Subject-Verb Agreement

You already know that singular subjects take singular verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs. Now you will learn how to handle "there is" and "there are" sentences, and how to choose the right verb when the subject is a collective noun.

What You'll Learn

How to use there is and there are correctly depending on what comes after
How collective nouns (like "team" and "family") can be singular or plural
How to decide whether a group noun acts as one unit or separate members

When to Use

Starting a sentence with "there": "There is a book on the table."
Talking about more than one thing with "there": "There are three apples in the basket."
A group acting as one unit: "The class is listening to the teacher."
Members of a group acting separately: "The family are eating different dishes."
Describing what a group has or does together: "The team has won the match."

How to Form

"There is" vs "There are"

The verb must agree with the real subject, which comes after the verb in "there is/are" sentences.

Real Subject	Verb	Example
Singular noun	there is	There is a cat under the table.
Uncountable noun	there is	There is some water in the bottle.
Plural noun	there are	There are many books on the shelf.
Singular + and plural	there is	There is a pen and two rulers on the desk.*

*When items of different number are joined by "and", the verb agrees with the first item after "there". However, this is informal usage. In most exam questions, keep subjects of the same number together.

Collective Nouns as Singular or Plural

A collective noun names a group. It takes a singular verb when the group acts as one unit, and a plural verb when the members act separately.

Collective Noun	As One Unit (singular)	As Separate Members (plural)
team	The team is practising after school.	The team are wearing different shoes.
family	My family is going on holiday.	My family are watching different shows.
class	The class has finished the test.	The class have handed in different answers.
committee	The committee is meeting at 3 pm.	The committee are divided on the issue.

Key Rules

Look after "there": In "there is/are" sentences, the real subject comes after the verb. Find it first, then decide if it is singular or plural. "There are two birds in the tree."
Singular for one group acting together: When all the members do the same thing at the same time, use a singular verb. "The choir sings beautifully."
Plural for members acting individually: When the members do different things, use a plural verb. "The choir are putting on their own costumes."
"There is" for uncountable nouns: Uncountable nouns always take "there is", never "there are". "There is some milk in the fridge."
Common collective nouns to know: team, family, class, group, crowd, committee, audience, choir, band, flock, herd, pack. All follow the same rule -- singular when acting as one, plural when acting separately.
Contractions follow the same rule: "There's" means "there is" (singular). Do not use "there's" with plural subjects. Say "There are many people here", not "There's many people here."

Common Mistakes

Wrong	Right	Why
There is many children in the park.	There are many children in the park.	"Children" is plural -- use "there are"
There are some milk in the cup.	There is some milk in the cup.	"Milk" is uncountable -- use "there is"
The team are winning the game.	The team is winning the game.	The whole team wins together -- singular verb
My family is arguing with each other.	My family are arguing with each other.	Members argue separately -- plural verb
There's three dogs outside.	There are three dogs outside.	"Dogs" is plural -- do not use "there's"
The class has different opinions.	The class have different opinions.	Each student has a different opinion -- plural verb

Clue Words

Clues for "there is" (singular or uncountable)

a, an, one, some (with uncountable), much, little, a little

Clues for "there are" (plural)

many, several, few, a few, some (with countable plurals), two, three, four...

Clues that the group acts as one (singular verb)

together, as a whole, jointly, unanimously

Clues that members act separately (plural verb)

each other, one another, different, separately, individually

Tip: For collective nouns, ask yourself: "Is the group doing one thing together, or are the members doing different things?" One thing together = singular verb. Different things = plural verb.

Practice Tips

Flip the sentence: For "there is/are" sentences, flip the sentence around to check. "There are many birds" becomes "Many birds are there." Does "many birds is there" sound right? No -- so "there are" is correct.
Circle the real subject: In "there is/are" sentences, cross out "there" and circle the noun that follows the verb. That noun decides whether you use "is" or "are".
Ask the "together or apart" question: For collective nouns, picture the group. Are they all doing the same action? Use a singular verb. Are they doing separate things? Use a plural verb.
Watch for "there's" traps: In everyday speech, people often say "there's" even with plural subjects. In exams, always check -- if the subject is plural, write "there are".

Quick Reference

Situation	Verb Form	Example
There + singular noun	there is	There is a hawker centre nearby.
There + uncountable noun	there is	There is some rice left.
There + plural noun	there are	There are five MRT stations on this line.
Collective noun (acting as one)	singular	The team is ready for the tournament.
Collective noun (acting separately)	plural	The team are choosing their own jerseys.
"There's" (contraction)	singular	There's a playground near my HDB block.

Subject-Verb Agreement (P4) (Primary 4)