Question

Q: Fill in the blanks with the correct form of verbs in the bracket:
a. Bread and butter ……………… served for breakfast. (was / were)
b. The horse and carriage ……………….. at the door. (is / are)
c. My brother ………………. to be an astronaut. (want / wants)
d. My parents ……………….. teachers. (is / are)
e. Politics ……………….. not something I am interested in. (is / are)
f. The cost of essential commodities ………………… gone up. (has /
have)
g. Her clothes ……………….. made of expensive fabrics. (is / are)
h. Either Manu or I ……………….. to go. (has / have)
i. Neither Mala nor her parents …………….. at the party. (was / were)
j. Nobody ………………. what happened to her. (know / knows)
k. Ravi as well as his brother …………….. cricket well. (play / plays)
l. Everybody ……………. a man of integrity. (respect / respects)

Answer 1

Answer:

a) Bread and butter were served for breakfast.

b) The horse and carriage are at the door.

c) My brother wants to be an astronaut.

d) My parents are teachers.

e) Politics is not something i am intrested in.

f) The cost of essential commodities has gone up.

g) Her clothes are made of expensive fabrics.

h) Either Manu or I have to go.

i) Neither Mala nor her parents were at the party.

j) Nobody knows what happend to her.

k) Ravi as well as his brother plays cricket well.

l) Everybody respects a man of integrity.

Answer 2

Answer:

1. Bread and butter was served for breakfast. (Both was and were is correct which depends upon the speaker. If bread and butter is considered single, it is followed by was. If bread and bread are considered as two separate ingredients, were is used.)

2. The horse and carriage is at the door. (If the preceded carriage, then are would have come in place of is).

3. My brother wants to be an astronaut.

4. My parents are teachers.

5. Politics is not something I am interested in.

6. The cost of essential commodities has gone up.

7. Her clothes are made of expensive fabrics.

8. Either Manu or I have to go.

9. Neither Mala nor her parents were at the party.

10. Nobody knows what happened to her.

11. Ravi as well as his brother, play cricket well.

12. Everybody respects a man of integrity.

Explanation:

Subject-Verb Agreement

• The basic rule of subject-verb agreement is that a singular subject (he, she, Neena, etc.) takes a singular verb (is, goes, does, etc.), and a plural subject takes a plural verb.
• Examples:

1. She goes to church every day.
2. They are playing in the field.

• An exception to this basic rule:
• If the subject is I, even though it is singular, we use a plural verb.
• Example:
• I go to church daily.

Rules of subject-verb agreement

• Rule - 1: Singular verbs for words representing a group of things (collective nouns).
• Examples:
• A bouquet of flowers was given to the minister.
• A herd of sheep is grazing.

• Rule - 2: Either/or and neither/nor are followed by singular verbs.

• For example, neither Ram nor Sheela was present.
• Either Shyam or Sangeeth is going to the market.
• Sometimes either/or and neither/nor agree on the subject of the sentence.
• Example: Neither the balls nor the bat goes on that shelf.

• Rule - 3: Parentheses are not part of the subject.
• Example:
• Mary (friend of Ram) is a good artist.

• Rule – 4: Singular verb goes with distances, time, money etc.
• Example:
• She walks too far every day.

• Rule - 5: Words that indicate portions like some, all, majority, a lot, etc follows singular verb.
• Example:
• A lot of sugar has fallen down.

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