Attraction Errors (& with / as well as)

Here's a sentence that looks completely fine until a teacher puts a red ring round the verb: The stack of books on the desk are mine. You wrote are because your eye landed on books — plural, books, yes — and by the time the verb arrived, that was the noun still ringing in your head. The real subject was stack. Single stack. So it should be is.

Nobody's born knowing this. Your brain is just being efficient — grabbing the nearest plural-looking word and matching the verb to that. That little mental shortcut has a name: an attraction error. And the phrases that set it off — little intervening bits like of books, along with the students, as well as her brother — are some of the slipperiest things in school writing. The good news is that once you can spot them, the agreement stops fighting you.

Before you read on, here's where we're heading. By the end of this article, you'll be able to: - Find the true head of a subject when extra words sit in the middle of a sentence. - Stop the common "attraction error" (the box of chocolates are…) before it lands on the page. - Treat with, as well as, together with and friends as extra info — not as a second subject the way and works. - Handle the one of the students who… pattern without panic (and know where to go for the full deep dive).

Beginner (Foundation)

Let's start with the simplest version of the trap.

Every sentence that needs a verb has a subject — the person, thing or idea the verb is really about. Sometimes that subject is one clean word: The dog barks. Easy. But school writing often piles extra stuff between the main noun and the verb:

The box of pencils is on the shelf.

The main noun — the head of the subject — is box. One box. Of pencils is just a prepositional phrase telling you more about the box. It does not become the subject. So the verb matches box: is, not are. (If you want a refresher on what a prepositional phrase actually is, that's Pillar 3's job — pop over there and come back.)

Same pattern, different packing:

• A pile of worksheets needs collecting. (pile — singular)
• The leader of the teams has spoken. (leader — singular)
• The colours [US: colors] of the flag are red and white. (colours — plural; the head really is plural here)

Here's the thing. Your ear is incredibly good at matching nearby words. When a plural noun sits right before the verb — pencils, worksheets, teams — your brain wants a plural verb. That pull toward the nearest noun is the attraction error. You're not silly for doing it; almost every writer does it when they're writing fast, and plenty of grown adults do it in emails they get paid to send.

The fix is mechanical and kind. Before you choose is/are or has/have, ask: who or what is this sentence really about, if I strip the "of…" phrase away? That stripped-down noun is your agreement partner.

Common Mistake: Writing The group of friends are meeting at the cinema because friends is plural. Head noun = group (unless a collective is being treated differently — that lives over in Pillar 1). Default: The group of friends is meeting…

Quick recap: - Agreement follows the head of the subject, not the nearest noun. - Phrases like of books, of students, on the desk are extra information — they don't steal the subject's job. - An attraction error happens when the verb "gets attracted" to a nearby plural (or singular) and agrees with the wrong word. - Strip the middle out for a second: The box … is mine.

Intermediate (Development)

Right. Once you can strip an of-phrase, you're ready for the words that pretend to be and but aren't.

Look at this pair:

1. The teacher and the students are attending the assembly.
2. The teacher, along with the students, is attending the assembly.

In sentence 1, and builds a true compound subject — two subjects joined, so a plural verb. (That's the home ground of Article 5.1; we won't re-teach the and rule here — it has its own article, and a good one.)

In sentence 2, along with the students is not joining a second subject. It's a parenthetical add-on — extra info about the scene. The grammatical subject is still just the teacher. Singular. So the verb stays singular: is.

The same false friends include:

• with
• together with
• along with
• as well as
• in addition to
• including
• accompanied by

All of them. They look helpful and additive. They feel like and. They are not and.

So:

• The headteacher, together with two deputies, is speaking at the end of term.
• My project, as well as the photos, was finished last night.
• The cake, along with the sandwiches, sits on the table.
• Jamie, accompanied by her twin, has arrived.

If you're writing fast on homework or in an exam, the commas — or the lack of them — can throw you. Some writers put the phrase between commas to show it's detachable; others don't. Either way, the agreement rule does not change: match the head, ignore the add-on for subject–verb purposes.

Let's be honest — the spoken language is messier. You'll hear people say The teacher along with the students are going in the corridor every day of the week. That's fine in chat. On a formal piece of writing — coursework, an essay, a letter — teachers and examiners still expect the formal pattern: head noun + matching verb.

One more intermediate trap that often lands on the same day in class: "one of the…"

One of the students is absent. Simple. Subject = one. Verb singular.

But then the relative-clause version arrives: She is one of the students who are always early. Inside the clause who are always early, who refers back to students (plural), so are is the expected formal pattern. The main verb outside the relative clause still behaves normally with its own subject.

There's a flip side too: She is the only one of the students who is always early — here who points more tightly at one, so is. That whole family of sentences gets its proper long treatment in Article 5.8. For now, just notice: intervening material and relative clauses both tempt attraction errors, but they pull on different wires. If the relative clause is what's confusing you, hop across later; if it's with / as well as / along with, stay here with me.

Pro-Tip: Mentally delete the intervening phrase and read the sentence out loud without it — or, if you're allowed, cover it with a finger. The teacher … is attending. If that stripped sentence still reads as good English, you've almost certainly found the correct agreement for the full version.

Common Mistake: Treating as well as like and. The captain as well as the coach are responsible → fix to The captain, as well as the coach, is responsible. (And would genuinely make it are — that's the contrast.)

Quick recap: - And builds a true plural subject; with / along with / as well as / together with / in addition to / including / accompanied by do not. - Keep the verb matched to the first, main noun alone. - One of the X is… = singular; one of the X who… often flips inside the relative clause — see 5.8 for the full map. - Commas around the add-on don't change the rule; they just flag the extra info.

Advanced (Mastery)

You're ready for the edge cases — and the "why does this feel wrong even when it's right?" moments.

1. Long or heavy intervening material The longer the middle, the stronger the attraction pull. The success of the teams that trained hard right through the Easter break was obvious by May. Head = success → was. Your ear had almost forgotten success by the time it reached the verb, but the rule cares about heads, not memory span. In long examined writing, this is where errors nearly always hide — re-read from the head noun straight to the verb once you've drafted.

2. Stacked pseudo-compounds The assembly, along with the rehearsal and the after-school club, is cancelled. Still singular. Every add-on of this type stays off the agreement tally. Only a true and at the subject level multiplies the count.

3. Subject after a fronted phrase Sometimes the intervening material comes first: Along with the students, the teacher is attending. Same rule: teacher is the subject; is. The fronted phrase is just a trailer parked out front.

4. Register and "what people actually say" In speech, and in friendly messaging, plural attraction after as well as / with is common and rarely judged. In formal school work — essays, reports, exam answers — stick to the head-noun rule. If a style guide (or a particularly strict teacher) is involved, follow the house style; most do insist on grammatical number matching the head alone for these phrases.

5. Don't confuse this with collective-noun freedom The team of players is/are… can go either way in British English depending on whether you're thinking of the unit or the individuals — that's collective-noun territory, fully covered in Pillar 1. What we're doing here is different: of players is still just intervening material when the head team is what you'd strip down to. Link Pillar 1 if collectives are your real headache; don't mash the two rules together.

6. When the head really is plural Attraction works both ways. People over-correct too. The effects of the new timetable are already clear. Head = effects → are. Don't "correct" this to is just because timetable looks singular and distracting.

And a last honest aside: I still reread long as-well-as sentences myself on a Friday afternoon. The pattern doesn't live highest in anyone's automatic muscle memory. Slowing down for half a second is not a failure — it's the actual skill.

Pro-Tip: In a long exam answer, when you've finished a draft paragraph, hunt only for subjects with of / with / as well as in the middle. Underline the head noun once. Check the verb against that underlining alone. Thirty seconds; massive accuracy gain.

Quick recap: - Longer intervening stretches make attraction more likely — re-check head → verb in isolation. - Stacked along-with add-ons still leave a singular (or plural) head alone. - Fronted Along with X, Y is… follows the same head rule as the mid-sentence version. - Formal writing wants head agreement; chat is freer. - Collectives (Pillar 1) are a separate switch — don't blend the two.

UK / US Note

The agreement rules in this article — head-noun matching after intervening material, and with / as well as not equalling and — are shared across UK and US English. Spellings may flip (colour [US: color], centre [US: center], realise [US: realize]), but the grammar point does not. Where collective-noun number differs between UK and US usage, that lives in Pillar 1's subject–verb agreement pair; we don't re-teach it here.

Key Takeaways

• Spot intervening phrases (of…, on…, along with…) and ignore them when choosing is/are or has/have.
• Attraction errors pull the verb toward the nearest noun — double-check the true head instead.
• With, together with, along with, as well as, in addition to, including, accompanied by = extra info, not a second subject.
• True compounds with and (Article 5.1) are different and do take plural verbs.
• One of the X who… relative-clause patterns get fuller treatment in Article 5.8.
• Strip the middle, match the head; that one habit alone will clean up most of your real-world slips.

Check Your Understanding

1. Choose the correct verb: The bundle of letters (is / are) on your desk.
2. Why is The coach, as well as the players, are arriving early treated as wrong in formal school writing?
3. Rewrite correctly: My bag, together with my books, were left in the hall.
4. True or false: Along with her twin, Maya are on the trip is fine because twin is singular.
5. In the sentence He is one of the runners who finish every race, why is finish (plural form) the standard formal choice inside the clause?

Internal Links

• Pillar 5 Hub — the consolidation map for hard agreement cases
• Pillar 1 — Subject–Verb Agreement (basics; collective-noun UK/US split; contrast yardstick for true compounds)
• Pillar 3 — refresher on what a prepositional phrase or relative clause is structurally
• Article 5.1 — true compound subjects with and (the live contrast for this article)
• Article 5.8 — fuller relative-clause / "one of the people who…" pronoun–antecedent treatment

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