Comments on: Subject-Verb Agreement

By: Bill Davis

Bill Davis — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 05:36:48 +0000

A tricky context is with mass plural nouns like “committee.” There continues to be debate over whether those should have a plural or singular verb:

The committee thinks…

vs.

The committee think…

Personally I like the sound of singular, which is technically correct (although I don’t always jump on the “correct” bandwagon).

By: Carolyn Knight

Carolyn Knight — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 12:20:51 +0000

So I was wrong?

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 13:01:46 +0000

Sebastian,

It is you. You don’t understand. Who doesn’t understand? As I just said, it is you. You don’t understand. Who does understand? That is you too!

The reason is that there are two verbs in your example. The first is TO BE; the second is TO DO. Each has its own separate subject.

So, ‘It’s you who doesn’t understand’ is correct.

The confusion comes a) in not noticing the ‘is’, and b) in not noticing that ‘who doesn’t understand’ is a relative clause.

By: Sebastian

Sebastian — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 11:22:54 +0000

I have a problem with subject verb.
It’s you who doesn’t understand or
It’s you who don’t understand.
Which is correct and why?

By: Laurie

Laurie — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:37:24 +0000

A million thanks for posting this rule. I have been searching through books and websites for the longest time trying to find an explanation for which verb to use–singular or plural–with a “noun clause + to be + predicate noun” sentence. I have noticed so many people saying things like “What we need are new books,” that I was starting to think I was the one who was wrong, and I have been tempted to use a plural verb along with them. Just one more example of how sloppy we are getting in our use of the English language!