Everyone Are? People Is? Subject-Verb Agreement Mistakes

In English the verb must agree with its subject: she works, they work. Simple in theory, but some subjects look plural when they're singular, or singular when they're plural.

Singular, even if they feel plural

• everyone, everybody, someone, nobody, each, every: Everyone is here.
• news, information, advice: The news is good.
• the number of + plural noun: The number of students has increased.
• one of + plural noun: One of my friends lives in Berlin.

Plural, even if they look singular

• people, police, children: People are worried. The police have arrived.
• a number of + plural noun: A number of students have complained.

Long subjects

When the subject is long, find the main noun and ignore the rest:

The price of houses in big cities is rising. (the price → is)

The students in my class are very friendly. (the students → are)

Don't forget the -s

The most common agreement mistake is simply forgetting the -s with he/she/it in the present simple: She work in a bank → She works in a bank. The Check my text tool can't catch every case, so read the verbs aloud.

Quick self-check

Underline every subject in one paragraph and draw an arrow to its verb. Do they match?