Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?

Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?

• A. The teams of players is winning the game.
• B. The team of player is winning the game.
• C. The team of players are winning the game.
• D. The team of players is winning the game.

Answer: (D)

The main idea is subject-verb agreement: the verb must match the number of the main subject. Here, the head noun is team, which is singular, and the phrase of players is just a modifier describing who makes up the team. Because of that, the verb should be singular: is. The phrase of players doesn’t change the subject’s number, so using are would be wrong with a singular subject. The other options either treat the subject as plural (teams) with a singular verb or use a misleading modifier (player) that isn’t the natural way to describe a team of multiple people. The natural and correct form is: The team of players is winning the game.

The main idea is subject-verb agreement: the verb must match the number of the main subject. Here, the head noun is team, which is singular, and the phrase of players is just a modifier describing who makes up the team. Because of that, the verb should be singular: is. The phrase of players doesn’t change the subject’s number, so using are would be wrong with a singular subject. The other options either treat the subject as plural (teams) with a singular verb or use a misleading modifier (player) that isn’t the natural way to describe a team of multiple people. The natural and correct form is: The team of players is winning the game.