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Rockyhill Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Question about subject-verb agreement

Is it "Three years of studying increase academic achievement." or "Three years of studying increases academic achievement."?

Not sure whether to focus on "three years" or "studying" to decide the verb "increase."
  

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9 Answers
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I think the former is correct, "three years of studying increase..."
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'Three years of study' is an amount. Use the singular form of the verb.
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Thank you for your reply.

Hmm..so what about "one and two years of tutoring indicate(s)"..even if there is an "and" do I still
consider it a singular form and go with "one and two years of tutoring indicates"?
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The verb needed is 'indicates'.
The number of years does not affect the choice of the verb.
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oh no..mixed response! Can anyone else advise?
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rockyhill oh no..mixed response! Can anyone else advise?
The verb needed is 'indicates'.
The number of years does not affect the choice of the verb.
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Please ignore my earlier replies.
one and two years of tutoring indicates" What do you mean by 'one and two years of tutoring'?
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I thought there was a mixed response, but I misunderstood.

It seems like regardless of the number of years, the verb should still be in a singular form.

Sorry if the sentence sounded confusing. You can replace it with any other verb if that helps. For example, "Two and three years of exercising shows benefits in cholesterol reduction, while one year doesn't."

So in th
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rockyhillSo in this case, the verb is "shows" instead of "show," based on the replies here, right?
You are right.

Thanks for the clarification.
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