Rule 1: Two (or more) singular nouns joined by and make a plural subject.
The celery stick and carrot sit untouched on Shelby's plate. (They sit)
Rule 2: When each and every precedes two (or more) singular nouns joined by and, you have a singular subject.
Every celery stick and carrot sits untouched on Shelby's plate. (It sits)
In this situation, no matter how many singular nouns you join with and , the subject is still singular.
Every celery stick, piece of rice, pudding blob, and carrot sits untouched on Shelby's plate. (It sits)
Rule 3: When subjects are joined by or, nor, either/or, or neither/nor, the verb agrees with the closer subject.
Either the road or the sidewalks have been slated for repaving.
Either the sidewalks or the road is being slated for repaving.
Rule 4: Indefinite Pronouns: a verb must agree in number with an indefinite pronoun used as a subject.
| Singular | anybody, anyone, each, either, everybody, everyone, neither, no one, one, somebody, someone |
| Plural | both, few, many, several |
| Singular or Plural | all, any, most, none, some |
Singular: One of the students was asked to be member of the club.
Plural: Few of my friends are going to the meeting.
Singular or Plural: Some of the water was spilled. Some of the pyramids were looted.
Rule 5: Watch for inverted word order. Here and there are never the subjects. Cross through prepositional phrases to find the real subject.
Hidden for centuries in Cambodia's tropical jungle was the mysterious city known as Angkor Thom. (city was hidden)
Was the algebra equation solved before class ended? (equation was solved)
Here is your accounting textbook. (Your textbook is here.)