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Subject–Verb Agreement: Making Subjects and Verbs Match — Answers

Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 8 sentences & clauses worksheet.

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Success TutoringWorksheetsAnswer sheetYear 8 · English · Sentences & Clauses

Subject–Verb Agreement: Making Subjects and Verbs Match — Answers

Part A: Choose the verb

Find the true subject first, then choose the verb that matches it.

1.The box of old photographs (answer space) in the attic.
  1. Ais
  2. Bare

Answer: is

The subject is box (singular). Of old photographs is a phrase between the subject and verb; ignore it when choosing the verb.

2.The players on the winning team (answer space) celebrating.
  1. Ais
  2. Bare

Answer: are

The subject is players (plural).

3.My brother and my sister (answer space) at the same school.
  1. Ais
  2. Bare

Answer: are

Two subjects joined by and make a plural subject.

4.Either the cat or the dog (answer space) knocked over the vase.
  1. Ahas
  2. Bhave

Answer: has

With either... or, the verb agrees with the nearer subject: the dog (singular).

5.Neither the teacher nor the students (answer space) the answer.
  1. Aknows
  2. Bknow

Answer: know

The nearer subject is students (plural), so the verb is plural.

6.Everyone in the class (answer space) finished the test.
  1. Ahas
  2. Bhave

Answer: has

Everyone, everybody, someone and nobody are singular.

7.Each of the puppies (answer space) a different shade of brown.
  1. Ais
  2. Bare

Answer: is

Each is singular, so the verb is singular even though puppies is plural.

8.There (answer space) three apples left in the bowl.
  1. Ais
  2. Bare

Answer: are

In a there is / there are sentence, the subject comes after the verb. Here it is three apples (plural).

Part B: Find and fix

Rewrite each sentence correctly, or circle True or False.

9.Correct the error: "The list of chores are on the fridge."

Answer: The list of chores is on the fridge.

  1. The subject is list (singular).
10.Correct the error: "There is lots of reasons to join the choir."

Answer: There are lots of reasons to join the choir.

  1. The subject is lots of reasons (plural).
  2. Also correct: There are many reasons to join the choir.
11.Correct the error: "Every student and teacher were invited."

Answer: Every student and teacher was invited.

  1. When every comes before a compound subject, the verb is singular.
12.Correct the error: "One of my friends live next door."

Answer: One of my friends lives next door.

  1. The subject is one (singular), not friends.
13."Nobody wants to go first" is correct.

Answer: True

Nobody is singular, so wants is correct.

14."The keys to the shed is missing" is correct.

Answer: False

The subject is keys (plural): The keys to the shed are missing.

Part C: Proofread

15.Proofread this paragraph. There are four agreement errors. Write the corrected verbs. "The members of our science club meets every Thursday. Each of us bring a notebook. Last week there was two visitors from the local university. Neither of them were expecting so many questions!"

Answer: meets → meet (members is plural); bring → brings (each is singular); was → were (two visitors is plural); were → was (neither is singular).

16.Explain why it is easy to make an agreement error in a sentence like "The noise from the cars and trucks ___ terrible."

Answer: The plural words cars and trucks sit right before the verb, so the writer may wrongly match the verb to them. The true subject is noise (singular), so the verb should be is.

Part D: Your turn

17.Your turn: write five sentences about your school or local area that each test a different agreement rule from this worksheet (a phrase between subject and verb, a compound subject with and, either/or, an indefinite pronoun, and there is/there are). Underline the subject and circle the verb in each.

Model answer: 1. The trees along the main road are flowering. 2. The library and the gym close at five o'clock. 3. Either my dad or my aunts are picking us up. 4. Everybody in my class has a locker. 5. There is a new bench outside the office.

Success criteria:

  • Five sentences, each testing a different rule
  • Every verb agrees with its true subject
  • Subjects underlined and verbs circled correctly
  • Sentences are complete and make sense
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