English is weird. One minute you're confident in your writing, and the next, you’re staring at a sentence about a "group of singers" wondering if they is or if they are. It’s a mess. Most people think they mastered grammar in the third grade, but then they sit down for a subject and verb agreement test and realize the rules are more like suggestions that occasionally bite back.
Basically, the core rule is simple: singular subjects need singular verbs, and plural subjects need plural verbs. If "he" walks, then "they" walk. Easy, right? Well, not really. The complexity creeps in when you start adding "as well as," "neither/nor," or those annoying collective nouns that seem to change their minds depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re on. If you're prepping for an exam or just trying to not look silly in a work email, you've got to look past the basics.
The Triggers That Break Your Brain
Most mistakes on a subject and verb agreement test don't happen because you don't know the rule. They happen because the subject is hiding. Take a sentence like: "The box of vintage, hand-painted Christmas ornaments is/are on the shelf." Your brain sees "ornaments" right before the verb and screams "plural!" But the subject is the box. The box is.
This is called the "propinquity effect" or a "false attraction." It's a glitch in human processing. We tend to agree the verb with the nearest noun rather than the actual head of the noun phrase. According to linguistics experts like Steven Pinker, our mental grammar processors sometimes take a shortcut, especially when the prepositional phrase between the subject and the verb is long and descriptive.
Those Pesky "And" vs. "Or" Situations
Then there's the "and" problem. Usually, "and" makes things plural. "Pizza and beer are great." Duh. But what about "Macaroni and cheese is my favorite meal"? Here, the two nouns represent a single functional unit. If you're taking a subject and verb agreement test, you have to ask yourself: are these two separate things, or is this one "thing" in the mind of the speaker?
- Compound subjects joined by and usually take a plural verb.
- If they represent a single idea (like "law and order" or "bacon and eggs"), use singular.
- When each or every precedes the subject, keep it singular. "Every man and woman was present."
Compare that to or or nor. These are "disjunctive" connectors. They separate. The rule here—often called the Rule of Proximity—says the verb should agree with the part of the subject closest to it. "Neither the manager nor the employees want a meeting." versus "Neither the employees nor the manager wants a meeting." It feels clunky. It feels wrong. But grammatically? It's the gold standard.
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Collective Nouns: The Great Atlantic Divide
Honestly, if you're taking a subject and verb agreement test in London, you might fail it in New York. This is where grammar gets political. In American English (AmE), collective nouns like "team," "committee," "staff," and "band" are almost always singular. The team is winning.
In British English (BrE), it’s much more fluid. The BBC might report that "The Government have decided to raise taxes." To an American ear, that sounds like a glitch in the Matrix. But the British logic is that a government is made of many people acting individually. If the group is acting as one unit, use singular. If you're focusing on the individuals within the group, use plural.
"The jury has reached a verdict." (They acted as one.)
"The jury are still arguing among themselves." (They are acting as individuals.)
Most standardized tests, like the SAT, ACT, or GMAT, lean toward the American style—keep it singular unless there's a very obvious reason not to.
Indefinite Pronouns: The Trap
Here is where people really lose points. Words like anyone, everyone, someone, no one, nobody, and each are singular. Always. "Everyone is here." You wouldn't say "Everyone are here," because that sounds insane.
But it gets harder with words like none or some. These are the "variable" pronouns. Their number depends on what they are referring to.
- "Some of the water is gone." (Water is uncountable/singular)
- "Some of the books are gone." (Books are countable/plural)
The word none is particularly contentious. Strict traditionalists—the kind who probably still use fountain pens—insist none means "not one" and must always be singular. "None of the guests was happy." However, most modern style guides (including Merriam-Webster and the Oxford English Dictionary) acknowledge that in common usage, none is often plural. If you're on a high-stakes subject and verb agreement test, check if the instructions lean "traditional" or "modern." If in doubt, singular is the safer bet for none.
The "There Is" and "There Are" Slip-up
"There’s three things I need to tell you."
We say this all the time. It’s conversational. It’s easy. It’s also technically "wrong" in a formal context.
When a sentence starts with there or here, the subject actually comes after the verb. Since "three things" is the subject, the verb should be are. "There are three things." This is one of the most frequent errors caught in professional editing. We get lazy. We use the contraction "there's" as a universal opener, but a subject and verb agreement test will punish you for it every single time.
Does "Data" Take a Singular or Plural Verb?
This is the ultimate nerd debate. Technically, data is the plural of datum. In scientific writing, you'll still see "The data suggest..." (plural). But in almost every other context, data is treated as a mass noun, like sand or water. You wouldn't say "the sands are hot" unless you were being poetic; you say "the sand is hot." Most modern journalists and bloggers use "the data is."
How to Actually Pass a Subject and Verb Agreement Test
If you're staring at a multiple-choice question and your brain is melting, use the "Stripping Method."
Identify the verb first. Then, ask "Who or what is doing this action?" Ignore everything in between. Strip away the "of the..." phrases. Strip away the "which is..." clauses. Strip away the "along with..." additions.
Example: "The captain, along with his entirely incompetent and sleepy crew, sails/sail tomorrow."
- Verb: sail.
- Who is sailing? The captain. (The crew is just "along for the ride" grammatically).
- Result: The captain sails.
This works for almost every tricky sentence structure. Another tip? Read the sentence out loud, but skip the middle fluff. If you say "The captain sail tomorrow," your ear will instantly tell you it's wrong. Trust your ear, but only after you've cleared the clutter.
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Real-World Nuance and Limitations
It's worth noting that language evolves. What was a "rule" in 1950 might be a "suggestion" in 2026. Singular they is a perfect example. While it’s now widely accepted for gender-neutrality or when the gender is unknown ("Someone left their umbrella"), it still creates agreement headaches. "They is" still sounds wrong, so we use "They are" even when referring to one person.
Formal tests are usually the last place to accept these changes. When you're writing a casual blog post, you can be loose. When you're taking a subject and verb agreement test, you need to be a traditionalist.
Summary of Actionable Steps
- Find the Head Noun: Don't let the nouns inside prepositional phrases (starting with of, in, to, with) trick you.
- Watch the Connectors: And usually adds (plural); or/nor matches the closest noun.
- Collective Nouns: Treat them as a single unit (singular) unless the sentence specifically highlights individual disagreement.
- The "Each" Rule: If "each" or "every" is there, the verb stays singular, no matter how many people are involved.
- Ignore Interrupters: Words like including, besides, together with, and as well as do not change the number of the subject.
- Check the "There/Here" Inversion: Look past the "There is/are" to find the real subject following it.
The best way to solidify this is through deliberate practice. Take a sample subject and verb agreement test, but don't just check the answers. Explain why the correct answer is right. If you can't explain the rule, you haven't mastered it yet. Focus on identifying the "interrupters" first, as those are the primary trap in 90% of advanced grammar questions. Once you can see through the fluff, the agreement becomes obvious.