Note: The word dollar is a special case. When we talk about a money supply, we need a singular verb, but if we refer to the dollars themselves, a plural verb is necessary. Twentyst may seem like a lot of rules for one subject, but you`ll quickly notice that one is related to the other. In the end, everything will make sense. (In the following examples, the consenting subject is large and the verb in italics.) 4. For compound subjects bound by or/nor, the verb corresponds to the subject that comes close to it. [Note: here, the sentence of prepositions affects the subject. It tells you if you are talking about part of a thing (singular) or a number of things (plural).] Pronouns are neither singular nor singular and require singular verbs, even if they seem, in a certain sense, to refer to two things. Someone asks me such a question about every six months, and I always have to look closely, because for the life of me, I never remember if a sentence like this requires a singular verb or a plural verb. In fact, I have a small bookmark in one of my usage guides on the page on this topic, because I keep forgetting. Here`s the reason: these are unusual phrases, the experts in use have been at odds over the answer for years, and this is an active area of language change. The first example expresses a wish, not a fact; Therefore, what we usually consider plural is used with the singular.
(Technically, this is the singular theme of the object clause in the subjunctive mind: it was Friday.) Usually, it would look awful. However, in the second example, where a question is formulated, the spirit of subjunctive is true. Note: the subjunctive mind is losing ground in spoken English, but should nevertheless be used in speeches and formal writings. Expressions of rupture like half, part of, a percentage of, the majority of are sometimes singular and sometimes plural, depending on the meaning. (The same is true, of course, when all, all, more, most and some act as subjects.) The totals and products of mathematical processes are expressed in singular and require singular verbs. The phrase „more than one“ (weirdly) takes on a singular verb: „More than one student has tried to do so.“ This rule can cause shocks on the road. For example, if I`m one of the two subjects (or more), this could lead to this strange sentence: to see more sentences showing the correct match between the subject and the verb, look at examples of subject-verb chords. You can also download and keep our rule infographic to the top 10 shorter. 2. If two or more individual names or pronouns are bound by or even, use a singular verb.
