SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)

CONCORD OF COLLECTIVE NOUNS: When partitives such as “a bevy of”, “a gang of” and so on precede a plural noun, the verb should be singular:
A bunch of keys ~were~ found on the floor. ✖️
A bunch of keys was found on the floor. ✔️
A bevy of ladies ~come~ here daily. ✖️
A bevy of ladies comes here daily. ✔️
Concord of “More than”: When “more than” is used in the subject position of a sentence, it is either followed by a singular noun or a plural noun. When it is followed by a singular noun, the verb is singular; when it is followed by a plural noun, the verb is plural:
More than hundred people are expected here today. ✔️
More than a person is needed for the job. ✔️
Categorisation Concord: This rule applies to adjectives that are used with definite article, the, to refer to a category of people and they attract plural verbs:
The poor ~dreams~ too. ✖️
The poor dream too. ✔️
The rich also ~cries~. ✖️
The rich also cry. ✔️
GAB