The predicate verb agrees with the subject in number and person;
e.g. I am afraid you are disappointed in me, Bessie. (Bronte)
The verb that follows the pronoun it vised in emphatic constructions or the "demonstrative" it is always singular:
e.g. Yes, it was they! (Galsworthy) [demonstrative]
When two or more singular subjects are connected by and or asyndetically, the verb is plural:
e.g. Mr. Murdstone and I were soon off. (Dickens)
NOTE 1: If the two nouns express one person or thing, the verb is singular;
e.g. Bread and butter is wholesome food.
BUT: The painter and the decorator have come. - The repetition of the article shows that two different persons are meant, therefore the verb have is in the plural.
NOTE 2: There is a strong tendency to use the verb in the singular instead of the plural when the verb precedes the subject. The reason is in most cases that at the moment of the uttering of the verb only one subject is present in the speaker's or writer's mind. It is often found in interrogative sentences:
e.g. Where was she and her baby to sleep that night?
NOTE 3: In the construction there is the verb is also often in the singular when two or more singular subjects are connected by and:
e.g. There comes a young men and her two children.
NOTE 4: A single noun qualified by several adjectives is followed by a verb in the singular if the noun is intended to express a single notion, and by a verb in the plural if the noun expresses different notions:
e.g. Careless and slovenly writing is not aimed.
BUT: Vertical and sloping writing are both allowed.
To show that different notions are implied, we generally either repeat the article and leave the noun singular, or mention the article once and make the noun plural:
e.g. The oil and the textile industry have exceeded the plan. The oil and textile industries have exceeded the plan.
When two subjects are connected by either...or, neither...nor, not only...but also, the verb agrees with the subject that stands next to it:
e.g. Either James or I am to do it. Either you or James is at fault. Either you or he or I am to go. Neither they nor I was interested in the answers.
BUT it is always possible to repeat the verb: e.g. Either James is to do it, or I am.
If a noun is associated with another noun by means of with or together with, the verb agrees in number and person with the first noun. In this case the subject is expressed by the whole group of words:
e.g. A woman with two children has come.
If two subjects expressed by nouns or pronouns are joined by the conjunction as well as, the verb agrees with the first subject. In this case we have a sentence with homogeneous subject (a contracted sentence):
e.g. The students as well as the teacher were present at the meeting.
After the indefinite pronoun each(one), every(-body/-one), any(-body/-one), no(-body/-one), neither, the verb is singular, even when they are followed by several singular subjects:
e.g. Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed every hour of the day, produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains. (Irving)
e.g. Each of them was present.
None, originally singular, belongs also here when reference is made to one person: e.g. None knows better, what those fine words mean. (Kingsley)
This use of none is now only literary; in spoken language no one or nobody is used. However, none is now quite common as a plural with a plural verb:
e.g. I suppose none of your acquaintance take an interest in art.
Collective nouns (family, team, public, crew, crowd, committee, audience, company, government, party, etc.) take a singular verb or a plural verb. The verb is plural if the persons (or things) which form the collective are considered separately. The verb is singular if the collective denoted by the noun is taken as a whole
Nouns of multitude such as: people, militia, police, cattle, poultry, are used with a verb in the plural:
e.g. There weren't many people in the park.
e.g. There were red cattle in the field beyond.
The verb is singular with the following word-groups: the number of, the variety of, the majority of, multitude; but it is plural after: a number of, a variety of, a majority of, the multitude of:
e.g. The number of books is not great. BUT:
e.g. A number of interesting papers were read.
Nouns in the plural expressing measure of weight, time, etc. are associated with a verb in the singular when the statement is made about the whole amount and not about the units:
e.g. The last day or two [a single period] has been a busy time for me.
When a plural noun is used as the title of a book, newspaper, etc. a singular verb is used:
e.g. "Gulliver's Travels" is full of satire.
BUT the plural may also be used: e.g. "The canterbury Tales" are (or is) Chaucer's chief claim to fame.
The interrogative pronoun who is singular in meaning, but when one wants expressly to indicate that the question refers to more than one person, the plural form of the verb is used:
- Who is this man? (Gaskell) Who are with him? (Sheridan)
