SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

1. When two nouns refer to a single person, the verb should be singular. One can tell that two nouns refer to the same person when the second noun is not preceded by an article:
   The Dean of Arts and acting Chief Imam still teach regularly. ✖️
   The Dean of Arts and acting Chief Imam still teaches regularly. ✔️
   The Dean of Arts and the acting Chief Imam still teach regularly. ✔️
   The last sentence shows that the Dean is different from the acting Chief Imam.
2. Many- A/An Concord: When “many a/an” is used in the subject position of a sentence, it is followed by a singular noun and a singular verb even though it is used to refer a large number of things or people:
   Many a woman is the bread winner of their homes. ✔️
   Many an orange has been eaten in this room today. ✔️
3. More than concord: When “more than” is used in the subject position of a sentence, the verb is determined by the noun that follows “more than”:
   More than an hour is needed to fix this. ✔️
   More than two hours are needed to fix this. ✔️
   GAB