Subject-Verb Agreement

While I always thought I understood the concept, “subject-verb agreement error” is something I have seen written in red pen on several of my papers in the past few years.
Therefore I thought it might be a good idea to go over the rules of how to insure there is correct subject-verb agreement in your writing.

The following is a summary based off of material presented at two sources: “The OWL at Purdue, Subject/Verb Agreement.” (Stolley, 1-3) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/599/01/ and “University of Toronto, Expressions of Quantity: Special Cases of Subject-Verb Agreement.” (Johnson, Smollet, and Procter, 1). http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/pdf/l2agr.pdf

In the following examples the subject is italicized and the verb bolded for further clarity.

1st- If the subject is plural, more than one noun, the verb much be plural. Ex. Bobby and Matt are playing guitar hero. If the subject is singular the verb must be singular. Ex. Shelley is a great pianist.

2nd- If the sentence contains both a plural and singular noun, the verb should agree with the noun it is closest to. Ex. Billy and the dogs play every day. Vs The dogs and Billy plays every day.

3rd- Don’t let phrases in the middle of the sentence confuse you. The verb must always agree with the subject, regardless of what nouns may be present in a mid-sentence phrase. Ex. The boss, plus all his employees, is nervous about the transaction.

4th- Even though they can represent more than one person, the words each, each one, either, neither, everyone, anybody, anyone, nobody, somebody, someone, and no one are singular. If these words are the subject of a sentence they require the singular verb. Ex. Everyone likes chocolate cake.

5th- Certain nouns such as fractions, indefinite qualifiers, expressions of distance and time, etc… require singular verbs. Ex. This week is going to be a blast.

6th- Items that have two parts such as scissors, pliers, pants, etc…need a plural verb. Ex. My pants are too tight.

7th- In some sentences the subject comes after the verb. Most common are sentences containing “there is,” or “there are.” In these cases the verb agrees with the subject that comes after. Ex. There is only one way to do the job.

8th- Collective nouns, such as team, family, class, represent a group of people but are still treated as singular. Ex. My family is my home.

9th- “Does not,” is used with singular subjects, therefore “doesn’t” must also be used with subjects that are singular. In the same way, “do not,” is used with the plural so “don’t,” must also be applied to plural subjects.

Can anyone think of a case where “don’t” is used with a singular subject? Or any other exception where a plural subject requires a singular verb?