English Grammar: Compound Subjects & Verb Agreement

What is a compound subject ? It is when you combine several subjects together into one. This helps to avoid repetition in a sentence. But how do you make the verb agree with several subjects? For example, do we say “Bill and Kate is kind” or “ are kind”? Do we say “Neither John nor his friends need help” or “ needs help”? It all depends on subject-verb agreement, which is an important element of writing and speaking in English. In this lesson, we will look at compound subjects and how verbs react to these. I will teach you how to make the verb agree with the subjects in different kinds of sentences. After the video, be sure to do the quiz to test yourself on the material.

Quiz

Test your understanding of this English lesson

Test your understanding of the English lesson by answering these questions. You will get the answers and your score at the end of the quiz.

202 COMMENTS

Adam, together with other Engvid instructors, is helping us a great deal.

I want quiz marks

When you finish the quiz the results appear.

08/10. Appreciate your efforts! Thank you so much.

07/10 not so bad, as not so good =/ Adam, thanks for the lesson!

Thank you Adam. What’s does it mean ” Heather’s mother in law and Dad are spending time together” ? Heather’s mother ?
Have a good day.

Hi
We use ( ‘s) in English to show that someone is theowner of something .
Mary’s car
John’s room
I hope it helps.

Or : The teacher’s son,
My father’s sister

Heather’s mother-in-law is heather’s husband’s mother. It sounds like her mother-in-law is divorced or widowed and heather’s dad is the same so the two are spending time together.

my whatssapp if there is someone who wanna do a few speaking with me :00218925015481

I got 90%.
Thanks, Adam.

I got 80% so I need to improve my English.
Thanks, Adam.

Hi, Adem! Wow, it’s really interesting and useful for me! Thanks a lot)))

What if I want to build a sentence with two or more subjects which are both present participles? For example: “Approaching the problem (of sth) from this and that perspective, and focusing also on how multidimensional (whatever) it is, seem/seems to be of the greatest importance here.” (I know it’s not the most… vivid example, perhaps, but I hope you know what I am driving at anyway.) Personally, I’d use “seems” as the second subject (or clause, maybe) is a bit digressive – it just adds extra information. Also, it is separated with commas. Would the sentence be correct then? Which subject should I use if there were no commas in the sentence?

Here’s one example:
Approaching the problem of energy from the perspective of sustainability, while keeping in mind economic considerations as they apply to the consumer, seems to be of the greatest importance. here.

In this case I use an adverb clause separated by commas and therefore only one subject (approaching).

Approaching the problem of energy from the perspective of sustainability and applying the findings of leading researchers seem to be of the greatest importance. here.

In this case you have two distinct subjects (and plural verb) with no commas.

Just as I thought… But yes, this does help. Thank you, Adam.

I was wondering about this too.. now, I know.

I love this explanation. And the sentences make good sense.

Many many thanks! So useful !

10\10 Thank you for share this lesson

Thank you Adam… you are amazing, I`m learning a lot with you (straight from Brazil).

Thx teacher, it is helpful for me!

7/10 not good and not bad :-)

Thank you, got 80/100.

Difficult but a clear explanation. I got 6/10 :(

Practice will make perfect

Better let’s say, Practice makes progress

You got 8 correct out of 10.
:)

Thank you Adam for this interesting but a little bit difficult lesson.

In your video; from minute 7:35
So, it is in german too, I think in other languages as well:
I can remenber as a student; the teacher told us: “… Be polite, the “I” always in second or last place. ”

There is a german idiom about the “I” in first place.
Literal translation: “The donkey calls itself first” :-))

:). Interesting perspective Ralph.

WOW. I’m so happy, thank you very much. You teach very clear that I really appreciate it.

Thanks Adam. I really like your teaching style. Please correct my writing.

Nothing to fix here Iranjahansouz :)

Why in question No.8 “were” is correct?? “his deputy” is not plural.

Hi
The sentence has two subjects, there is ( and) between them. The best

Soei is correct. Also, as soon as you see “both” look for two parts ;)

Thank you teacher.

Thanks @adam
Could you please explain differences between
under , beneath , below , underneath
Thank you

I’ll see about a video NeltharioN. In the meantime, see Alex’s video:
https://www.engvid.com/english-prepositions-below-under/

All the students of EngVid.com really appreciate all your grammar lesson Mr. Adam.
Thanks a lot!!

Hi guys, I liked this video and I have to thank our teacher Adam. Is there any WhatsApp group for the students on this platform?

You can create one Shiine ;)

Helpful ,very pleased myself.thanks

Hi Adam
u said because spagetti and meatballs are in the same category we must use “is” when we use “and” between them.
I’m wondering why we can’t use “is” in ur second example between “doctors” and “nurses” which are in the same category/group too…

It’s because spaghetti and meatballs is just ONE type of a dish: spaghetti (pasta) plus meat(balls) equals the dish. These are the most important ingredients of it, but we speak of them to refer to the dish as a WHOLE. And the whole is singular. As for doctors and nurses, these are in turn TWO different professional groups, and thus they have to be plural. They do not belong to the same category. It’s like BOTH doctors and nurses are off this week.

Ernest gave a good answer, but I’ll just add that doctors are in the same sector (healthcare), but are two distinct occupations. Though you will often hear the two mentioned together, they are not one unit.

Hi Adam
i am having a presentation it has to be 10 minutes and i don’t have topic so any ideas please

just open Google home page and you will see hundreds of topic ideas :)

What is the presentation for?

Hi Adams,
I need a lot of help in English. This is my week subject. I have struggled through school and life with my English. Please help me. I need this course to help me pass my PRAXIS II Test.
Thanks, Della

There are lots of good videos on this site. Hopefully they can help you.

I’m afraid I am not familiar with the Praxis II.

I really enjoyed your lesson

Love your lessons. Interesting

Hi Adam. I am very grateful I came across with this website. I am poor in english especially in grammar and this site would be of great help for me. God bless you always and the whole team.

Hi I’m new here. Could someone add me in a Group of English Speaker. I wanna practice you know. And this lesson was fantastic. Thank you

Very good program

Yeep!I got 10 out of 10 but I am still confused where to use is or are like in the last example give by sir Adam -loosing and winning… one.

If there are two distinct subjects, use are. If the two items make up one subject, use is.
Is this what you meant?

I didn’t know myself to make so many mistakes in this subject… until you came along to illuminate us with your glow! Thank you Adam! As always your help is much appreciated!

I need to retry the test

Dear Adam, thank you very much for your lessons here! You are so professional, teacher!
***
I wish every one student here successful to study English!
I would like to communicate with students/teachers from engvid.com, if possible…
my Viver is 380677003206

Thank you ?? for the class! Me, myself and I is going to speak better after the class! ?

Thank you so much!

Hi Adam, you’re really good teaching grammar. By the way, In spanish, we don’t put the first person pronoun first either, it’s considered a bit impolite. And one take a risk that somebody tell: the donkey ahead :-).

Apparently it’s the same in German. Thanks Jorge :)

I got 10 .awesome! !

Hi, Adam. In the sentence number 7, I answered “me” instead of saying “I”. Why am I wrong?. Should have the answer been the same as the number five answer?.

in #7 me doesn’t work because it is an object pronoun and you need a subject pronoun for the verb ‘is’. She is the only singular subject.

That is what i got. it appears to me is very low. so how can I improve my level?.
I am happy to receive any comments.
Thanks for all

It’s all about practice Almushity :)

I got 50% out of 100%

Awww thank you so much Adam

Thank you, it’s useful quiz.

Very helpful, thank you.

hope we could have a phone conversation one of these days to help me develop more my english competency.

These are great tips, teacher! Thank you!

10 out of 10. awesome. thanks a bunch adam. greets.

Thank you! I got 6/10 so I’m gonna see the video a couple times!

okay. i got 80. it’s really useful tool for testing ability after watching this video. I really appreciate for your sharing. Good Job, sire.

Thank you so much:)

thank you for your hard work and I would like to contact you directly with e-mail if possible, thank you.

Dear Adam!
Very informative and important lesson. Thanks for helping us by video interaction.
Please check the following if there is any mistake.

1. Shifa, you and I are going to the party.
2. She and I are brilliant students of the class.
3. My manager along with his all stakeholders is planning a get together on the eve of new year.
4. Honey together with caramel is a great delight after lunch.
5. Neither She nor I am about to leave.
6. Either Honey or Wasi is going to the party.
7. Neither Sheera Nor her sisters want to be the part of that company.
8. Either Hira or her maids have to do the dishes.
9. The gardener and his son are off this month.
10. The plumber as well as electricians is off this weekend.

Hello Adam I have some doubts. Can you please clarify.This is not related to this video but still.
As words are divided into different classes according to the work they do in sentence,we cannot say to which part a word belongs unless we see the sentence.Please explain how and with examples.

I’m not really sure what you want me to give examples of… words that don’t work in a sentence?

No I actually mean that by just looking at a particular word can we say that it belongs to a particular part of speech or is the whole sentence should be defined, referred to to say about parts of speech?

Can you help me understand better this question from your quiz: (The admissions officer concluded that neither Tracy nor ______ is eligible for the scholarship.) ?

answer choices : we, she, me (and) I
now I figured it is the word she that belongs there. I have not submitted my test yet. But, its important to understand why I could or couldn’t be the word (me) there too. they both hold the same purpose: writer identifying that person as (not eligible for a scholarship)?

Me is an object pronoun. You need a subject pronoun in this case, for the verb ‘is’. She is a subject pronoun that is also singular.
(I isn’t one of the choices).

Hey Adam if you don,t mind will you please tell us about the tenses I mean where we should use the 1st,2nd and 3rd form please tell us about this. please

If you’re refering to the verbs, it’s base or simple present, past, and participle to use in perfect tenses:

I am here.
I was thee.
I have been other places.

Is this what you mean?

thank you for lesson Adam. I learnt very important things thanks to you. 8\10 not so good but I thing good :)))

I love this…. there’s a “hint” …:-)

Hi Adam,
I enjoy watching your classes. I watch them several times. In the quiz, I have a confusion regarding Q3.(The teacher_______ going to conduct an experiment in the lab). Why the second option is correct? It says-“, together with his students, is”. I thought here the verb should be are as the students is pleural.

Because it is separated with the commas (,), it is not part of the subject. In that case, only the teacher is the subject so the verb is ‘is’.

Yours and this web site courses are better to learn for whole life.

Hi Adam the quiz of the number 2 i feel confused. so would u mind to teach me ?

There are two groups in the subject (team and squad (squad is a synonym for team), so the subject is plural as it has two items, so they are going…

Thanks a lot, very important for us

Adams, thanks for your job!

Hey Adam, Q7. Could be “Me” interchangeable with “I” in that case? Thanks dude, your topics are superb!!

No, because nor joins two parts in the subject, and so you need a subject pronoun. Me is an object pronoun.

Hope this helps.

Q5 I mean. Because I thought My managger and me would also be a correct answear.

Same answer :) If the pronoun works with the main verb, then it’s a subject.

Thanks Adam; I got 80 Percent. Need to improve.

When you are saying about bad things, we should use, for example, I and The manager got into a heated argument in the middle of the meetings. In this sentence, argument is bad expression. So, it is better use I and the manager instead of the manager and I

In terms of the language, argument is not a good or bad expression. It’s just a situation. This doesn’t affect the order or the compound subject.

Hope this helps.

very helpful.Thank you Adam!

Hi, Adam thank you for the lesson, I’m looking forward to initiating a strictly follow up. And please don’t hesitate to correct me not even in this comment.

Many Thanks, Adam. 90%. The 3rd question got me.

Thanks alot Mr/Adam …. Please could you help me .. I did not anderstand this …Mr. Smith, _______ several of his senior staff, is going to the conference in Las Vegas.

and
nor
together
along with
Why its answer * along with * .

My English is not as good as it used to be…
I made 2 mistakes, which means that your lesson was really useful!

Thanks, Adam ! I was very helpful!

Hi! Adam . I don’t understand 8. question. Please help me and can you explain more please

Adam, can we say Mr. Smith, __together__ several of his senior staff, is going to the conference in Las Vegas. why we must say ‘along with’

Because you can’t say only together. You have to say together with. It is why correct the last unswer, I think.

dear adam how can I improve my English writing skills
Thanks

8/10 Thank you, Adam!

I’m correct 10/10. I’m so happy. It’s very exciting.

sir please explain question 3 and question 5.
I am totally cofused..

Thanks a lot dear sir.

Thanks Mr. Adam for a good lesson!

Please advise which verb to use.
There was/were an amount of 200$ and some coins.

Thanks Adam for this lesson.Could you please make more quiz to practice?

7/10 what a bad result for me. I need to improve more on this lesson. But thanks anyway Adam

it’s okay with time and practicing you will be good

hi,i’m new here
this vedio was very helpfull thanks mr.adam for your time and consideration

hi,i’m new here
this vedio was very helpfull thanks mr.adam for your time and consideration

why couldn’t submit my comment.

Welcome to engVid, huda mohmd! Sorry for the delay. New users’ comments have to be manually approved first. From now on, your comments should show up right away.

got 9/10 .. Thanks you Adam

7/10. Thanks Adam

What abou this sentence: Either Adam or I (have/or/has) to participate at weekend conference.I, is a singular and I am not sure in this situation which one we have to use, have or has?

that may be ‘has’

Thanks Adam. The class was easy to understand it helped me a lot.

Hello Adam, I have a question about subject verb agreement that relates to measurement. ”Nearly 40 percent of people in our town never vote/votes in local election” so should I put? I saw my teacher and some friends chose VOTE and I don’t know why they choose that. THANK YOU!

wowowowowowo
I got 50% so I need to improve my English.
I will try again next time do better
thanks Mr. Adam

wow
I got 100% of this lesson. Thank you very much!! Great!

Thank you Adam. Now, everything is clear for me. Very good lesson!

Great lesson! Some time ago I asked you a question relating to compoud subject, and you told me that you were preparing a video about this topic. Many thanks for keeping your promess. I had never seen a lesson with that approach.

Until next vídeo!

Very clear explanations . Thank you ☺

10/10 great!! thx Adam!!

Thanks Adam for the great lesson.
I have some confuses about neither/nor, either/or before watching your lecture.
Thank you again

8/10 Thanks Adam, I know I can do it better next time!

i got 4 corect out for 10
teacher i wont leard grammar becouse i before understand

Is getting better and better

Sir i like your teaching style

engVid is interesting, Specially you Adam.

Clear lesson, Thanks Adam!

90%…yeeeeeyyyyy
Thank you Adam

wow, it was you helped me to get 9/10. Thanks

I got 9 out of 10. Thank you sir.

Thank you very much, Adam :)

thank u soo much 7/10

Hi sir
Your all lessons are perfect
I would like your e-mail I’d please

If the sentence is like that
Neither I nor he have resigned
Neither I nor he has resigned
Which one is correct

It was a difficult theme, but your explanation was clear. I’ve got 10 correct out of 10. Thanks a lot, dear Adam. Greetings from Germany.

Almost, effective learning. You have a nice smile which makes your lesson more attractive. I always see your lessons.I appreciate you sir.
LOVE FROM BANGLADESH.

I got 10 correct out of 10.
Thank you Adam

My first time here, thanks for the lesson

Me and Bill are going to movie. Is this correct? I read this in a children’s book.

get cofusion about number-3. “, the students, and the parents are” what it means?

Happy New Year Adam,

How do organic fruits differ from non organic ones?
Ans. They had more vitamins and anti-oxidents.
I would like to ask you why “they” is refered to non-organic fruits instead of organic ones.
Are there any rules for this?
Thank you so much.

7/10! Not good! But I understood this lesson.

Here is the question from my textbook, the answer to the question is enters… Can you explain it to me what is the reason to make the verb enters?

Before each new session of Parliament, the Governor General of Canada, accompanied by the Prime Minister and other dignitaries, enter the Senate Chamber to deliver the Speech from the Throne.

Adam, the clarity you bring into my mind with your lessons is captivating. Sometimes I even use it as a lullaby so that I can end my day well. While watching many other videos of yours I failed to generate doubts. However, in this video, I have a doubt. Consider the following sentences

1. The founder and CEO of the company is ready to sell.
2. The founder and CEO of the company are ready to sell.
3. The founder and the CEO of the company are ready to sell.

I used to think that the third sentence specifically tells that the founder and the CEO are different persons just by using ‘the’ before CEO. But in your video you have shared that the second sentence can also mean they are different persons. So, is the third sentence a better alternative to the second one to bring more clarity?

7. The admissions officer concluded that neither Tracy nor ______ is eligible for the scholarship.

why she not me, Me Adam
and where is the collective nouns,thx

Thank you. It’s very clear and easy to understand. Could you also make a video on how to use all, any, more, most, and some as singular and plural?

I got 70 out of 100, and i only answer 7 question out of 10.

Teacher adam can i repeat this quiz.

Hello I am new here and I hope I can learn new things

I don’t really understand question number 7. Why SHE and not ME?

This platform is golden. Even though English is my first language, I am still able to improve. Thank you.