CONCORD the plural verb “are”.

But the subjects there: “her parents”, “her

friends” and “her sister” are joined by “either….or”, so it is the
Concord is the agreement- especially in number or persons-
last one “her sister” that will be used to determine the concord,
between the subject and verb of a sentence such that when the
and since it is singular, the verb also has to be singular.
subject is singular, the verb will also be singular and when the
Consider also the sentence: Neither Kinsley’s friends nor his
subject is plural, the verb will also be plural.
wife likes him (not like)
For example :
3. Notional Concord. The principle of notional concord holds
“The boys is here” has a subject and a verb, yet the sentence is with collective nouns. Collective nouns are words like
not correct because the subject and the verb do not agree. This “committee”, “club”, “choir”, “audience”, “congregation” etc.
agreement is what we call concord. These words mean a group of people, and they can take either
singular or plural verbs depending on how they are used. The
TYPES OF CONCORD rule is that, if the collective noun performs an action, it takes a
1. Grammatical concord– the principle of grammatical plural verb, but if no action is involved, it takes a singular verb.
concord holds with nouns that are grammatically marked for E.g. The choir sing very well (not sings, since an action is
plural. It is the easiest type of concord. Simply put, the rule involved, the verb will be plural), The Choir is very disciplined
says, if the subject is singular, the verb will also be singular and (not are), The audience is quite large (not are), The audience
if the subject is plural, the verb will also be plural. E.g The boy were clapping their hands (not is)
is here, The boys are here, The man likes food, The men 4. Categorization concord. There are adjectives that denote a
like food. group or category of people. Such words include The poor, the
2. Proximity concord-—- Proximity means “nearness”. The rich, the lame, the blind, the helpless, etc. When these words
principle of proximity concord says that if two or more subjects are used as the subject of a sentence, two things happen. The
are coordinated (joined) by the correlative first is that these words are not pluralized, though they mean a
coordinators “either……. or” or “neither…..nor”, the subject group of people (the poor means everybody that is poor, so
that is closest to the verb determines the concord- the rest (first does the rich, the lame, the blind etc). So we do not have the
one (s)) are ignored. E.g If Sandra fails her exams, either her forms *the poors, *the blinds etc Secondly, they take plural
parents, her friends or her sister is to blame. verbs. E.g.

*Notice how we use “is” in the sentence above, even when it The poor need our help (not needs), The rich also cry (not
has “her parents” and “her friends” which should have attracted cries), The blind see with their inner eyes (not sees) etc.
5. Concord of indefinite pronouns. Indefinite pronouns are head of department is absent today, The principal and
those pronouns that end in “body”, “thing” and “one”. They chairman of the occasion has arrived.
include the words somebody, everybody, nobody, anybody,
something, everything, nothings, anything etc. They have a * Note the differences between the sentences in 7 and 8 above.
plural connotation, but they take singular verbs. E.g Everybody The sentences in number 7 have two “ours” and two “the’s”.
in this class is hungry (not are), Nobody likes to be This means that the words joined by the “and” (“English
disrespected (not like), Anything is better than nothing (not teacher” and head of department, principal and chairman of
are). the occasion) refer to different people. Hence, the sentences
take plural verbs. On the contrary, the sentences in number 8
6. Concord of quasi coordinated subjects. There are words has only one “our” and only one “the”. This is because the
we call quasi coordinators in English. They include words like words joined by the “and” refer to the same people. Then
“as well as”, “with”, “together with”, “in conjunction with”, English teacher is also the head of department, and the principal
“along with”. When these words are used to join two subjects, is also the chairman of the occasion. This is why the sentences
only the first subject controls the verb and determines the take singular verbs.
concord, the second subject is ignored. E.g. The president
together with his ministers has arrived (not have), The 9. many- a concord. When “many-a” is used, it should be
principal as well as all the teachers and students is (not are) immediately followed by a singular noun and singular verb.
in the hall right now, The man with his wife was killed in the E.g. Many a girl likes him (not like), Many a man is not
earthquake. Etc trustworthy (not are) etc.

7. Concord of coordinated subjects. When two or more words 10. More than concord– when “more than” is used to qualify
referring to the same person or thing are joined by “and”, the the subject of a sentence, it can take either a singular or a plural
verb will be plural. E.g. Our English teacher and our head of verb depending on what come after it. If a singular noun comes
department are absent today, The principal and the chairman after it, then it takes a singular verb, but if a plural noun comes
of the occasion have arrived after it, then it takes a plural verb. E.g. More than one man
lives here (not live), More than five boys attend this school.
8. Double title concord. When two or more words
referring to the same person are joined by “and”, the * More than one carries the idea of plurality, and you might
then think that it should take a plural verb. No. in this case, we
verb will be singular. E.g. Our English teacher and
look at the word that comes after the one, which will be a
singular noun. Because of the presence of this singular noun,
the sentence cannot take a plural verb.

11. Concord of money, measurement, distance and

time– When a word that denotes money (e.g. five
dollars, twenty naira, fifteen pounds etc), measurement
(e.g three litres, five kilograms etc), distance (twenty
kilometers, five miles etc) and time (e.g four hours,
eleven minutes etc) is used as the subject of a sentence,
the verb will be singular. E.g. Twenty thousand
naira is too small for me to spend, Five hundred
thousand dollars was spent on the project (not were),
Five cups of water is all he needs (not are), Five
days is not enough for the police to complete their
investigation (not are)
12. Concord of Fraction and percentages. When a word that
denotes fraction and percentage is used with the subject of a
sentence, it can take either singular or plural verbs depending
on what comes after it. If a singular noun comes after it, it takes
a singular verb and if a plural noun comes after it, it takes a
plural verb. E.g. Three-quarters of the hostel has been painted
and three quarters of the students have moved in. Fifty
percent of the boys have arrived and fifty percent of the
food has been eaten. Ninety percent of dogs like bones etc.