Subject-Verb Agreement

Certain rules have to be followed to ensure subject-verb agreement in sentences. The subject and the main verb of a clause should always agree in number.

Rule 11

Intervening phrases like together with, in addition to, as well as, and including do not affect the number of the subject.

Examples:

Captain James dela Cruz, together with his wife and children, is going on a special trip aboard Alvin, a 23-feet long submersible.

Auguste Piccard, as well as his team, is acknowledged for building different versions of deep submersible crafts.

Rule 12

Words or phrases expressing periods of time, weights, measurements, and amounts of money use singular verbs.

Examples:

Three hundred twenty-two kilometers per hour is a train's average speed in modern times.

Ten years is enough to build the latest high-speed trains.

Rule 13

A fraction may take a singular or a plural verb, depending on the of-phrase following it.

Examples:

One-fourth of the car was damaged during the accident.

Three-fourths of the houses were burned down by the fire.

Rule 14

The expression the number uses a singular verb. The expression a number uses a plural verb.

Examples:

The number of cars sold this year has increased tremendously.

A number of accidents were noted this week.

Rule 15

Titles of books, movies, and television or radio programs use singular verbs even when they are plural in form.

Examples:

Alvin and the Chipmunks is worth watching.

The Elves and the Shoemaker is adored by children.