verb Percent/Fraction + OF + Plural noun = Plural verb Example: 50% of the water IS pure / 50% of the students ARE present Trick 3 - Distance/Time/Money Rule: When talking about total amount as ONE unit = Singular verb Example: Five kilometers IS a long distance (not 'are') Most Common Trap (#1 Student Mistake): Students get confused by words between subject and verb. Always identify the MAIN subject, ignore the words in between. Wrong thinking: 'The bag of books are heavy' (thinking 'books' is subject) Correct: 'The bag of books IS heavy' (subject is 'bag', not 'books') Quick Identification Method: Cross out prepositional phrases (of, in, on, at, with, by, for) to find the real subject. 'The leader of all political parties' → Cross out 'of all political parties' → Subject is 'leader' (singular) Special Cases to Remember: - None can be singular or plural depending on context - Each, every, either, neither are always singular - Data can be singular (modern usage) or plural (traditional) - Scissors, trousers, spectacles are always plural Exam Success Strategy: In error detection questions, immediately scan for subject-verb mismatches. This appears in 60% of grammar-based error detection questions in SSC CGL. Practice identifying the main subject by eliminating prepositional phrases and modifying clauses.
5graded MCQs · easy to hard · full solution & trap analysis