Transcript Subject Verb Agreement

Subject Verb
Agreement
Rule
 A verb must agree with it’s subject in
number


Singular subjects should have singular
verbs
Plural subjects – plural verbs
Hints
 Use “he” and “they” as substitutes for a
subject to find a correct verb


He is always singular (only one guy)
They is always plural (two people, at least)
 He
runs/ they run
 He walks/ they walk
 Singular verbs usually end in “s”

Runs, walks, plays
Examples
 Early detectives (is/are) Sherlock
Holmes and his assistant.
 This book (describes/describe) ways to
find evidence.
 In the play, a neighbor (reports/report) a
murder.
 The officers (have/has) been looking for
a clue.
Be careful!
 The subject of a verb is never in a
prepositional phrase or an appositive
phrase.
 Don’t be fooled by words that come in
between the subject and the verb
Examples
 The files of any computer (is/are)
vulnerable to electronic-age thieves.
 A computer thief with the right codes
(control/controls) all the data files.
 These thieves, people like Kevin Mitniek,
(steal/steals) many files.
 Mitnick, the most cunning of thieves,
(was/were) caught by one of his victims.
Any Questions?
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