Transcript Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb
Agreement
Subjects
• Subject = who or what the sentence
is about
• Subjects can be
– Singular = one person/thing
– Plural = more than one person/thing
Verbs
• Verbs are action words; they show what
the subject is doing or make a statement
about the subject.
• Just like subjects, verbs can be
– Singular: In the present tense, they end in “s”
(throws, finds, jumps).
– Plural: In the present tense, they do not end in
“s” (throw, find, jump).
Agreement
• Singular subjects need singular verbs
– My mom likes to go shopping.
• Plural subjects need plural verbs
– My parents like my new shirt.
Practice (Present Tense)
• The iguana _______ (to drink) the
water.
• The grasshoppers _______ (to hop)
away from the iguana.
Disagreement is bad!
There are a few tricky situations to
watch out for:
• Separation of subject and verb
• Coordinating Conjunctions
• Collective nouns
• Pronouns
Separation of subject
and verb
• Watch out for words between the subject and
the verb
– Incorrect: The reports, which covered the colonization
of Africa, leaves out too much information.
– Incorrect: My plumber, in addition to my grandparents,
love to sing karaoke.
• To correct these errors, identify the subject and
verb and make sure that both are singular or
plural.
Practice (Present Tense)
• The lions, which ate a gazelle, (to be)
satisfied.
• The man who lives down the street
(to rake) his leaves every day!
• My dog, in addition to my cat, (to
want) to be fed.
Coordinating
Conjunctions
• And – The word and takes subjects and combines
them.
– Steve and Laura fail grammar tests.
• Or – The word or keeps subjects separate
– Either Steve or Laura fails grammar tests.
• Nor – The word nor keeps subjects separate
– Neither Steve nor Laura fails grammar tests.
Practice (Present Tense)
• Jim and Joe (to eat) their dinner.
• Neither she nor he (to know) the
answer.
• Either the democrat or the
republican (to win) the election.
Special Tricks
Or and nor keep subjects SEPARATE, not
necessarily SINGULAR!
– Either the monkeys or the zebras eat donuts
on Saturdays.
If the two nouns are different (one is
singular, one is plural) go with the noun
that is closer to the verb.
– Either the monkeys or that one zebra eats
donuts on Saturdays.
Practice (Present Tense)
• Either the runner from Deerfield or
the runners from VHHS (to win) the
race.
• Neither The Smiths nor Mr. Johnson
(to know) what time garbage day is.
Collective Nouns
• A collective noun is a singular noun which
represents a group of people or things. If
you are referring to the group as one unit,
it is singular.
– i.e. the class, the Bahamas
• The Philippines is a great travel destination.
Practice (Present Tense)
• The class (to learn) agreement.
• The United Nations (to be) an
important institution.
• The team (to practice) on Tuesdays.
Pronouns
Many pronouns which sound plural are singular.
Singular Pronouns – everyone, everybody, nobody,
anybody, each.
– Each of the plays holds the audience’s attention.
– Everyone dances the electric slide.
Plural Pronouns – both, few, many, several
– Few people dance as well as I do.
Practice (Present Tense)
• Everybody (to be) here on time
today!
• Nobody (to understand) the problem.
• Several people (to listen) to the
announcement.