Subject Verb Agreement

There ______ four hurdles to jump. (is/are)

are (in sentences beginning with here or there, the true subject follows the verb)

A car and a bike ______ my means of transportation. (is/are)

are (use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and)

All of my family ______ arrived. (has/have)

both could work (with collective nouns such as group, jury, family, audience, population, the verb might be singular or plural, depending on the writer's intent)

Neither the serving bowl nor the plates ______ on that shelf. (go/goes)

go (the verb in an or, either/or, or neither/nor sentence agrees with the noun or pronoun closest to it)

Neither the plates nor the serving bowl ______ on that shelf. (go/goes)

goes (the verb in an or, either/or, or neither/nor sentence agrees with the noun or pronoun closest to it)

A lot of the pie ______ disappeared. (has/have)

has (with words that indicate portions—e.g., a lot, a majority, some, all, we are guided by the noun after "of". If the noun after of is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb)

The list of items _____ on the desk. (is/are)

is (a singular subject takes a singular verb, whereas a plural subject takes a plural verb)

Joe (and his friend) ______ always here. (is/are)

is (parentheses are not part of the subject)

Excitement, as well as nervousness, _______ the cause of her shaking. (is/are)

is (sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by such words as along with, as well as, besides, not, etc. These words and phrases are not part of the subject. Ignore them and use a singular verb when the subject is singular)

Either Kiana or Casey ______ helping today with stage decorations. (is/are)

is (two singular subjects connected by or, either/or, or neither/nor require a singular verb)

Neither Juan nor Carmen ______ available. (is/are)

is (two singular subjects connected by or, either/or, or neither/nor require a singular verb)

Three miles ______ too far to walk. (is/are)

is (use a singular verb with distances, periods of time, sums of money, etc., when considered as a unit)

A bouquet of yellow roses ______ color and fragrance to the room. (lend/lends)

lends (a subject will come before a phrase beginning with "of". This is a key rule for understanding subjects. The word of is the culprit in many, perhaps most, subject-verb mistakes)

If Joe ______ here, you'd be sorry. (was/were)

were (the word were replaces was in sentences that express a wish or are contrary to fact)