Concord means that the subject and verb in a sentence must agree in number. A singular subject takes a singular verb; a plural subject takes a plural verb. Simple in theory: but WAEC tests the tricky cases.
Basic rule
Singular subject → singular verb (add -s or -es to the verb in present tense) Plural subject → plural verb (no -s) Correct: 'The student studies every day.' (singular) Correct: 'The students study every day.' (plural) Incorrect: 'The students studies every day.'
Tricky cases
1. Collective nouns: 'The committee has made its decision.' (treated as singular in Nigerian English) 2. Either/Neither: 'Either Emeka or Amaka is responsible.' (use the verb that agrees with the nearest subject) 3. Intervening phrase: 'The quality of the goods is poor.' The subject is 'quality', not 'goods'. 4. None: 'None of the students was present.' (WAEC accepts singular here) 5. Each/Every: 'Every student and teacher is expected to attend.' (each/every = singular)
Subject after the verb
When 'here' or 'there' begins a sentence, the REAL subject comes after the verb: 'There are many reasons for this.' (subject = 'reasons' → plural verb 'are') 'Here comes the teacher.' (subject = 'teacher' → singular verb 'comes')
Key points
- Singular subject = singular verb
- Find the true subject: ignore phrases between subject and verb
- Either...or: verb agrees with the nearer subject
- Each, every, none, neither = singular verb
- Collective nouns are usually singular
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WAEC tip
In WAEC Paper 1 (objective), underline the subject of each sentence before choosing the verb. Intervening phrases ('of the boys', 'together with') are the most common distractors.
Practise this
Correct the errors: (a) 'Neither of the girls are ready.' (b) 'The team have won their match.' (c) 'Here come the principal.'
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