Agreeable Verbs
Present Tense Singles and Plurals Sometimes we stumble on sentences like, "If he was walking..." It sounds so right, but it is so wrong. We think it haughty to say, "If he were walking...", so we opt for what sounds better.
Blurbs
Although it's a singular noun, I is always treated as if it were plural.
I love cheese. We love cheese. They love cheese. She loves cheese. The persnickety verb is only looking for one word or phrase to tell it what to do. You can add all the extras you want, and the verb will not notice.
Mary hates Bob. = Mary, along with Steve and Jason, hates Bob. Hates remains true to Mary, regardless of Steve and Jason. Mary, Steve, and Jason all hate Bob. Here Steve and Jason come out of a separated phrase to join Mary as a subject, changing it from singular to plural.
Descriptive adjectives and adverbs don't change verb tense, either.
Mark and Randy enjoy racing. Mark and Randy really enjoy track racing.
Split Decisions
The use of either-or and neither-nor can confuse the writer, as well. At its simplest, the rule states: when both halves of the subject are singular, so is the verb. When both halves are plural, so is the verb.
Neither cats nor dogs are allowed in the park. Either butter or margarine will be fine.
But what if one half is singular and the other plural? What then should the verb be? Again, it's quite simple. The verb should match the closest half of the subject.
Neither his shirt nor his pants were clean. Either the cats or the dog has to go outside!
The same rule applies for sentences using not only and but also.
Not only my hamsters, but the rat also, has to be inoculated. Not only the radish, but also the turnips, have gone bad.
Group Words
Sometimes words that stand for a group of things - couple, group, number, total, majority - mean the individuals represented, (plural), and sometimes the words represent the group as a whole, (singular).
A couple of dogs are/is eating our garbage. The couple live/lives upstairs.
Is it two dogs or one couple? If the word is preceded by the it is most likely singular, representing the group as a whole. If the word is preceded by a it is probably plural, counting each individual.
A couple of dogs are eating our garbage. The couple lives upstairs.
The words all, any, and none fall into the same category. If you mean all of it, none of it, or any of it then use a singular verb. If you mean all of them, any of them, or none of them then use a plural verb.
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