Verbal Agreement: Harmony between Subject and Verb

Verbal agreement is the grammatical principle that establishes harmony between the verb and its subject in number and person. It’s one of the pillars of linguistic correctness and can present challenges even for native speakers, especially in special cases.

What is Verbal Agreement?

Verbal agreement establishes that:

The verb agrees with the subject in number (singular/plural)
The verb agrees with the subject in person (1st, 2nd, 3rd)
Agreement is independent of the subject’s position in the sentence

General Rule

Simple Subject

The verb agrees with the subject’s nucleus:

O aluno estuda (The student studies) → singular
Os alunos estudam (The students study) → plural
A maioria dos alunos estuda (Most students study) → singular nucleus
Grande parte dos alunos estuda (A large part of the students studies) → singular nucleus

Compound Subject

Before the Verb

The verb goes to plural:

João e Maria chegaram cedo (João and Maria arrived early)
O professor e os alunos discutiram o tema (The teacher and students discussed the topic)
Eu e você vamos ao cinema (You and I are going to the movies)

After the Verb

The verb can agree with the nearest or go to plural:

Chegou/Chegaram o diretor e os professores (The director and teachers arrived)
Voltou/Voltaram a calma e a tranquilidade (Calm and tranquility returned)

Special Cases of Agreement

1. Compound Subject with Different Persons

The 1st person prevails over others:

Eu e tu vamos (You and I go - we)
Eu e ele vamos (He and I go - we)

The 2nd person prevails over the 3rd:

Tu e ele vais/ides (vós) or vão (vocês) (You and he go)

2. Collective Subject

Simple Collective

Verb in singular:

A multidão aplaudiu (The crowd applauded)
O bando voou (The flock flew)
A equipe venceu (The team won)

Collective + Determiner

Optional agreement:

A maioria dos alunos passou/passaram (Most students passed)
Grande parte dos eleitores votou/votaram (A large part of voters voted)
Um grupo de turistas visitou/visitaram (A group of tourists visited)

3. Partitive Expressions

With “part of”, “half of”, “portion of”:

Metade dos candidatos desistiu/desistiram (Half of the candidates quit)
Parte dos convidados chegou/chegaram (Part of the guests arrived)

4. Percentages and Fractions

Without Determiner

30% é muito (30% is a lot)
1/3 representa uma parte significativa (1/3 represents a significant part)

With Determiner

30% dos alunos faltaram (30% of students were absent)
1/3 dos votos foi/foram anulado(s) (1/3 of votes was/were annulled)

5. More than, Less than, About

Agreement with the numeral:

Mais de um aluno faltou (More than one student was absent)
Mais de dois alunos faltaram (More than two students were absent)
Cerca de mil pessoas compareceram (About a thousand people attended)

Exception: Repeated “more than one” = plural

Mais de um aluno, mais de um professor faltaram (More than one student, more than one teacher were absent)

6. Pronoun “Quem” (Who)

As Subject

Verb in 3rd person singular:

Fui eu quem fez o trabalho (It was I who did the work)
Fomos nós quem descobriu o erro (It was we who discovered the error)

Optional Agreement

With explicit antecedent:

Fui eu quem fiz/fez (It was I who did)
Foste tu quem fizeste/fez (It was you who did)

7. Pronoun “Que” (That)

Agrees with the antecedent:

Fui eu que fiz (It was I that did)
Foste tu que fizeste (It was you that did)
Foram eles que fizeram (It was they that did)

8. One of those who

Agreement generally in plural:

Ele é um dos que chegaram cedo (He is one of those who arrived early)
Foi um dos livros que mais venderam (It was one of the books that sold most)

Singular when there’s exclusivity:

É um dos poucos que sabe a verdade (He’s one of the few who knows the truth)

Special Verbs

1. Verb SER (To Be)

With Subject Predicate

Can agree with subject or predicate:

Tudo são flores (Everything is flowers)
A vida são os sonhos (Life is dreams)
Cem reais é pouco (One hundred reais is little)

Time Expressions

Agrees with the numeral:

São duas horas (It’s two o’clock)
É uma hora (It’s one o’clock)
São 15 de maio (It’s May 15th)

2. Verb HAVER

Meaning “To Exist”

Always singular (impersonal):

Há muitos alunos na sala (There are many students in the room)
Havia várias opções (There were several options)
Haverá problemas (There will be problems)

As Auxiliary

Agrees normally:

Eles haviam chegado (They had arrived)
Nós havemos de vencer (We shall overcome)

3. Verb FAZER

Indicating Time

Always singular (impersonal):

Faz dois anos (It’s been two years)
Fazia meses (It had been months)
Fará três dias (It will be three days)

4. Impersonal Verbs

Always in 3rd person singular:

Chove muito (It rains a lot)
Nevou ontem (It snowed yesterday)
Ventava forte (It was windy)

Agreement with Pronouns

Treatment Pronouns

Verb in 3rd person:

Vossa Excelência está satisfeito? (Is Your Excellency satisfied?)
Vossas Senhorias desejam algo? (Do Your Lordships desire something?)

Pronoun SE

Passive Particle

Verb agrees with subject:

Vendem-se casas (Houses are sold)
Aluga-se apartamento (Apartment for rent)
Consertam-se sapatos (Shoes are repaired)

Indetermination Index

Verb always singular:

Precisa-se de empregados (Employees needed)
Vive-se bem aqui (One lives well here)
Trata-se de casos especiais (These are special cases)

Controversial Cases

1. Plural Proper Names

With Article

Verb in plural:

Os Estados Unidos são uma potência (The United States is a power)
As Minas Gerais produzem minério (Minas Gerais produces ore)

Without Article

Verb in singular:

Estados Unidos é uma potência (United States is a power)
Minas Gerais produz minério (Minas Gerais produces ore)

2. Work Titles

Optional agreement:

Os Lusíadas é/são uma epopeia (The Lusiads is/are an epic)
Os Sertões retrata/retratam o Brasil (Rebellion in the Backlands portrays Brazil)

3. Subjects United by “OR”

Exclusion

Verb in singular:

Pedro ou João será o presidente (Pedro or João will be president)

Inclusion

Verb in plural:

O frio ou o calor incomodam (Cold or heat bother)

4. Subjects United by “WITH”

Agreement depends on emphasis:

O professor com os alunos chegou (The teacher with the students arrived - emphasis on teacher)
O professor com os alunos chegaram (The teacher with the students arrived - joint action)

Agreement in Passive Voice

Analytical Passive

Verb SER agrees with subject:

As casas foram vendidas (The houses were sold)
O problema foi resolvido (The problem was solved)

Synthetic Passive

Verb agrees with subject:

Venderam-se as casas (The houses were sold)
Resolveu-se o problema (The problem was solved)

Common Errors

1. Impersonal Verbs

❌ “Fazem dois anos” (They make two years) ✅ “Faz dois anos” (It’s been two years)

❌ “Haviam muitas pessoas” (There were many people - wrong) ✅ “Havia muitas pessoas” (There were many people - correct)

2. SE Particle

❌ “Aluga-se casas” (Houses is rented) ✅ “Alugam-se casas” (Houses are rented)

❌ “Precisam-se de vendedores” (Salespeople is needed) ✅ “Precisa-se de vendedores” (Salespeople are needed)

3. Postposed Subject

❌ “Chegou os convidados” (The guests has arrived) ✅ “Chegaram os convidados” (The guests have arrived)

Regional Variations

Brazil

Tendency to agree with the nearest term
Flexibility in informal registers
Common ideological agreement

Portugal

Greater rigor in formal agreement
Preservation of classic forms
Less colloquial variation

Practical Tips

1. Subject Identification

Ask “who?” or “what?” to the verb
Eliminate accessory terms
Identify the nucleus

2. Direct Order

Mentally rewrite in direct order:

“Faltaram três alunos” → “Três alunos faltaram” (Three students were absent)

3. Doubtful Cases

When in doubt, prefer:

Grammatical over ideological agreement
The more conservative form
Communication clarity

Practice Exercises

Complete with the Correct Form

Most of the candidates ___ (to pass) the test.
More than one student ___ (to be absent) today.
There ___ (to be) many problems to solve.
Apartments ___ (to be rented).

Answers

passou/passaram (both correct)
faltou (was absent)
are (há)
are rented (Alugam-se)

Applications in Writing

Formal Texts

Absolute rigor in agreement
Preference for conservative forms
Avoid ambiguities

Creative Texts

Poetic license permitted
Ideological agreement for effects
Respect chosen register

Conclusion

Verbal agreement is fundamental for clarity and correctness in Portuguese communication. Mastering its rules, especially special cases, allows one to express themselves with precision and elegance. More than memorizing rules, it’s important to develop linguistic sensitivity to recognize and apply appropriate agreement in each context, respecting both the standard norm and legitimate language variations.