Subject-verb Agreement

The basic point to remember is that the number of the subject determines the number of the verb; singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects need plural verbs. The sentence

One in three women face harassment

is incorrect, and should read

One in three women faces harassment.

Similarly
A box of tapes was discovered in his car.

Subject-verb agreement is lesson number one in English grammar that everyone is familiar with; yet there are several points that need to be kept in mind.

You may read my earlier article on Apostrophe
http://www.writingcampus.com/node/7347

With collective nouns, most of the time you use the singular.For example, consider the sentence:

The majority of the students have been protesting for more than 10 days.

“Majority” is the subject and is a collective singular noun, and it should agree with the verb. The correct usage is

The majority of the students has been protesting for more than 10 days.

None can take either a singular or a plural verb, depending on the context. With collective or mass nouns, use singular.

None in the crowd wants a fight.
None of the food is fresh.

In the example above, crowd is a collective noun and takes only a singular verb.

But with count nouns, you can use either the singular or the plural.

None of you are right.
None of the students have done their homework. (In this last example, the word their precludes the use of the singular verb.)
None of the books is interesting. or None of the books are interesting.
None of the conspirators has (or have) been brought to trial.

However, none can only be plural when used in sentences such as None but his most loyal supporters believe (not believes) his story.

The indefinite pronouns anyone, everyone, everybody, someone, no one, nobody are always singular and, therefore, require singular verbs.

Everyone has to do study hard to get good marks.
Nobody has taken up this project yet.
Each of the students is responsible for doing his or her work on the annual day.
Neither of the attorneys was available for comment.

Some indefinite pronouns — such as all, some — are singular or plural, depending on what they're referring to.

Some of the books are interesting. (books countable)
Some of the coffee was spilt. (Coffee not countable)

Phrases such as together with, as well as, and along with are not the same as and.

The teacher as well as her students is going on a picnic.
Sudha, along with the rest of the ballet class, hates pink tutus.

The phrase introduced by as well as or along with will modify the earlier word (teacher in this case), but it does not compound the subjects (as the word and would do).

The conjunction or does not conjoin (as and does). When nor or or is used, the subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb. Whether the subject comes before or after the verb doesn't matter; the proximity determines the number.

Either my mother or my sisters are going to sell the house.
Neither my sisters nor my mother is going to sell the house.
Are either my brothers or my father responsible?
Is either my father or my brothers responsible?

It is probably a good idea to put the plural subject closer to the verb whenever that is possible.

Other articles on grammar:
Apostrophe Bloomers

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