Subject-Verb Agreement: Sentence Correction Guide

Subject-verb agreement is the highest-frequency grammar error in AMCAT English and TCS NQT verbal sections, and every question reduces to one diagnostic step: find the true subject before looking at the verb.

The test does not make this straightforward. Questions are designed to hide the true subject by placing prepositional phrases, relative clauses, or parenthetical expressions between the subject and the verb. A student who reads for meaning rather than structure will pick up the wrong noun and match the verb to it. That is the trap. The Purdue OWL guide on subject-verb agreement identifies the prepositional phrase trap as the most common agreement error in formal written English, and placement tests replicate it deliberately.

This article covers the eight rule categories that appear in placement verbal tests, with worked examples and a practice set at the end. For a full map of all seven sentence correction error types and how they relate, see the sentence correction overview article.

How SVA Questions Are Set Up in Placement Tests

Sentence correction sections in AMCAT English, TCS NQT verbal, and most campus online assessment verbal sections follow a consistent format. A sentence is presented with either an underlined portion or labelled parts. The student selects which version is grammatically correct, or which option best corrects the identified error.

Subject-verb agreement questions in these tests always follow one of two patterns:

• Pattern A — Prepositional phrase trap. A prepositional phrase sits between the subject and the verb. Students match the verb to the noun inside the phrase rather than to the actual subject.
• Pattern B — Special subject type. The subject is an indefinite pronoun, collective noun, compound subject, or inverted construction, and students apply the default plural instinct incorrectly.

The fix for both patterns is the same: identify the grammatical subject before choosing the verb. Do not match the verb to the nearest noun. Find the subject, determine whether it is singular or plural, then choose the verb.

Compound Subjects and the Proximity Rule

When subjects are joined by “and”

A compound subject joined by “and” is typically plural and takes a plural verb.

• Correct: Ravi and Priya are attending the orientation.
• Incorrect: Ravi and Priya is attending the orientation.

The exception: when the compound subject refers to a single entity or a person who holds two roles, a singular verb is correct.

• Correct: The founder and CEO is delivering the keynote. (One person, two titles.)
• Correct: Rice and dal is a staple meal in Tamil Nadu. (Treated as one dish.)

When subjects are joined by “or” or “nor”

The proximity rule applies: the verb agrees with the subject closest to it.

• Correct: Neither the manager nor the employees are responsible. (“Employees” is closer — plural verb.)
• Correct: Neither the employees nor the manager is responsible. (“Manager” is closer — singular verb.)
• Correct: Either the students or the professor has the answer. (“Professor” is closer — singular verb.)

Placement tests reverse the order of subjects between options to test whether students apply the proximity rule or default to a plural verb. The rule overrides the instinct to treat both subjects together as plural.

Indefinite Pronouns: Three Groups to Memorise

Indefinite pronouns are a frequent source of SVA errors because students treat them as plural by intuition. The British Council grammar reference on subject-verb agreement classifies these into three groups, and each group behaves differently.

Always singular

These pronouns always take a singular verb:

• each, every, either, neither
• everyone, anyone, someone, no one
• everything, anything, something, nothing
• everybody, anybody, somebody, nobody

Examples:

• Correct: Each of the candidates has submitted a form.
• Incorrect: Each of the candidates have submitted a form.
• Correct: Neither of the answers is correct.
• Incorrect: Neither of the answers are correct.

The test trap: students see “of the candidates” or “of the answers” and match the verb to the plural noun in the phrase. Strip the phrase, return to the subject (each, neither), and apply the singular rule.

Always plural

These pronouns always take a plural verb:

• both, few, several, many, others

Examples:

• Correct: Both of them are ready for the placement drive.
• Correct: Few understand the rule without consistent practice.

Context-dependent

These pronouns take singular or plural verbs depending on the noun they refer to:

• some, any, none, all, most, more

Examples:

• Correct: Some of the water is missing. (“Water” is singular — use a singular verb.)
• Correct: Some of the files are missing. (“Files” is plural — use a plural verb.)
• Correct: None of the budget has been spent. (“Budget” is singular.)
• Correct: None of the participants have registered. (“Participants” is plural — accepted.)

When a test question uses a context-dependent pronoun, read the noun that follows “of” to determine which verb to choose.

Collective Nouns, There/Here Constructions, and Special Cases

Collective nouns

Collective nouns name groups: team, committee, jury, staff, audience, family, class, government. When the group acts as a single unit, use a singular verb. When individual members act separately, a plural verb is accepted.

• Correct (unit action): The committee has announced its decision.
• Correct (individual action): The committee have differing opinions on the proposal.

Placement test grammar defaults to the singular reading for collective nouns unless the sentence explicitly signals individual action. If the options include both a singular and a plural verb and no individual action is mentioned, choose the singular.

”There” and “here” constructions

When a sentence begins with “there” or “here,” the subject follows the verb. The verb must agree with that following noun, not with “there” or “here” themselves.

• Correct: There is a book on the table. (“Book” is singular.)
• Correct: There are several books on the table. (“Books” is plural.)
• Incorrect: There is many students in the hall.
• Correct: There are many students in the hall.

Quantity expressions and fractions

When a fraction or percentage expression is the subject, the verb agrees with the noun that follows “of.”

• Correct: One-third of the batch has cleared the aptitude round. (“Batch” is singular.)
• Correct: Two-thirds of the students have registered. (“Students” is plural.)

Gerunds and infinitives as subjects

A gerund (verb + -ing) or an infinitive (to + verb) used as the subject always takes a singular verb.

• Correct: Practising daily improves accuracy.
• Correct: To revise these rules before the test takes thirty minutes.

Titles, company names, and countries

Even when a title, company name, or country name looks plural, it takes a singular verb.

• Correct: The United States has a large GDP.
• Correct: Tata Consultancy Services reports quarterly earnings.

Practice Questions With Solutions

Work through each question independently before reading the answer. The diagnostic step is the same each time: find the true subject, determine its number, choose the verb.

• Q1: Identify the error: “The quality of the results were not satisfactory.”

  • Subject: “quality” (singular). “Of the results” is a prepositional phrase, not the subject.
  • Correct sentence: The quality of the results was not satisfactory.

• Q2: Choose the correct verb: “Neither Kiran nor his teammates ___ (was/were) informed about the schedule.”

  • Proximity rule: “teammates” is the closer subject — plural.
  • Correct: Neither Kiran nor his teammates were informed about the schedule.

• Q3: Identify the error: “Each of the engineering students are required to register by Friday.”

  • Subject: “each” (always singular).
  • Correct sentence: Each of the engineering students is required to register by Friday.

• Q4: Choose the correct verb: “There ___ (is/are) a complete set of instructions in the folder.”

  • Subject after “there”: “set” (singular).
  • Correct: There is a complete set of instructions in the folder.

• Q5: Is this sentence correct? “The team have agreed on the final shortlist.”

  • Assessment: Correct. The team members agreed individually and then arrived at a collective shortlist — individual action is implied. “The team has agreed” is equally acceptable. Both forms are defensible; neither is an error.

• Q6: Choose the correct verb: “All of the water ___ (has/have) evaporated.”

  • “All” is context-dependent. “Water” is an uncountable singular noun — use singular verb.
  • Correct: All of the water has evaporated.

• Q7: Identify the error: “Listening to music during study are not recommended.”

  • Subject: “Listening” is a gerund — always singular.
  • Correct sentence: Listening to music during study is not recommended.

• Q8: Choose the correct verb: “A number of candidates ___ (has/have) been shortlisted.”

  • “A number of” is always plural (unlike “the number of,” which is singular).
  • Correct: A number of candidates have been shortlisted.

For the full week-by-week verbal prep structure (question distribution by error type, accuracy benchmarks, and timed practice strategy), see the verbal ability preparation guide. For the related error class of misplaced and dangling modifiers, the misplaced modifiers deep-dive applies the same diagnostic logic (find the attachment point, verify it is the intended one) to modifier placement questions.

The eight rule categories above cover the full scope of SVA questions in AMCAT English and campus verbal assessments. The proximity rule (or/nor) and the indefinite pronoun groups (especially the always-singular set) produce the most errors in timed tests because neither matches the intuitive plural reading. Work through the three indefinite pronoun groups until the singular behaviour of “each,” “either,” and “none” is automatic, not reasoned. The same sentence-parsing precision that earns marks in placement verbal sections also determines how accurately a language model interprets an instruction. TinkerLLM at ₹299 is the direct route if you want to see how the proximity rule plays out when you feed “neither X nor Y” constructions to a live model.