Subject-Verb Agreement Quiz | Advanced Level | 30 Questions & Answers with Explanations

"Mathematics" ends in "-s" but refers to a single field of study, so it takes a singular verb, just like Physics, Economics, and Ethics.

Memory hook: subject names ending in "-ics" are singular — mathematics is considered difficult, not are considered.

"Scenery" is an uncountable noun and never takes a plural "-s" form, always pairing with a singular verb regardless of how many hill stations are described.

Memory hook: scenery, like furniture and luggage, has no plural — the scenery is breathtaking.

"Jury" is a collective noun acting as a single unit, so it takes both the singular verb "has" and the singular possessive "its," not "their."

Memory hook: jury, like committee and team, is one entity — the jury has reached its verdict.

"Panel" is the true subject and a collective noun acting as one unit, so it takes the singular verb "has announced," while "of judges" is simply a prepositional phrase.

Memory hook: panel, like committee and jury, is one body — the panel has announced the winner.

"Every" makes the subject singular even when it connects two nouns with "and," treating each item individually rather than as a combined plural group.

Memory hook: "every," like "each," overrides "and" — every student and teacher was informed.

The relative pronoun "who" here refers back to "leaders" (plural), not "he," so the verb inside the clause must be plural — "inspire," not "inspires."

Memory hook: trace "who" to its true antecedent before choosing the verb — leaders who inspire, not he who inspires.

"Furniture" is an uncountable noun and always takes a singular verb, so "were damaged" should be corrected to "was damaged."

"In all the rooms" is a prepositional distractor that shouldn't influence the verb.

Memory hook: cross out the "in" phrase and remember furniture is always singular — the furniture was damaged.

"Along with its members" is a parenthetical phrase, so the real subject is "the committee," a collective noun acting as a unit, requiring the singular verb "has submitted."

Memory hook: bracket the "along with" phrase and treat committee as one unit — the committee has submitted.

"A number of complaints" carries a plural meaning equivalent to "many complaints," so it takes the plural verb "were," further confirmed by the past-tense clue "last week."

Memory hook: swap "a number of" with "many" to test it — many complaints were received.

"Who" refers back to "officers" (plural), not "she" or "one," so the verb inside the relative clause must be plural — "work," not "works."

This antecedent-tracing skill is one of the most heavily tested advanced SVA rules.

Memory hook: "one of those [plural] who" always takes a plural verb — officers who work tirelessly.

With "neither...nor," the verb agrees with the nearer subject, and here "players" (plural) sits closer to the verb than "captain" (singular), so "were" is correct.

Memory hook: always check proximity, not just the first-listed subject — neither the captain nor the players were satisfied.

"News" is the true subject here and is uncountable, so it always takes a singular verb — "was disturbing," not "were disturbing."

"About the earthquake and the floods" is a prepositional phrase modifying "news," not a compound subject joined by "and."

Memory hook: don't be fooled by "and" inside a prepositional phrase — the news was disturbing.

The noun after "of" in this fraction structure is "budget" (uncountable/singular), so the verb must be singular — "has been allocated."

Memory hook: look past the fraction to the noun after "of" — budget is singular, so three-fourths of the budget has been allocated.

The true subject is "each" (singular), regardless of the plural "students" and the relative clause that follows it, so the verb must be singular — "was given."

Memory hook: "each" always governs the verb, no matter how many distractor phrases follow — each...was given.

"Staff" is a collective noun, and when referred to as a single unit (as reflected by the possessive "its" rather than "their"), it takes a singular verb — "is known."

Memory hook: check the pronoun used later in the sentence — "its" signals singular treatment — the staff is known for its hospitality.

The true subject is "quality" (singular), while "of the products manufactured in this factory" is an extended prepositional phrase acting as a distractor, so the verb should be "has declined," not "have declined."

Memory hook: no matter how long the distractor phrase gets, trace back to the true subject — quality has declined.

The subject is "one" (singular), not "reasons," so the verb should be "is," not "are," despite the plural noun sitting right before the verb.

Memory hook: "one of the [plural noun]" keeps "one" as the true singular anchor — one...is his consistent hard work.

Since "principal" (singular) is the subject nearer to the verb in this reversed order, the verb should agree with it — "was available," not "were available."

Memory hook: always check which noun is closest to the verb, since exams often reverse the expected order — neither the teachers nor the principal was available.

"A number of employees" carries a plural meaning ("many employees"), so the verb should be "are planning," not "is planning."

This is a reminder that "a number of" always signals a plural verb, unlike "the number of."

Memory hook: substitute "many" to check — many employees are planning to resign.

In this fraction structure, the verb should agree with the noun after "of" — "students" (plural) — so "were unable to solve" is correct, not "was unable to solve."

Memory hook: the noun right after "of" decides the verb in fractions — students is plural, so half of the students were unable.

"Everybody," like all indefinite pronouns ending in "-body," "-one," and "-thing," is always singular, so "was invited" is correct despite "in the office" suggesting a larger group.

Memory hook: everybody, somebody, nobody — always singular, no matter how large the group implied — everybody was invited.

"Government" is a collective noun acting as a unit here, so it should take the singular verb "has decided," not "have decided," following the same rule as team, jury, and committee.

Memory hook: government, like committee, acts as one body in standard exam English — the government has decided.

In "either...or" constructions, the verb agrees with the nearer subject, and here "assistants" (plural) is closer to the verb than "manager" (singular), so it should be "are responsible," not "is responsible."

Memory hook: the subject touching the verb wins — either the manager or his assistants are responsible.

"Crew" can take a singular verb with "its" when acting as one unit, or a plural verb with "their" when members are being referred to individually — competitive exams generally favour the singular "unit" treatment, but recognising both is an advanced-level nuance.

Memory hook: default to singular "its" in exams, but know the individual-action exception exists — crew, like team, usually stays singular.

The true subject is "percentage" (singular), not "students," so the verb should be "has increased," not "have increased," treating "of students who failed the exam" as an extended distractor phrase.

Memory hook: "percentage" itself is the anchor word, not the noun buried inside the phrase — the percentage has increased.

"Neither" (meaning "not either") is singular by itself, and "of the two options" is a prepositional phrase, so the verb should be "was," not "were," matching the treatment of "none" in formal exam English.

Memory hook: neither, like none and each, stays singular even with a plural phrase attached — neither of the options was acceptable.

The true subject is "list" (singular), while "of items required for the project" is a long prepositional distractor phrase, so the verb should be "was sent," not "were sent."

Memory hook: identify the single anchor noun before the "of" phrase — the list was sent, not the items.

"A number of the villagers" carries a plural meaning, similar to "many villagers," so the verb should be "have been relocated," not "has been relocated," regardless of the extra distractor phrase "affected by the flood."

Memory hook: "a number of" always signals plural, no matter how long the sentence gets around it — villagers have been relocated.

"Board" is the true subject and a collective noun acting as one unit, so it takes the singular verb "has approved," while "of directors" functions as a prepositional phrase, not a compound subject.

Memory hook: board, panel, committee — always singular as one decision-making body — the board has approved the budget.

The correct form should be "Every one" (two words, meaning "each individual one"), and either way — as "everyone" or "every one" — the subject is singular, so the verb should be "was asked," not "were asked."

This combines two traps at once: the one-word/two-word distinction and the singular-verb rule.

Memory hook: whether one word or two, "every one/everyone" always takes a singular verb — every one of the passengers was asked.