The subject of a sentence is the person, place, thing, or idea that is doing or being something. It's what the sentence is about.
- Doer: I am doing my work.
- What we talk of: My work is being done by me.
When a sentence uses a phrase like One of the, Each of the, Either of the, Everyone of the, the noun that follows is always Plural. The verb, however, depends on what comes next.
- If a Relative Pronoun (who, which, that) is given, the verb is Plural. It agrees with the plural noun before it.
e.g., He is one of the men who think he can do anything.
- If a Relative Pronoun is NOT given, the verb is Singular. It agrees with "One", "Each", etc.
e.g., One of the men thinks he can do anything.
- If the sentence contains the word *only*, the relative pronoun doesn't matter. The verb will stay Singular.
e.g., He is the only one of the men who thinks he can do anything.
Practice
This is one of the books which (is / are) interesting.
She is one of the women who (is / are) working very hard.
Each of the birds (is / are) red.
Ram is one of the gods who always (helps / help) the needy.
One of her desires (is / are) to become a doctor.
She is one of the women who (is / are) working hard to make both ends meet.
Rahul is the only one of the boys who (has / have) ever been to India.
This is the only one of the novels which (is / are) interesting.
Neither of the boys (was / were) absent.
When two subjects are connected with these conjunctions, the verb agrees with the nearest subject (usually the second subject).
- Rahul or his friends are coming. (Verb 'are' agrees with 'friends').
- Rahul's friends or his mother is coming. (Verb 'is' agrees with 'mother').
Practice
Not only the dogs but also the cats (is / are) available at the animal shelter.
Either the lion or the tigers (has / have) escaped from the zoo.
Either the teachers or the principal (is / are) coming to the class.
Whenever a fraction or percentage is given in a sentence, the verb agrees with the whole subject of the sentence (the noun the fraction refers to).
- One-third of the city is destroyed. (Verb 'is' agrees with 'city', which is singular).
- Two-thirds of the city is destroyed. (Verb 'is' still agrees with 'city').
- One-third of the people were killed. (Verb 'were' agrees with 'people', which is plural).
- Two-thirds of the people were killed. (Verb 'were' still agrees with 'people').
- Thirty-three percent of the cake was eaten. (Verb 'was' agrees with 'cake', which is singular).
Practice
One-third of the city (is / are) destroyed.
Two-thirds of the city (is / are) destroyed.
One-third of the people (was / were) killed.
Two-thirds of the people (was / were) killed.
Thirty-three percent of the cake (has been / have been) eaten.