Noun-Verb Agreement
Practise subject-verb agreement with nouns that break the obvious rules: news (singular), police (plural), collective nouns (team, family), and pair nouns (jeans, scissors).
-
The news ___ on at six o'clock.
Show answer
is
'News' looks plural but is an uncountable singular noun — use 'is'.
-
The people in this town ___ very friendly.
Show answer
are
'People' is plural, so it takes a plural verb — 'are'.
-
Physics ___ my favourite subject at school.
Show answer
is
'Physics' ends in -s but is a singular subject — use 'is'.
-
The information you gave me ___ very helpful.
Show answer
was
'Information' is uncountable and singular — use 'was'.
-
Economics ___ a popular subject at this university.
Show answer
is
'Economics' ends in -s but is a singular subject — use 'is'.
-
A large number of students ___ absent because of the storm.
Show answer
are
'A number of' + a plural noun takes a plural verb — 'are'.
Noun-Verb Agreement
English subject-verb agreement is predictable for most nouns, but a well-defined set of high-frequency nouns systematically violates learner expectations. Research from the English Profile Programme identifies agreement errors with nouns like 'news', 'police', and collective nouns as a consistent B1–B2 error type, appearing across learners from many different L1 backgrounds. The difficulty is not the agreement rule itself — it is knowing which grammatical number a given noun carries, since visual form and grammatical number often diverge. 'News' ends in -s but is grammatically singular; 'police' has no -s but is grammatically plural; 'jeans' is always plural despite sometimes referring to a single item.
Nouns That Look Plural but Are Singular
- News: The news is good. Was the news interesting?
- Academic subjects: Physics is difficult. Economics was her best subject. (Also: mathematics, athletics, politics, gymnastics)
Nouns That Are Always Plural
- Police: The police are searching. The police have arrived.
- Pair nouns: These jeans are too tight. The scissors were on the desk. (Also: trousers, shorts, glasses, pyjamas, tights)
Collective Nouns
Nouns like team, family, company, government, committee are flexible in British English. Use a singular verb when the group acts as one unit; use a plural verb when the focus is on the individuals within the group.
The team are celebrating tonight. (individual players celebrating)
Common Mistakes
✗ The police is searching for the suspect. → ✓ The police are searching.
✗ A football team have eleven players. → ✓ A football team has eleven players.
✗ These scissors is very sharp. → ✓ These scissors are very sharp.
Last updated: · Satori Editorial