Common Errors intermediate medium
When the verb does not agree with its true subject.
Common Errors — Frequent mistakes Indian learners make.
1. The verb must agree with the true subject, not a word in between: The box of chocolates is on the table. 2. Each/every/either/neither take singular verbs. 3. Neither...nor / either...or agree with the nearer subject. 4. Collective nouns are usually singular: The team is playing well. 5. "The number of" → singular; "A number of" → plural.
Most subject-verb errors come from phrases between the subject and verb, or from words like "with" and "along with" which do not make the subject plural.
हिंदी में
कर्ता और क्रिया का मेल टूटना सबसे आम गलती है — "The box of chocolates is..." में कर्ता box है, chocolates नहीं।
Q1. Which sentence contains a subject-verb error? 1) There are many books on the shelf. 2) Neither of the answers is correct. 3) The scissors is on the table. 4) Rice grows in this region.
Answer: 3
💡 'Scissors' is always plural → 'The scissors are on the table.'
Q2. Which sentence contains a subject-verb error? 1) The news is good. 2) Mathematics is my favourite subject. 3) The police has caught the thief. 4) His advice was useful.
Answer: 3
💡 'Police' is plural → 'The police have caught the thief.'
Q3. Which sentence contains a subject-verb error? 1) The list of names is long. 2) Each of the boys has a book. 3) The team are playing well today. 4) Everyone in the class was present.
Answer: 3
💡 In standard (BrE academic) usage 'the team' is singular → 'The team is playing well today.'
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Open Subject-Verb Errors lesson → Free practice — Sign up| Topic | Level | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Common Article Errors | intermediate | Frequent mistakes with a, an and the. |
| Common Verb Errors | intermediate | Frequent mistakes with verb forms and choices. |
| Pronoun Errors | intermediate | Wrong pronoun case, agreement or who/whom confusion. |
| Tense Errors | intermediate | Mixing up tenses: present perfect vs past simple, state verbs, if-clauses. |
| Word Order Errors | elementary | Placing words in the English Subject–Verb–Object order. |
| Preposition Errors | intermediate | Wrong prepositions after verbs, adjectives and time expressions. |
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