Articles Categorized Grammar & Usage

Subject-verb agreement is a deceptively easy grammar rule: a single subject gets a single verb, and a plural subject gets a plural verb. Yet deciding when a noun is singular and when it’s a plural is harder than it looks. In “10 Subject-Verb Agreement Rules,” I outlined 10 subcategories of subject-verb agreement, noting that Amy

Subject-verb agreement sounds easy, doesn’t it? A singular subject takes singular verb: Tom rides his bike to work every day. A plural subject takes a plural verb: The boys are climbing the walls like caged animals. Yet The Copyeditor’s Handbook lists no fewer than 25 cases that aren’t so clear cut, and Garner’s Modern American