IELTS Grammar: Subject-Verb Agreement Rules

What Is Subject-Verb Agreement?

The verb must agree with the subject in number:

This seems simple, but students make errors constantly.

Basic Rules

Rule 1: Singular subjects take singular verbs

• "He goes to school" (not "He go")
• "She plays tennis" (not "She play")
• "The cat sits on the mat" (not "The cat sit")

Rule 2: Plural subjects take plural verbs

• "They go to school" (not "They goes")
• "Students play football" (not "Students plays")
• "The cats sit on the mat" (not "The cats sits")

Rule 3: "I" always takes "am/have/do"

• "I am a student" (not "I is")
• "I have two brothers" (not "I has")
• "I do my homework" (not "I does")

Tricky Cases

Collective nouns (team, family, group, government)

Singular (acting as one unit):
"The team is playing well" (the team as a whole)

Plural (individual members):
"The team are arguing among themselves" (individual members)

IELTS tip: Use singular — it's safer and more common.

"Each," "every," "everyone," "someone"

Always singular:

"Either...or" and "Neither...nor"

The verb agrees with the NEAREST subject:

"There is/are"

Agrees with the noun that follows:

Uncountable nouns

Always singular:

Common IELTS Mistakes

• ❌ "The number of students are increasing" → ✅ "The number of students is increasing"
• ❌ "Everyone have their own opinion" → ✅ "Everyone has their own opinion"
• ❌ "The team are playing well" → ✅ "The team is playing well"
• ❌ "There is many reasons" → ✅ "There are many reasons"
• ❌ "Each of the students have a book" → ✅ "Each of the students has a book"

Practice

Write 10 sentences daily focusing on subject-verb agreement. After 1 week, this will be automatic.

Practice on Our Portal

Our Grammar Portal at grammar.bharatdn.com has subject-verb agreement exercises with instant feedback. Practice daily for best results.

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