One thing is, many things are

June 26th, 2008 at 07:01am Barry Wood

One of the simpler concepts in subject-verb agreement is that a compound subject (that is, more than one thing connected with an “and”) requires a plural verb. And yet, consider the following:

“The state’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure has been suffering because of it.”

The word “has” should be “have.”

Two things to watch for;

If the subject contains “and,” it usually needs a plural verb.

Don’t be fooled when the last item in a compound subject is singular, as in the example above. Even though the verb is closest to that word, the subject is the whole thing and still needs a plural verb: “roads, bridges and other infrastructure have,” not “infrastructure has.”

Entry Filed under: noun-verb agreement