Subjects and verbs (predicates) in English should always agree in their number.

 

But depending on the context, some plural nouns may have singular agreement with the verbs and vice-versa.

 

For example, pieces of art (books, songs, paintings, etc) with plural subject in their name use singular agreement:

 

Three Men in a Boat is a humorous novel written by the English writer Jerome K. Jerome in 1889.

 

The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of books by Clive Staples Lewis.

 

Some nouns ending in ‘-s’ (and thus looking plural) still have singular agreement. These are the nouns denoting academic subjects, sports and geographical names:

 

Mathematics was not my strong point at school.

 

The Netherlands is a country of tulips and bicycles.

 

Gymnastics is a spectator sport.   

 

There are many nouns in English that denote groups of people, animals, objects or ideas as single entities.

 

These nouns are known as collective nouns, they have a singular form.

 

Examples of common collective nouns are army, corporation, family, party, jury, colony, flock, pride, tribe, etc.

 

Depending on the context, collective nouns may have either singular or plural agreement.

 

If the noun describes a unit acting as a unified group, the verb must have singular form:

 

The class waits for its teacher quietly  (the class is referred to as a unit acting collectively, in unison).

 

If the noun describes a group of individuals acting on their own, the verb must have plural form:

 

The class begin their homework assignments while waiting for their teacher (students are acting as individuals – they do their own homework assignments).

 

Further examples:

 

Singular agreement	Plural agreement
My family is big and friendly.   The team is playing confidently and assertively.   The band has released a new album.	My family are going out together for the first time after three years.   The team are happy with the results of their game.   The band have been on tour to promote their new album.