“Everyone” Do You Need a Singular or Plural Verb?

Grammar / By

When using the word “everyone” in a sentence, you will always use a verb in the singular form. There are no exceptions to the rule and it will stay the same no matter how or where you use it in a sentence.

This may seem confusing at first glance because “everyone” implies a plural amount of people. While that’s true, its use is singular to refer to it in the plural. Therefore, the confusion comes in when applying other pronouns or ownership by using “their.”

The Pronoun, “Everyone”

“Everyone” is a pronoun that is gender-neutral. It’s a general term referring to a group of people as one cohesive whole. Therefore, this is a singular pronoun that needs verb agreement to match. It’s a more terse way to say, “all of you,” “you all,” “all of them” or “them all.”

Using “Everyone” in a Sentence

The following list of examples shows exactly how to use “everyone” in a sentence.

Basic Statement

  • Correct: Everyone here lives in Chicago.
  • Incorrect: Everyone here live in Chicago.

As the Sentence Object

  • Correct: Scott told everyone where their coats are.
  • Incorrect: Scott told everyone where their coats is.
  • Correct: The dreams and aspirations of everyone are profound.
  • Incorrect: The dreams and aspirations of everyone is profound.

As a Question

  • Correct: When did everyone leave?
  • Incorrect: When did everyone leaves?

Take note of the second set of examples when using “everyone” as the object of a sentence to indicate possession. Here, there is a clear demonstration to indicate possession of the coats or dreams and aspirations. The verb then describes the plural in both examples with agreement from the verb, “to be.”

Mnemonic Device

There are two ways in which to back check your work after your write a sentence using “everyone.” The first is by the word itself. The last three letters are “one,” therefore, it’s singular. The other way is by replacing “everyone” with one of the phrases containing “all” mentioned above.

Conclusion

While the word “everyone” indicates a group of people to infer the plural, its use in a sentence is singular. Whenever you have doubts, remember the last three letters spell out, “one.” This is always singular unless possession of a plural object is present. Then it will be plural as it refers to the objects.

 

Conor
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