Transcript subject verb agreement

April 19, 2016
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Get your class notebook.
We are going to take grammar notes
for the first few minutes of class today.
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
EVERY VERB MUST AGREE
WITH ITS SUBJECT
Plural
Subject
Singular
Subject
Singular
Verb
Plural
Verb
The Stupidity of English Grammar
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To make a noun plural, we add –s
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Singular: girl
Plural: girls
To make a verb plural, we take away
the –s.
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Singular: he talks
Plural: they talk
Watch the Verb Endings!
Singular
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I walk
You walk
He/She/It walk s
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Joe walk s
The girl walk s
Plural
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We walk
You walk
They walk
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Joe and Maria walk
The girls walk
Remember the 3 irregular
verbs:
 DO
Singular
 He does
Plural
They do
 HAVE
 She has
They have
 BE
 He is
 She was
They are
They were
Tip for Subject/verb
Agreement
Generally, if the subject doesn’t
end in –S, the verb will.
If the subject does end in –S,
the verb won’t.
No –S on
subject
-S on
verb
The girl dances.
-S on
subject
The girls dance.
No –S
on verb
Compound subjects joined by
“and”
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If there are two or more subjects joined
by and, the subject must be plural, so
the verb will not get an “s”.
Example
 The boy and the girl dance.
(= They dance.)
No –S on
verb
Compound subjects joined by
“or”
If there are two or more subjects joined
by or, the verb agrees with the part of
the subject closest to it.
Examples:
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The professor or the students walk the
halls.
The students or the professor walks the
halls.
Watch out for “Everybody”
• Everybody loves grammar!
• Everybody understands subject/verb
agreement.
•Everybody is a singular pronoun!
Subject verb agreement with
linking verbs: is, are & was, were/
has, have/ do, does
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Make sure a linking verb agrees with its subject, not
with the word or phrase that describes the subject.
 Incorrect: The worst backyard pest are squirrels.
 Correct: The worst backyard pest is squirrels.
 Tornadoes (is / are) a very common type of storm
in the south.
The bolded phrase is also called predicate nominative,
which is the traditional term for a noun, pronoun, or
other nominal that follows a linking verb.
(group of words functioning like a noun)
Possible Pitfalls
Sometimes, several words come between
the subject and the verb.
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The student, though she had lots of problems in
other schools, finds/find (?) her new class easy.
 The student, though she had lots of problems
in other schools, finds her new class easy.
 The student finds her new class easy.
More pitfalls
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Watch out for phrases like as well as,
along with.., and other types of
phrases. They separate the subject
from the verb.
The boys, as well as their mom, are
going on the trip.
Annually the marching band, along with
the symphonic and jazz bands,
sponsors a fundraiser.
Possible Pitfalls – copy paragraph in
back of notebook.
An inverted sentence is one where the
subject follows the verb. Sometimes, the
subject will come after the verb, in
questions or when sentence begins with
there.
Examples
Why is he falling asleep?
Why are they falling asleep?
There is no excuse for such behavior.
There are no excuses for such behavior.
More Possible Pitfalls
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Inverted sentences oftentimes begin with
a prepositional phrase as well as there,
here, why, or do. Once again, in these
cases the subject will follow the verb.
Under the bush sits a rabbit.
Under the bush sit three rabbits.
On the wall hangs a picture.
On the wall hang several pictures.
Possible Pitfalls
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Special Subjects – a collective noun names a
group. It is considered singular when it
refers to a group as a whole. It is plural
when it refers to each member individually.
The couple are vacationing separately this
year.
The couple is going on a cruise this year.
Possible Pitfalls
Relative Pronouns (who/which/that) can be
either singular or plural, depending on
the word they refer to.
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The student who works hard will succeed.
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The students who work hard will succeed.
How do I get this right?
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First, identify whether or not you have
problems with subject/verb agreement.
If you don’t have any problems with
this, don’t worry about it!
If you do have problems
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Identify the verb. Ask who or what is doing it.
This will identify the subject.
Say them together and make sure that they
match in terms of number.
The subject and verb are the
skeleton of every sentence. Make
sure you fit those two important
parts together correctly!
A few things…
Prepositions
A preposition may be defined as connecting word showing the
relation of a noun or a noun substitute to some other word in
the sentence (the squirrel in the tree; the preposition in shows
the relationship between the squirrel and the tree.).
Over ninety percent of preposition usage involves these nine
prepositions:
with
at
by
to
in
for
from
of
on
Prepositional phrases
The subject can never be part of a
prepositional phrase.
Example
The students in my class study / studies
X
hard.
The verb must agree with the
subject of the sentence, not
with the object of a preposition.
Therefore, the subject of a
sentence is never contained in
the prepositional phrase.
Intervening Prepositional Phrases
The collection of rare stamps was very valuable.
subject
Prepositional Phrase
verb
The puppies in the basket have brown fur.
subject
Prepositional Phrase
verb
1. Apartments in this city (is, are)
expensive.
2. A convoy of trucks (is roaring, are
roaring) down the dirt road.
3. This list of names (is used, are used)
to check in contestants.
Possible Pitfalls
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Neither Cooper or Longfellow ______ the author of
the The Scarlett Letter. (be)
Neither my sister nor my brothers _________willing
to lend my five dollars. (