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KS3 · Grammar

Y8.2 Subject Verb Agreement

Calculators not allowed · about 50 minutes

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Show all your working.

Sports Day at Marlow Community College

Source written for Revision Library (original, copyright-free). Written specifically for this grammar worksheet pack; not derived from or based on any published work, past paper or copyrighted text.

Friday 19th June

The whole school was buzzing with excitement long before the first whistle blew. Everybody in Year 8 had been given a coloured wristband, and the four house teams were lining up along the edge of the running track. Neither the sun nor the earlier rain had put anyone off; the field, still slightly damp underfoot, sparkled under a bright morning sky.

Mr Adeyemi, the head of PE, checked his clipboard one final time. 'The list of events is longer than last year,' he announced, 'so listen carefully for your name.' A group of younger students, eager for their turn, crowded around the start line. Somewhere near the long jump pit, a pair of coaches was already measuring out the sand.

There were six races before lunch, and each of the competitors knew exactly which lane to use. When the relay team finally crossed the finish line, a roar of delight rose from the crowd, and even the teachers, together with several visiting parents, joined in the applause. Neither the winning team nor the runners-up seemed disappointed; everyone agreed that the day had been a triumph of teamwork and effort.

Look at these subjects taken from the source text 'Sports Day at Marlow Community College'. State whether each one needs a SINGULAR or a PLURAL verb.

(a)Everybody in Year 8(1)

(b)The four house teams(1)

(c)The list of events(1)

(d)A pair of coaches(1)

(e)The teachers, together with several visiting parents(1)

Which verb correctly completes this sentence? 'The pile of books on the shelf ___ ready for the library.'

A) is
B) are

Which verb correctly completes this sentence? 'Each of the runners ___ wearing the correct kit.'

A) is
B) are

Which verb correctly completes this sentence? 'The trophies on the top shelf ___ polished every week.'

A) is
B) are

Explain why the verb 'is' (not 'are') is correct in this sentence: 'The box of medals is locked in the school office.'

(2)

Word bank:

a) The scissors	b) Mathematics	c) The committee (acting as one unit)	d) My parents
e) Everyone in the room	f) The geese by the pond	g) Bread and butter (as a single dish)	h) The news on the television

For each subject in the word bank above, write the correct verb, 'is' or 'are'.

(a)The scissors ___ sharp.(1)

(b)Mathematics ___ my favourite subject.(1)

(c)The committee ___ meeting this afternoon.(1)

(d)My parents ___ collecting me at four o'clock.(1)

(e)Everyone in the room ___ ready to begin.(1)

(f)The geese by the pond ___ surprisingly noisy.(1)

(g)Bread and butter ___ all I want for breakfast.(1)

(h)The news on the television ___ always on at six o'clock.(1)

Complete each sentence with the correct present-tense form of the verb in brackets. Subjects joined by 'and' are always plural.

(a)The captain and the goalkeeper ___ (train) every Tuesday after school.(1)

(b)Chess and football ___ (be) popular clubs at our school.(1)

(c)A ruler and a pencil ___ (be) inside the pencil case.(1)

(d)Liam and his sister ___ (walk) to school together every day.(1)

Complete each sentence with the correct present-tense form of the verb in brackets. When subjects are joined by 'or' or 'nor', the verb agrees with the noun nearer to it.

(a)Neither the players nor the coach ___ (be) happy with the result.(1)

(b)Either the twins or their mother ___ (know) the answer.(1)

(c)Neither the coach nor the players ___ (be) happy with the result.(1)

Complete each sentence with the correct present-tense form of the verb in brackets. Phrases such as 'as well as', 'together with' and 'along with' do not change the number of the main subject.

(a)The manager, together with two assistants, ___ (check) the stock every Friday.(1)

(b)The players, as well as their coach, ___ (celebrate) every win.(1)

(c)My grandmother, along with her neighbours, ___ (walk) to the market each week.(1)

Complete each sentence with the correct form of 'to be'. The verb after 'there' agrees with the noun that follows it, not with 'there' itself.

(a)There ___ a spider in the bathroom.(1)

(b)There ___ three spiders in the bathroom.(1)

(c)There ___ several problems with the plan.(1)

(d)There ___ no excuse for being late.(1)

Which verb correctly completes this sentence? 'She is one of the students who ___ always on time.'

A) is
B) are

Using the rule for subjects joined by 'or'/'nor', explain why the verb 'is' is correct in this sentence: 'Neither the pens nor the pencil is sharp enough to use.'

(2)

Identify and correct the subject-verb agreement error in this sentence: 'The choice of activities are exciting this term.'

(2)

Identify and correct the subject-verb agreement error in this sentence: 'Everybody in the two classes have finished their project.'

(2)

Identify and correct the subject-verb agreement error in this sentence: 'Neither of the answers were correct.'

(2)

This sentence contains TWO subject-verb agreement errors. Identify and correct both: 'The group of tourists were lost, and the guide were unable to find the path.'

(3)

Below is a paragraph with several capital letter and subject-verb agreement errors. Rewrite it correctly, correcting every error you can find.

'the sports day committee have decided on the new schedule. everyone in Year 8 are excited to hear it, and each of the house captains know their team's start times already. neither the head of PE nor the coaches is worried about the weather forecast for Friday.'

(6)

Write one original sentence for each instruction below. Each sentence must show correct subject-verb agreement.

(a)Write a sentence using the collective noun 'audience' as the subject, treating it as a single unit, so that your sentence uses the verb 'is' or 'was'.(2)

(b)Write a sentence using the indefinite pronoun 'somebody' as the subject.(2)

(c)Write a sentence with a compound subject joined by 'and' that takes a plural verb.(2)

(d)Write a sentence using 'neither ... nor' where the noun nearer the verb is singular, so that a singular verb is correct.(2)

Rewrite this sentence so that the subject is the indefinite pronoun 'nobody' instead of 'the students', changing the verb so that it still agrees: 'The students are not allowed to leave early.'

(2)

Write a short paragraph (approximately 80-100 words) describing a school sports day or similar event. Your writing must include: one collective noun used as a singular subject, one indefinite pronoun used as a subject, one compound subject joined by 'and', and one sentence using 'neither ... nor' or 'either ... or'. Underline each of these four features and make sure every verb agrees correctly with its subject.

(10)

Mark scheme · Y8.2 Subject Verb Agreement

Question 1

(a) B1 singular
(a) Answer: singular
(b) B1 plural
(b) Answer: plural
(c) B1 singular
(c) Answer: singular
(d) B1 singular
(d) Answer: singular
(e) B1 plural
(e) Answer: plural

Question 2

B1 A) is
Answer: A

Question 3

B1 A) is
Answer: A

Question 4

B1 B) are
Answer: B

Question 5

B1 identifies that the true subject of the verb is 'the box', which is singular
B1 explains that 'of medals' is a prepositional phrase describing the box, and phrases between the subject and the verb never change how the verb agrees
Answer: The subject of the verb is 'the box' (singular), not 'medals'. The phrase 'of medals' simply describes the box; it sits between the subject and the verb but does not change the verb's agreement, so the singular verb 'is' is correct.

Question 6

(a) B1 are, cao
(a) Answer: are
(b) B1 is, cao
(b) Answer: is
(c) B1 is, cao
(c) Answer: is
(d) B1 are, cao
(d) Answer: are
(e) B1 is, cao
(e) Answer: is
(f) B1 are, cao
(f) Answer: are
(g) B1 is, cao
(g) Answer: is
(h) B1 is, cao
(h) Answer: is

Question 7

(a) B1 train, cao
(a) Answer: train
(b) B1 are, cao
(b) Answer: are
(c) B1 are, cao
(c) Answer: are
(d) B1 walk, cao
(d) Answer: walk

Question 8

(a) B1 is, cao
(a) Answer: is
(b) B1 knows, cao
(b) Answer: knows
(c) B1 are, cao
(c) Answer: are

Question 9

(a) B1 checks, cao
(a) Answer: checks
(b) B1 celebrate, cao
(b) Answer: celebrate
(c) B1 walks, cao
(c) Answer: walks

Question 10

(a) B1 is, cao
(a) Answer: is
(b) B1 are, cao
(b) Answer: are
(c) B1 are, cao
(c) Answer: are
(d) B1 is, cao
(d) Answer: is

Question 11

B1 B) are
Answer: B

Question 12

B1 states the rule: when subjects are joined by 'or'/'nor', the verb agrees with the noun nearer to it, not the noun furthest away
B1 applies the rule correctly: the nearer noun is 'the pencil', which is singular, so 'is' is correct
Answer: When subjects are joined by 'nor', the verb agrees with whichever noun is nearer to it. Here, the nearer noun is 'the pencil' (singular), not 'the pens' (plural), so the singular verb 'is' is correct.

Question 13

B1 identifies that the verb must agree with 'the choice' (singular), not 'activities'
B1 correct rewrite: The choice of activities is exciting this term, cao
Answer: The choice of activities is exciting this term.

Question 14

B1 identifies that 'everybody' is a singular indefinite pronoun, so the verb should be 'has', not 'have'
B1 correct rewrite: Everybody in the two classes has finished their project, cao
Answer: Everybody in the two classes has finished their project.

Question 15

B1 identifies that 'neither' is a singular indefinite pronoun, so the verb should be 'was', not 'were'
B1 correct rewrite: Neither of the answers was correct, cao
Answer: Neither of the answers was correct.

Question 16

B1 identifies and corrects the first error: 'the group' is singular, so 'was', not 'were'
B1 identifies and corrects the second error: 'the guide' is singular, so 'was', not 'were'
B1 full sentence rewritten accurately with both corrections, cao
Answer: The group of tourists was lost, and the guide was unable to find the path.

Question 17

Level 0 (0): No accurate corrections made; errors remain uncorrected or new errors introduced.
Level 1 (1-2): One or two errors corrected (e.g. one capital letter or one agreement error), with limited overall accuracy.
Level 2 (3-4): Most errors corrected, including at least two subject-verb agreement errors, with an attempt to capitalise sentence openings.
Level 3 (5-6): All errors corrected accurately, demonstrating secure control of subject-verb agreement and capital letters throughout.
Indicative content:
- Capital letter added for 'The' at the start of the first sentence
- 'committee have' corrected to 'committee has' (collective noun acting as one unit, singular)
- Capital letter added for 'Everyone' at the start of the second sentence
- 'everyone ... are' corrected to 'everyone ... is' (singular indefinite pronoun)
- 'captains know' corrected to 'captains knows' ('each' is singular; 'of the house captains' is a describing phrase)
- Capital letter added for 'Neither' at the start of the third sentence
- 'the coaches is' corrected to 'the coaches are' (verb agrees with the nearer noun, 'the coaches', which is plural)

Question 18

(a) B1 sentence uses 'audience' (or a similar collective noun) as the subject, treated as one unit
(a) B1 correct singular verb agreement ('is'/'was'), grammatically complete, cao
(a) Answer: The audience was silent as the curtain rose.
(b) B1 'somebody' used correctly as the subject
(b) B1 correct singular verb agreement, grammatically complete, cao
(b) Answer: Somebody has left their bag on the bus.
(c) B1 compound subject correctly joined by 'and'
(c) B1 correct plural verb agreement, grammatically complete, cao
(c) Answer: My cousin and her best friend are training for the marathon.
(d) B1 correct 'neither ... nor' construction with the nearer noun singular
(d) B1 correct singular verb agreement, grammatically complete, cao
(d) Answer: Neither the students nor the teacher was ready for the fire drill.

Question 19

B1 subject correctly changed to 'nobody'
B1 verb correctly changed to the singular form 'is', cao
Answer: Nobody is allowed to leave early.

Question 20

AO5: Content and organisation (AO5)
- Level 1 (1-2): Simple description of the event; little sense of organisation or atmosphere.
- Level 2 (3-4): Some relevant, engaged description of the event; ideas are mostly sequenced clearly, with an attempt to create atmosphere.
- Level 3 (5-6): Clear, engaging and convincing description of the event; well organised, with a genuine sense of atmosphere and the writer's viewpoint.
AO6: Technical accuracy (subject-verb agreement) (AO6)
- Level 1 (1): Fewer than four of the required constructions are present, or subject-verb agreement is mostly incorrect.
- Level 2 (2-3): All four required constructions are present and subject-verb agreement is mostly accurate, with occasional errors.
- Level 3 (4): All four required constructions are present, clearly marked and used with consistently accurate subject-verb agreement.

Subject Verb Agreement - Worksheets, Questions and Revision