Subject–verb agreement

Subject–verb agreement (concord) means the verb must match its subject in number. A singular subject takes a singular verb (He works; The dog barks), and a plural subject takes a plural verb (They work; Dogs bark); this is why we choose between is/are, was/were, has/have and does/do. Indefinite pronouns such as everyone, everybody, someone, nobody, each, either and neither are treated as singular and take a singular verb (Everyone is here). With 'there', we use 'there is' before a singular noun and 'there are' before a plural noun. Uncountable nouns like news, information and money take a singular verb (The news is good), while some nouns that are plural in form, such as trousers and scissors, take a plural verb. When two subjects are joined by 'and' the verb is plural, but when they are joined by 'or/nor' the verb agrees with the nearer subject. Collective nouns like team and family are usually singular, and amounts of distance, money or time are treated as singular (Ten years is a long time). For example: 'Everyone in the two classes is ready, and there are thirty students waiting outside.'