Subject-Verb Agreement Grammar Tutorial
Part One
Let s begin with the basics Conjugation in the present tense... Several of you took Spanish or French in high school. Do you remember conjugating Spanish or French verbs? Let s do a quick review.
To Walk (regular verb in present tense) Singular Plural I walk We walk You walk You walk He walks They walk She walks It walks
Note that for the third person singular (he/she/it walks) the verb ends in s. But the third person plural (they walk) does not end is s. Do not get this confused with plural nouns. Some students think that if the subject ends in s so too must the verb. This is not correct. Do not confuse a verb for a noun.
Examples: The dog barks. The girl watches. The bird chirps. The student studies. The dogs bark. The girls watch. The birds chirp. The students study.
To Walk (regular verb in present tense) Singular Plural I walked We walked You walked You walked He walked They walked She walked It walked
The dog barked. The dogs barked. The girl watched. The girls watched. The bird chirped. The birds chirped. The student studied. The students studied. Note that the verb in past tense is the same for both singular and plural subjects.
Irregular Verbs in Present Tense Singular I am You are He is She is It is To Be Plural We are You are They are
Singular I have You have He has She has It has To Have Plural We have You have They have
Singular I do You do He does She does It does To Do Plural We do You do They do
Irregular Verbs in Past Tense Singular I was You were He was She was It was To Be Plural We were You were They were
Singular I had You had He had She had It had To Have Plural We had You had They had
Singular I did You did He did She did It did To Do Plural We did You did They did
Part Two
Understanding Subject- Verb Agreement A sentence s subject (a noun or pronoun) and its verb must be in agreement. Singular subjects have verbs in singular form and plural subjects have verbs in plural form.
Example: subj. verb The school closes for Independence day. (Both subject and verb are singular) subj. verb The schools close for Independence day. (Both subject and verb are plural)
Part Three
Subject-Verb Agreement with Compound Subjects (The following six slides are from Writing First 2 nd ed. pg. 340-1) The subject of a sentence is not always a single word. It can also be a compound subject, consisting of two or more words. Special rules govern subject-verb agreement with compound subjects.
When the parts of a compound subject are connected by and, the compound subject takes a plural verb. subject verb John and Marsha share an office. (the subject is plural; therefore, the verb must be in plural form.)
If both parts of a compound subject connected by or are singular, the compound subject takes a singular verb. subject verb John or Marsha locks up that the end of the day. (subject is singular we re not talking about both John or Marsha but only one or the other, so the verb must be in singular form)
If both parts of a compound subject connected by or are plural, the compound subject takes a plural verb. subj. verb Buses or trains take you to the center of the city. (We re only talking about one or the other, but since both are in plural form, the verb must be in plural form)
If one part of a compound subject connected by or is singular and the other part is plural, the verb agrees with the word that is closer to it. subj. verb The mayor or the council members meet with community groups. (An easy rule to remember is the subject closest to the verb must be in agreement. So since members, not mayor, is nearest the verb and members is plural, the verb must be plural form.)
subj. verb The council members or the mayor meets with community groups. (Since mayor, which is singular, is closest to the verb, the verb must be in singular form)
Part Four
Avoiding Agreement Problems (The following four slides are from Writing First 2 nd ed. pg. 345-6) Sometimes, a subject-verb agreement problem occurs when a prepositional phrase (a phrase that begins with of, in, between and so on) comes between the subject and the verb. In such cases, the object of the preposition appears to be the subject of the sentence when really it is not.
Incorrect: High levels of mercury occurs in some fish. Correct: subj. verb High levels of mercury occur in some fish. (of mercury is the prepositional phrase) Tip: the subject always come before the preposition, never after
Incorrect: Water in the fuel lines cause an engine to stall. Correct: Subj. Prep. Phrase Verb Water in the fuel lines causes an engine to stall.
Incorrect: Food between the teeth result in decay. Correct: Subj. Prep. Phrase Verb Food between the teeth results in decay.
Part Five
Words That Come between Subject and Verb Prepositional phrases introduced by in addition to, along with, together with, as with as, except, and including can be especially confusing. A noun or pronoun that follows such a phrase is an object of the preposition; therefore, it cannot be the subject of the sentence.
Incorrect: St. Thomas, along with St. Croix and St. John, are part of the United States Virgin Islands. Correct: Subj. Prep. Phrase Verb St. Thomas, along with St. Croix and St. John, is part of the United States Virgin Islands.
Part Six
Indefinite Pronouns Indefinite pronouns are always singular. Look at the list of indefinite pronouns below: another either neither one anybody everybody nobody somebody anyone everyone no one someone anything everything nothing something each much
Subj. Verb Each student is present. Subj. Verb Every contribution is appreciated. Subj. Verb Much was left behind.
Only a few indefinite pronouns are plural: both, many, several, few, and others. Subj. Verb Both members are here today. Subj. Verb Several answers are possible.
Part Six
There is/there was and There are/there were There is never a subject. If a sentence begins with either there is/there was or there are/there were, the subject follows. So if the subject is plural then the verb must be plural form (are for present tense or were for past tense)
Verb Subj. There are fifty states in the United States. Verb Subj. There is only one president for all fifty states. Verb Subj. There were ten houses for sale on my block. Verb Subj. Yesterday, there was only one house left to be sold.
Part Seven
When the Verb Comes before the Subject Be careful when the verb comes before the subject; the subject and verb must still be in agreement. In order to recognize the subject, either identify the verb and ask yourself who or what is doing the action or answer the question to locate the subject. Example: Verb Subj. Where is the party? (Answer: The party is downtown. So party is the subject and since it is singular the verb must be in agreement)
Now that you have completed this tutorial, go to grammar #1 on subject-verb agreement to do exercises to see how much you grasped from this tutorial.