Transcript Subject Verb Agreement - Central Magnet School

Subject Verb Agreement
Identify the subject and verb within
each sentence below.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Today is a day to learn.
Dr. Ash expects his students to do their
best.
Waiting during the storm was my sister.
Ms. Basone hated that Georgia lost the
SEC Championship.
Winter break is in a week.
How should the subject and verb
agree?

A verb should agree in number with its
subject.
Singular

Singular subjects take singular verbs.
Examples:
1. The thunder sounds so loud tonight.
2. Ms. Basone begins her vacation in three
weeks.
Plural

Plural subjects take plural verbs.
Examples
1. Cheetahs run like the wind.
2. New students do not come to Central
Magnet often.
Be careful with INDEFINATE
PRONOUNS
ONE-BODY-THINGS

The following indefinite pronouns are singular:
Anybody
Anyone
Anything
Each
Either
Everybody
Everyone
Everything
No one
Nothing
One
Somebody
Someone
Something
Nobody
Neither
The following indefinite pronouns
are PLURAL
Both
Few
Many
Others
Several
Variable Indefinite Pronouns

Some are singular and some are plural
depending on what follows them in a
prepositional phrase.

Some
Most
All
None
Any


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Examples of Variable Indefinite
1.All of the students were present.
All is plural because students is plural
2. All of the problem was of my own making
All is singular because problem is
singular
Some subjects, while in
plural form, function as singular.

1.
2.
Examples:
Measles is a contagious disease.
The New York Times is a popular
newspaper.
Nouns that express quantities of
amount require singular verbs
when thought of as a unit.




Time
Money
Weight
Length
Example:
Twenty-four years is a long time to work at a single
job.
Collective Nouns are considered
singular
Faculty
Staff
Band
Committee
Congress
Team
Jury
Audience
Flock
Herd
Example: The band is playing great music tonight.
There is one band and a singular verb.