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Study Materials › English › Subject-Verb Agreement
This is the highest-yield grammar topic in the Constable paper — seven of the twenty-five English questions in 2022 tested it. Nearly all of them work the same way: the subject is separated from the verb by words designed to make you agree with the wrong noun.
| Subject type | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A pair of / a bunch of / a set of | Singular | A pair of shoes is here |
| Either of / neither of / each of / one of | Singular | Either of the roads leads there |
| Two subjects joined by and | Plural | Radha and Rima are partners |
| Either…or / neither…nor | Agrees with the nearer subject | Either they or he is coming |
| Police, people, cattle, poultry | Plural | The police have arrived |
| News, mathematics, physics, politics | Singular | The news is good |
| Collective nouns (team, jury, family) | Singular when acting as one unit | The team has won |
A pair of socks ______ been missing from my room. (has / have / is / are)
The subject is a pair, not socks. A pair is one thing, so the verb is singular.
"Been missing" needs a perfect auxiliary, which rules out is and are.
Answer: has.
The police ______ arrested the thieves. (has / have / is / are)
Police is always plural in English — there is no form "a police" meaning one officer.
"Arrested" needs a perfect auxiliary, so are is wrong.
Answer: have.
Learn the group: police, people, cattle and poultry all take plural verbs despite having no -s.
Either of the foot paths ______ to the Superintendent's house. (lead / leads / have led / is led)
Either of means "one or the other" — one at a time, so singular.
Cross out "of the foot paths" and you are left with "Either leads", which is plainly right.
Answer: leads.
Same rule: neither of, each of, every one of and one of all take singular verbs.
Either Maya or her friend Manju ______ responsible for the picnic plan. (are / was / is / were)
With either…or, the verb agrees with whichever subject sits nearer to it.
The nearer subject is "her friend Manju" — singular — and the sentence is in the present.
Answer: is.
Contrast with Q14 above: "either of" is always singular, but "either…or"
depends on the second subject. Reverse the names and the answer would change to are.
Radha and Rima ______ business partners. (are / is / was / had been)
Two subjects joined by and form a plural subject.
Nothing in the sentence points to the past, so the present plural is correct.
Answer: are.
Also see: Tenses · Articles & Prepositions · Reading Comprehension