Every- Compounds — Singular Verb Agreement

Every- Compounds and Verb Agreement

Every- compounds (everyone, everybody, everything, everywhere) refer to large groups but are grammatically singular. This mismatch between semantic plurality and grammatical singularity is a persistent source of agreement errors. The English Profile Programme reports that subject–verb agreement errors with 'everyone' and 'everybody' are among the top twenty grammar errors at B1–B2, and that the plural verb ('everyone are') remains frequent even among C1 candidates from plural-concord L1 backgrounds.

Every- + Singular Verb

All every- compounds take a third-person singular verb — the same form as he/she/it:

The Rule Is System-Wide

Singular agreement applies to the entire indefinite pronoun paradigm — not just every- forms:

Singular They: The Modern Possessive Standard

When a pronoun refers back to an indefinite pronoun (everyone, somebody, no one), modern standard English uses their — not 'his' (which excludes women) and not 'his or her' (clunky in natural speech). The singular they/their has been used in English since the 14th century and is now endorsed by major style guides including the Chicago Manual of Style and the APA.

Common Mistakes