Subject-Verb Agreement Worksheet20 Exam-Style Questions with Answers
Ten fill-in-the-blank, five error-correction, and five sentence-transformation questions — the three formats SSC, IBPS, and UPSC actually use to test subject-verb agreement.
How to use this worksheet
Cover the answer with your hand, attempt the question, then click to reveal. Download the full worksheet as a PDF using the button below to practise offline.
Prof. Amirul Khan — amirulkhan.in
Subject-Verb Agreement Worksheet — 20 Exam-Style Questions
✏️ Section A — Fill in the Blanks (10 Questions)
Write the correct verb form in each blank.
1. Neither the principal nor the teachers ___ aware of the change in schedule.
Reveal Answer
Answer: were
Proximity rule: the verb agrees with the nearer subject, 'teachers' (plural).
2. The jury ___ still deliberating over the verdict.
Reveal Answer
Answer: is
'Jury' acting as one unit (still deliberating together) takes a singular verb.
3. The list of items required for the trip ___ pinned to the noticeboard.
Reveal Answer
Answer: is
The true subject is 'list' (singular); 'of items required for the trip' is an intervening phrase.
4. Each of the candidates ___ required to submit two photographs.
Reveal Answer
Answer: was
'Each' is always singular, regardless of the plural noun 'candidates' that follows.
5. There ___ a laptop, a charger, and a notebook in the bag.
Reveal Answer
Answer: are
The true subject follows 'there' — a compound subject ('a laptop, a charger, and a notebook') takes a plural verb.
6. The number of accidents on this road ___ decreased this year.
Reveal Answer
Answer: has
'The number of' refers to a specific count and takes a singular verb.
7. Physics ___ considered a difficult subject by most students.
Reveal Answer
Answer: is
'Physics' is a singular noun despite ending in -s, like mathematics and economics.
8. Most of the information in the report ___ accurate.
Reveal Answer
Answer: is
The verb agrees with 'information' (uncountable), the noun after 'of', not the quantifier 'most'.
9. Ten thousand rupees ___ a large sum for a student to save.
Reveal Answer
Answer: is
A sum of money treated as one complete amount takes a singular verb.
10. Neither of the two applicants ___ submitted the required documents.
Reveal Answer
Answer: has
'Neither of' followed by a plural noun still takes a singular verb — distinct from the full 'neither...nor' correlative.
🔍 Section B — Error Correction (5 Questions)
Find the agreement error in each sentence and correct it.
11. “The quality of the samples submitted for testing are far below the required standard.”
Reveal Correction
are far below
Corrected: “The quality of the samples submitted for testing is far below the required standard.”
The true subject is 'quality' (singular); the long intervening phrase does not change its number.
12. “A number of complaints has been received regarding the new bus service.”
Reveal Correction
has been received
Corrected: “A number of complaints have been received regarding the new bus service.”
'A number of' means 'several' and takes a plural verb — the opposite of 'the number of'.
13. “She is one of those employees who always meets her deadlines.”
Reveal Correction
who always meets
Corrected: “She is one of those employees who always meet their deadlines.”
The antecedent of 'who' is 'employees' (plural), not 'one' — the relative clause verb must agree with 'employees'.
14. “The captain, along with the entire team, were congratulated for the victory.”
Reveal Correction
were congratulated
Corrected: “The captain, along with the entire team, was congratulated for the victory.”
'Along with' is a parenthetical connector, not a conjunction — the true subject remains 'the captain' (singular).
15. “Many a student have failed this paper due to careless mistakes.”
Reveal Correction
have failed
Corrected: “Many a student has failed this paper due to careless mistakes.”
'Many a' followed by a singular noun always takes a singular verb, despite the plural meaning implied by 'many'.
🔁 Section C — Choose the Correct Form (5 Questions)
Select the correct verb form for each sentence.
Choose the correct verb form.
16. Fifty percent of the students ___ (has/have) already registered for the workshop.
Reveal Answer
Answer: have
Percentages followed by 'of + noun' take a verb agreeing with that noun — 'students' is plural, so 'have' is correct.
Choose the correct verb form.
17. Swimming every morning ___ (keep/keeps) him fit and energetic.
Reveal Answer
Answer: keeps
A gerund phrase functioning as the subject of a sentence always takes a singular verb.
Choose the correct verb form.
18. The Panchatantra ___ (is/are) a collection of ancient Indian fables.
Reveal Answer
Answer: is
The title of a single work takes a singular verb, even if the title sounds plural.
Choose the correct verb form.
19. A group of tourists ___ (was/were) waiting outside the museum gates.
Reveal Answer
Answer: was
'A group of' is itself the true singular subject — the plural noun 'tourists' inside the phrase does not control the verb.
Choose the correct verb form.
20. Every officer and every clerk ___ (was/were) asked to attend the meeting.
Reveal Answer
Answer: was
'Every' before two nouns joined by 'and' still takes a singular verb, following the same logic as 'each'.