Transcript Subject Verb Agreement

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
Agreement in Number
• A verb must agree with its subject in
number. Number refers to whether a
word is singular, naming one, or plural,
naming more than one.
Plurals in English Grammar
• To make a noun plural, we add –s
• Singular: girl
• Plural: girls
• To make a verb plural, we take away
the –s.
• Singular: he talks
• Plural: they talk
S and S
• A singular subject takes a
____singular_ verb.
• Examples: S & S (Singular subject and S at the end of present tense verb)
• The bird sings a sweet song while on
the branch.
• The desk is broken.
Singular
Subject (S)
-S on
verb
The girl dances.
Plural Subject ------ No -S
• A plural subject takes a __plural _ verb.
• Examples: P and S do not belong
together (Plural subject and NO –S at
the end of verb)
• Those posters announce garage sales.
• Five desks are broken in my classroom.
Plural
subject
The girls dance.
No –S
on verb
I and You
• “I” and “you” follow the plural rule.
No –s at the end of the verb.
• Example: I am hot with this scarf on.
•
• Example: You walk the dog this
afternoon.
Watch the Verb Endings!
Singular
• I walk
• You walk
• He/She/It walk s
• Joe walk s
• The girl walk s
Plural
• We walk
• You walk
• They walk
• Joe and Maria walk
• The girls walk
S and S (Singular Subject & - S
on Present Tense Verb)
• 1. The gym teacher want to find hockey
equipment at a yard sale.
• 2. At a garage sale, the best thing are
the prices.
• 3. Most players bounces the ball on the
court.
Verb Phrase
• In a sentence with a verb phrase, the
first helping verb must verb must agree
with the subject.
• Example: The neighbors have been
joining in an annual sale.
Verb Phrase Practice
First find the subject. Is it singular or plural?
What is the verb phrase?
• 1. The cats was watching the birds
outside the window.
• 2. They was asking questions about my
friend.
• 3. Marie has found a dollar bill on the
sidewalk.
Contractions
• Don’t = Do not
• Use with a plural subject (no –s)
• Doesn’t = Does not
• Use with a singular subject (has an –s)
Contraction Practice
Find the subject first (who or what?) Is it singular or
plural?
• 1. (Don’t, Doesn’t) Harry want to go
bike riding with us?
• 2. (Don’t, Doesn’t) you like to receive
flowers for a special occasion?
• 3. (Don’t Doesn’t) they like participating
with a partner in class?
Remember there are 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.
Multiple subjects joined by “and”
• 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
Multiple 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:
• The professor or the students walk the
halls.
• The students or the professor walks the
halls.
• Either the still photos or the video
shows the lion’s mane.
• Neither the spider nor the centipede is an
insect.
Phrases between Subject and
Verb
• Many errors in subject-verb
agreement occur when a
prepositional phrase falls between
the subject and verb.
• The subject of a verb is never part of a
prepositional phrase. Mentally block out
any words between the subject and
verb. Make the verb agree with the
subject.
Prepositional Phrases
• This photo of trees and flowers wins first
place.
• The trees in the photo are stately.
Indefinite Pronouns
•Some indefinite pronouns are always singular. Here
are some examples: anyone, everyone, someone, no
one, nobody
•Others can be either singular or plural (all, some)
• Everybody loves grammar!
• Some people love grammar.
Relative Pronouns
Relative Pronouns (who/which/that) can be
either singular or plural, depending on the
word they refer to.
• The student who works hard will succeed.
• The students who work hard will succeed.
Helpful hints
Sometimes, several words come between the subject
and the verb. Just take out the phrase in the middle
to see whether or not the subject and verb agree.

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.
Prepositional phrases
The subject can never be part of a
prepositional phrase.
Example
The students in my class study / studies
X
hard.
In the sentences below, do the
subjects & verbs agree?
• They goes to the gym after class to work out.
• Harry and his friends wants to see the new movie
coming out this weekend.
• The cat who is meowing at my door wants in.
• Neither the cat nor the dogs likes the new food.
• The mayor as well as his brothers are going to jail.
• Nobody wants to dance.
• The paper or the ruler are in the desk.