Concord - Exercises

expected to support the strike fairly solidly.

6. Two kilos (is/are) pretty small for a newborn baby.
7. Our teenage son thinks there (is/are) a number of good reasons for staying up late and having a good time.
8. More that one house in our street (has/have) been broken into recently.
9. A couple of dangerous-looking men (is/are) waiting for you outside.

10. One of my friends (has/have) just won two free plane tickets to New York.
11. Six weeks (is/are) a long time to wait for news of your family.
12. The majority of the children´s parents (is/are) unemployed.
13. A lot of shops (is/are) opening on Sundays now.
14. The Philippines (has/have) signed the new human rights agreement.
15. The police think that more than one person (was/were) in the stolen car.
16. Tom and Rosie were late, but the rest of us (was/were) on time.
17. (Is/Are) bacon and eggs what you usually eat for breakfast?
18. We´ve just learnt that a couple of our club members (has/have) been chosen for the national team.

Swan, M.& Walter, C. How English Works, OUP

Exercise 99 Subject – verb concord

Choose the best words in the following sentences

1. The global total of homes with TV was/were estimated to be over 500 
million by 1987.

2. But in 1988 the Chinese News Agency said the number of TV viewers in 
China alone was/were 600 million.

3. 600 million is/are a lot of viewers.
4. The greatest number of episodes of any TV programme ever sold was/were 1,144 episodes of Coronation Street.
5. In 1971 the complete series at that date was/were sold to a Canadian company.
6. The Winds of War, about the Second World War, was/were the most expensive television production ever.
7. 1.6 billion people – or a third of the world´s population – is/are said to have watched Bob Geldof´s original Live

Aid concerts.

8. This pop star and fund raiser is/are now world famous.
9. Actually Billy Graham – as well as Bob Geldof – was/were behind these concerts.

10. Around one in ten UK households was/were without colour TV in 1988.
11. But more than one in two households in the UK has/have two or more sets.
12. Having two or three sets seems/seem unnecessary to me.
13. 25 hours 21 minutes is/are said to be the average UK viewer´s weekly “fix”.
14. A majority of viewers worldwide probably watches/watch news programmes regularly.
15. News of disasters reaches/reach a huge audience.
16. What you both see and hear has/have an enormous impact.
17. So many people being killed in earthquakes and cyclones is/are tragic.
18. So-called programmes of entertainment is/are not always entertaining.
19. But apparently the audience for “sit-coms” and “soaps” is/are large.
20. Too much sex and violence is/are shown in my opinion.
21. Swearing – and bad language in general – is/are also prevalent.
22. A number of concerned individuals protests/protest.