MAKING SUBJECTS AND VERBS AGREEPart VII: SVA with verbals (gerunds and infinitives), noun clause subjects, and adjective clauses
• Subject-Verb Agreement with Verbals ExamplesThe verbals that can function as subjects are gerunds and infinitive phrases. Verbal subjects are always singular and require a singular verb. Study the examples in the following sentences.
• Using verbals correctly in sentences requires being able to recognize them and knowing their functions in sentences. [Using is the gerund and verbals is the object of the gerund phrase. The object of the verb requires is also a gerund phrase.]
A compound gerund phrase is plural and requires a plural verb.
• Hiking and skiing are John's favorite sports. (These are two different sports, comprising a compound subject. The verb must be plural. A good test is to turn the subject complement into the subject: John's favorite sports are hiking and skiing.)
Sometimes a gerund is part of a noun compound as in swimming pool and breeding ground. You know that swimming and breeding are gerunds and not participial modifiers because the pool is not swimming and the ground is not breeding. The phrases mean a pool for swimming and a ground for breeding. Such compound nouns can be plural. Study these example sentences.
• Privately owned swimming pools are abundant in California.
• Iraq has become a breeding ground for terrorists. In fact, breeding grounds for terrorists are in several unstable, poor areas around the world.
Infinitive phrases can be subjects and objects of sentences. They are singular in meaning and form.
• To use gerunds correctly is the goal of this week's grammar workshop. [To use is the infinitive and gerunds is the object of the infinitive. The whole infinitive phrase is the subject of the sentence.]
• To be intelligent is more important than to be rich. [To be intelligent is the complete infinitive phrase subject; intelligent is the complement of the infinitive.]
• Subject-Verb Agreement with Noun Clauses ExamplesNoun clauses take singular subjects.
• Whatever the doctor diagnoses and prescribes remains confidential.
• Whatever treatment plan is followed is the patient's decision.
• Whoever passes the California state medical board exam is licensed to practice medicine in the state.
• Subject-Verb Agreement with Adjective Clauses Examples Relative pronouns are singular or plural depending on the nouns they replace. The verb in the adjective clause must agree in number with the singular or plural meaning of the relative pronoun. In the sentences below, look at the noun before the relative pronoun. Is it singular or plural? Then note the singular or plural form of the verb following the relative pronoun.
• Doctors who work for health maintenance organizations make less money but have more reasonable schedules. [Doctors is plural, which makes the relative pronoun plural in meaning. The verb following a relative pronoun that is plural in meaning must be plural.]
• A doctor who performs heart surgery makes more money than a family practitioner. [Doctor is singular, which makes the relative pronoun singular. The verb following a relative pronoun that is singular in meaning must be singular.]
• Residency programs provide postgraduate medical training that allows residents to acquire a high level of clinical proficiency in a specific clinical discipline. [Training is a gerund (singular), making the relative pronoun that singular in meaning. The verb in the relative clause must, therefore, be singular.]
Select the verb that agrees with the subject in each sentence below.
poisoning 
spy.
singular plural. someone to use. a noun clause an adjective clause. Another poisoningThe relative pornoun who is
singular plural.Which sentence has an infinitive phrase subject?
the first the secondWhich sentence has a noun clause object of a preposition?
the first the second. a noun clause an adjective clause