Question

2017-05-26 Friday May 26th 2017 Is it correct to say "One dog and one cat were lying on the sofa"? — Valerie, United States

Accepted Answer

Subjects with "And" and "Or" and Verb Agreement http://learnersdictionary.com/qa/Subjects-with-And-and-Or-and-Verb-Agreement When two or more nouns are joined by the word "and" it is called a compound subject. Even when each noun is singular, the whole phrase takes a plural verb. Below are some examples of this.Her book and her purse are sitting on the table.An apple and an orange were left in the cafeteria.Cheryl and Frank are traveling to Japan next month. When a compound subject is joined by the word "or" an English teacher will tell you that the verb should agree with the noun closest to it. When each noun in a compound subject with "or" is singular, the verb should be singular too. These rules are followed in formal writing, but he choice between a singular and plural verb often varies in actual use. Below are some examples of this.Either John or his sisters are calling us tonight.The house key or the car key is missing from his key ring.Either those books or that box are good enough to use as a table for now.One or more of us is going to have to move over to make room.He knows a banana or an orange is waiting for him in his lunchbox.The girls or their mother have to come with us to pick out a gift. I hope this helps. For more posts about words and usage, like us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/learnersdictionary and follow us on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/MWforLearners!

Id	2017-05-26
Title	Subjects with "And" and "Or" and Verb Agreement
Date	Friday May 26th 2017
Url	http://learnersdictionary.com/qa/Subjects-with-And-and-Or-and-Verb-Agreement
Question	Is it correct to say "One dog and one cat were lying on the sofa"? — Valerie, United States
Answer	When two or more nouns are joined by the word "and" it is called a compound subject. Even when each noun is singular, the whole phrase takes a plural verb. Below are some examples of this. Her book and her purse are sitting on the table. An apple and an orange were left in the cafeteria. Cheryl and Frank are traveling to Japan next month. When a compound subject is joined by the word "or" an English teacher will tell you that the verb should agree with the noun closest to it. When each noun in a compound subject with "or" is singular, the verb should be singular too. These rules are followed in formal writing, but he choice between a singular and plural verb often varies in actual use. Below are some examples of this. Either John or his sisters are calling us tonight. The house key or the car key is missing from his key ring. Either those books or that box are good enough to use as a table for now. One or more of us is going to have to move over to make room. He knows a banana or an orange is waiting for him in his lunchbox. The girls or their mother have to come with us to pick out a gift. I hope this helps. For more posts about words and usage, like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/learnersdictionary and follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/MWforLearners !

Verb Compound Noun Key Joined Word Singular Plural