Subject–Verb Agreement

Subject–Verb Agreement (Subject ও Verb-এর সঙ্গতি)

Agreement কী?

Definition: Subject–verb agreement means that a finite verb must agree with its subject in person and number.

বাংলা ব্যাখ্যা: বাক্যের finite verb-কে subject-এর person ও number অনুযায়ী সঠিক রূপ নিতে হয়।

• The boy plays.
• The boys play.
• I am ready.
• She is ready.
• They are ready.

Present Simple-এ third-person singular subject সাধারণত V5 গ্রহণ করে; plural subject V1 গ্রহণ করে।

মূল Subject চিহ্নিত করুন

Subject ও verb-এর মাঝখানে অন্য noun থাকলেও verb মূল subject অনুযায়ী হয়।

• The quality of these mangoes is good.
• The students in this class are attentive.

Of-phrase-এর কাছের noun দেখে verb নির্বাচন করা একটি সাধারণ ভুল।

Two Subjects Joined by And

দুটি আলাদা subject and দিয়ে যুক্ত হলে plural verb:

• Rina and Mina are friends.
• A pen and a notebook were missing.

One Idea Joined by And

দুটি শব্দ মিলে একটি একক idea, dish, title বা person বোঝালে singular verb হতে পারে।

• Bread and butter is my usual breakfast.
• Slow and steady wins the race.
• The poet and philosopher has arrived. — one person

কিন্তু article পুনরাবৃত্ত হলে দুই ব্যক্তি:

• The poet and the philosopher have arrived.

Each/Every before Compound Subjects

Each বা every আলাদা আলাদা member বোঝালে singular verb:

• Every boy and every girl was present.
• Each teacher and each student has an identity card.

Along with, As well as and Together with

along with, as well as, together with, accompanied by, in addition to, including, besides subject-এর number পরিবর্তন করে না। Verb প্রথম subject অনুযায়ী হয়।

• The teacher, along with the students, is present.
• The students, as well as the teacher, are ready.

Either…or / Neither…nor

Verb সাধারণত নিকটবর্তী subject অনুযায়ী হয়।

• Either Rina or Mina is responsible.
• Either the teacher or the students are responsible.
• Neither the students nor the teacher is absent.

Formal sentence-এ awkward agreement এড়াতে plural subject-কে verb-এর কাছে রাখা ভালো।

Not Only…But Also

নিকটবর্তী subject অনুযায়ী agreement:

• Not only the teacher but also the students are ready.
• Not only the students but also the teacher is ready.

Each, Every, Either and Neither

Determiner বা pronoun হিসেবে সাধারণত singular verb গ্রহণ করে।

• Each student has a book.
• Every answer is important.
• Either road leads to the station.
• Neither answer is correct.

Each/either/neither of + plural noun/pronoun হলেও formal agreement singular:

• Each of the players is fit.
• Neither of them was absent.

Indefinite Pronouns Taking Singular Verbs

anyone, anybody, anything, everyone, everybody, everything, someone, somebody, something, no one, nobody, nothing, one সাধারণত singular।

• Everyone is welcome.
• Somebody has called.
• Nothing was damaged.

Gender-neutral singular they ব্যবহার করা গেলেও verb subject অনুযায়ী singular থাকে:

• Everyone has brought their notebook.

Indefinite Pronouns Taking Plural Verbs

both, few, many, several plural verb গ্রহণ করে।

• Both are correct.
• Many have applied.
• Several were absent.

All, Some, Most, None and Any

পরের of-phrase বা intended meaning অনুযায়ী singular/plural হয়।

• Some of the water is dirty.
• Some of the students are absent.
• All the work is complete.
• All the books are useful.

None singular বা plural উভয় হতে পারে; meaning ও style অনুযায়ী নির্বাচন হয়।

A Number of / The Number of

• A number of + plural noun + plural verb
• The number of + plural noun + singular verb

• A number of students are absent.
• The number of students is increasing.

Many a / More than one

Form-এ plural meaning থাকলেও singular noun ও singular verb গ্রহণ করে।

• Many a student has made this mistake.
• More than one candidate was selected.

Collective Nouns

team, committee, family, jury, audience, class, staff একক unit বোঝালে singular; সদস্যদের পৃথক action বোঝালে British usage-এ plural হতে পারে।

• The committee has made its decision. — unit
• The committee are divided in their opinions. — individual members

একটি পরীক্ষার sentence-এ meaning ও pronoun clue দেখুন।

Uncountable Nouns

information, advice, furniture, equipment, luggage, baggage, knowledge, traffic, work, homework, bread সাধারণত singular verb নেয়।

• The information is useful.
• The furniture was expensive.

Nouns Ending in -s but Singular

news, mathematics, physics, economics, politics যখন subject/field বোঝায়, singular verb।

• The news is true.
• Mathematics is interesting.

কিছু শব্দ context অনুযায়ী plural meaning পেতে পারে:

• His politics are difficult to understand. — political views

Plural-only Nouns

scissors, trousers, spectacles, shorts, pliers, binoculars plural verb গ্রহণ করে।

• These scissors are blunt.

A pair of + plural-only noun হলে singular head noun:

• A pair of scissors is on the table.

Same Singular and Plural Forms

sheep, deer, fish, aircraft, series, species-এর form একই থাকতে পারে; meaning অনুযায়ী verb।

• One sheep is missing.
• Five sheep are missing.
• This series is popular.
• These series are popular.

The + Adjective as a Class

the rich, the poor, the blind, the elderly, the young একটি group বোঝায় এবং plural verb নেয়।

• The poor need support.
• The elderly are often vulnerable.

Time, Money, Distance and Measurement

একটি unit বা total amount হিসেবে singular verb।

• Ten kilometres is a long distance.
• Five years is a long time.
• Fifty thousand rupees is a large amount.

আলাদা units বোঝালে plural হতে পারে:

• Ten kilometres of roads were repaired.

Fractions and Percentages

Of-phrase-এর noun অনুযায়ী verb।

• Half of the cake is gone.
• Half of the students are absent.
• Sixty percent of the work is complete.
• Sixty percent of the candidates have qualified.

Titles and Names

Book, film, organisation বা country-এর title plural-looking হলেও একটি entity হিসেবে singular।

• Gulliver's Travels is a famous work.
• The United States is a country.

Gerund, Infinitive and Clause as Subject

একটি gerund phrase, infinitive phrase বা noun clause সাধারণত singular verb নেয়।

• Reading books is useful.
• To err is human.
• What she said was true.

দুটি আলাদা activities and দিয়ে যুক্ত হলে plural হতে পারে:

• Reading and writing are essential skills.

There Is / There Are

There introductory word; আসল subject পরে আসে।

• There is a book on the table.
• There are two books on the table.

Compound list-এ formal writing-এ plural verb নিরাপদ:

• There are a pen and two books on the desk.

Relative Clauses

Relative clause-এর verb antecedent অনুযায়ী হয়।

• She is one of the students who work hard. — who = students
• She is the only one of the students who works hard. — who = the only one

Who, Which and That as Subjects

• It is I who am responsible.
• You are the person who is responsible.
• Those are the books that belong to me.

One of + Plural Noun

Main subject one, তাই singular verb।

• One of the boys has won.
• One of these books is missing.

Pair, Group, Set and Variety

Verb head noun অনুযায়ী হয়।

• A group of students is waiting.
• Two groups of students are waiting.
• A set of questions was prepared.

Every/Each with Pronoun Reference

Verb singular হলেও modern English-এ singular they স্বাভাবিক।

• Every learner has submitted their work.

পরীক্ষায় পুরোনো option থাকলে his or her দেখা যেতে পারে; তবে gender-neutral singular their বর্তমানে standard usage।

Common Errors

• Incorrect: The quality of the apples are good.

Correct: The quality of the apples is good.

• Incorrect: Rina, along with her friends, are coming.

Correct: Rina, along with her friends, is coming.

• Incorrect: Each of the boys have a pen.

Correct: Each of the boys has a pen.

• Incorrect: A number of students is absent.

Correct: A number of students are absent.

• Incorrect: The number of students are increasing.

Correct: The number of students is increasing.

• Incorrect: The news are true.

Correct: The news is true.

• Incorrect: One of my friends are a teacher.

Correct: One of my friends is a teacher.

• Incorrect: Neither the teacher nor the students is ready.

Correct: Neither the teacher nor the students are ready.

• Incorrect: Ten kilometres are a long distance.

Correct: Ten kilometres is a long distance.

• Incorrect: The sceneries are beautiful.

Correct: The scenery is beautiful.

A Reliable Solving Method

1. Finite verb চিহ্নিত করুন।
2. Who/what performs or holds the state—মূল subject খুঁজুন।
3. Of, with, along with ইত্যাদির intervening noun উপেক্ষা করুন।
4. Subject singular না plural নির্ধারণ করুন।
5. Either/or, fraction, collective noun বা measurement-এর special rule আছে কি না দেখুন।
6. Relative clause হলে antecedent খুঁজুন।
7. Verb-এর tense অপরিবর্তিত রেখে শুধু number/person মিলান।