Subject–verb agreement

Agreement Aggie

“Weighs every word. Still gets the balance wrong.”

What's the problem?

In standard edited American English, a verb agrees with its subject in person and number. Find the subject rather than matching the verb to a nearby noun. Compare ‘The student writes’ with ‘The students write.’

✗ Gremlin-infested

The stack of library books are on the desk.

✓ Fixed

The stack of library books is on the desk.

Why it works

The subject is ‘stack,’ which is singular. ‘Of library books’ describes the stack, so use ‘is.’