TOEIC Link Subject-Verb Agreement Mastery — Collective Nouns, Phrases Across Subjects, There Is/Are, Partitive Expressions, and Six Common Part 5 / 6 Traps

Identifying the head noun

When the subject and verb are far apart, identify the head noun rather than the noun closest to the verb. "The list of items ___ on the table" — the subject is list (singular), so the verb is "is." The phrase "of items" merely modifies list and does not affect agreement. Prepositional phrases starting with of / with / along with / as well as / together with / including never affect subject number.

The same applies to long subjects with relative clauses. "The students who study English every day ___ the most progress" — the subject is students (plural), so the verb is "make." The relative clause "who study English every day" only modifies students. On Part 5, train yourself to separate the verb in the relative clause (study) from the verb in the main clause (make).

Noun phrases and gerund phrases as subjects take singular agreement. "Reading TOEIC books ___ helpful" — the subject is the gerund phrase "reading TOEIC books" treated as a single activity, so the verb is "is." Similarly for infinitive phrases ("To learn English ___ challenging" → is). Multiple gerunds joined by "and" can be plural ("Reading and writing are both important" — two distinct activities) or singular ("Reading and writing is essential for academic work" — context implying one combined activity).

Subjects joined by "and" are normally plural ("John and Mary work together"), but idiomatic or co-referential pairs are singular. "Bread and butter is on the table" (idiomatic pair), "My best friend and colleague has resigned" (one person fills both roles). On Part 5, decide whether the conjunction marks two distinct entities or a single combined entity.

• Prepositional phrases (of / with / along with) do not affect subject number
• Relative clauses only modify the head noun
• Gerund phrases / infinitive phrases as subject = singular
• Subjects joined by "and" = usually plural; idioms or co-reference = singular
• Always identify the head noun first

Collective nouns and indefinite pronouns

Collective nouns (team, staff, committee, government, audience, family, company) split between US and UK English. American English treats them as singular by default ("The team is winning"); British English allows plural when emphasizing the individual members ("The team are winning" = each player is winning). TOEIC Link follows international business standard English, so singular agreement is safe. "The committee has decided" / "The staff is preparing for the event" / "The audience was attentive."

Indefinite pronouns split into singular-forcing and plural-forcing. Singular-forcing: each, every, everyone, everybody, everything, someone, somebody, something, anyone, anybody, anything, no one, nobody, nothing, either, neither, one. "Each of the students has submitted the report" (each forces singular despite "of the students"). "Everybody is welcome." "Neither of the answers is correct."

Plural-forcing: both, few, many, several, others. "Both of the candidates are qualified" / "Several of the proposals have been approved" / "Many in the audience were unfamiliar with the topic." When Part 5 choices include each / every / both / several, pick the one that aligns with the verb form in the blank.

"all" / "some" / "any" / "most" / "none" / "half" / "the rest" / "the majority" depend on context — specifically on the noun in the following "of" phrase. "All of the books are on the shelf" (books = plural → plural), "All of the information is on the website" (information = uncountable → singular). "Half of the cake is gone" (uncountable singular) / "Half of the cookies are gone" (countable plural).

• Collective nouns = singular in US/business English (committee has decided)
• Singular-forcing: each, every, everyone, neither, either, one
• Plural-forcing: both, few, many, several
• Context-dependent: all, some, any, most, none, half (decided by the of-phrase)
• Choose the pronoun that matches the verb in the blank

Partitive expressions and inversions

Partitive expressions (a number of / the number of / a lot of / lots of / plenty of / a majority of / a minority of) take agreement either from the of-phrase or from the partitive itself. "A number of students are absent today" (a number of = "many" → plural, agreeing with students) / "The number of students is decreasing" (the number of = "the count" → singular, agreeing with number). The article (a / the) is the only signal — a frequent Part 5 / 6 trap.

"a lot of" / "lots of" / "plenty of" agree with the following noun. "A lot of money is missing" (money = uncountable → singular) / "A lot of items are missing" (items = countable plural → plural). "A great deal of" / "a small amount of" pair only with uncountable nouns and are always singular. "A (large/small) number of" pairs with countable nouns and is always plural.

Inverted constructions (there is/are, here is/are, in the room is/are) take their number from the noun after the verb. "There is a book on the table" / "There are two books on the table." "There is a book and a notebook on the table" is idiomatically agreement with the closest noun (book = singular); formal writing prefers "There are a book and a notebook." On Part 5, agreement with the nearest noun is the safe choice.

"Either A or B" / "Neither A nor B" / "Not only A but also B" agree with B (the subject closest to the verb). "Either the manager or the employees are responsible" (employees → are) / "Either the employees or the manager is responsible" (manager → is). Part 5 questions deliberately reorder A and B to trip students who default to the first subject.

• a number of = plural / the number of = singular
• a lot of / plenty of = agreement with the following noun
• there is/are = agreement with the noun after the verb
• either A or B / neither A nor B = agreement with B
• Distinguish partitives by article (a vs the) and the of-phrase

Six common Part 5 / 6 traps

*Trap 1: Mis-agreement across modifying phrases*. "The price of the products ___ increased" — the verb is "has" (price = singular), not "have." Don't be drawn by "products." Always identify the head noun (price). The most common mistake when subjects are long.

*Trap 2: Forgetting each / every singular forcing*. "Each of the candidates ___ qualified" — the verb is "is," not "are." "Each" forces singular grammatically. Similarly for "every employee" / "everyone" — singular. Don't be drawn by the plural image of "employees" in "every employee in the company has access."

*Trap 3: Collective noun US/UK divergence*. "The team ___ scheduled to meet tomorrow" — "is" is safe in US/business standard. "Are" is not strictly wrong, but TOEIC Link / business documents default to singular. When Part 5 choices include is / are / has / have, prefer is / has.

*Trap 4: Confusing a number of vs the number of*. "A number of complaints ___ been received" — "have" (a number of = plural). "The number of complaints ___ increasing" — "is" (the number of = singular). The article alone changes the verb form. A high-frequency Part 5 trap.

*Trap 5: Mis-agreement in there-inversion*. "There ___ several issues to discuss" — "are" (the noun after the verb, issues = plural). "There ___ a problem and several minor issues" — "are" is the formal default; "is" is colloquially allowed via agreement with the closest noun. Formal writing prefers plural.

*Trap 6: Forgetting gerund-subject singular agreement*. "Reading reports ___ part of my daily routine" — "is" (gerund phrase "reading reports" = single activity). "Submitting the form and attending the meeting ___ both required" — "are" (two distinct activities). Decide based on whether the gerund subject denotes one activity or several.

Frequent expressions in Listening and business writing

In Listening Part 4 announcements / talks, agreement signals often appear in headline sentences: "The committee has decided to extend the deadline" / "There are several updates we want to share" / "Each of you is required to complete the training." Catching the agreement form often clarifies whether the speaker is referring to a singular institution, multiple items, or individual members.

In Reading Part 7 business documents, partitive expressions are common in metric reports. "A number of customers reported the issue" / "The number of complaints has decreased" / "A majority of respondents agreed with the proposal." Reading these correctly is essential for understanding whether the document is reporting trends (the number of = the count) or describing many instances (a number of = many).

EnglishBlitz Reading drills include many corporate communications (board minutes, quarterly reports, customer surveys) where subject-verb agreement consistently follows business-standard rules. Test-takers who hit 90%+ accuracy on Part 5 agreement questions consistently report relying on pattern memory of which phrases are paired with singular vs plural verbs.

On Part 6 cloze passages, multiple agreement choices may appear in adjacent blanks within one paragraph. The strategy is to first identify each subject's head noun, then decide singular/plural in isolation, then match the verb form. Trying to decide all blanks at once leads to compound errors.

• Headline sentences in Listening Part 4 reveal agreement form
• Partitive expressions in Reading Part 7 distinguish trend vs many
• EnglishBlitz drills follow business-standard agreement rules
• Part 6 cloze: identify head nouns first, then match verbs

Subject-verb agreement cheat sheet

* Modifying phrases (of / with / along with / as well as) never affect the head-noun agreement.

Frequently Asked Questions