Skill 21: Make verbs agree after expressions of quantity

A particular agreement problem occurs when the subject is an expression of quantity, such as all, most, or some, followed by the preposition of, in this situacion, the subject (all, most, or some). ca be singular or plural, depending on what follows the preposition of.

All (of the book) was interesting.
singular

All (of the books) were interesting.
plural

All (of the information) was interesting.
uncountable

In the example the subject all refers to the singular noun book, so the correct verb is therefore the singular verb was. In the second example the subject all refers to the plural noun books, so the correct verb is the plural verb were. In the third example the subject all refers to the uncountable noun information, so the correct verb is therefore the singular verb as.

SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT AFTER EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY

all
most
some of the object v
half

When an expression of quantity is the subject, the verb agrees with the object.