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Subject/Verb Agreement

Understand the importance of subject-verb agreement for sentence structure and clarity. Learn how subjects and verbs must match in number to create grammatically correct sentences. Improve your English language skills with examples and practice exercises.

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Subject/Verb Agreement

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  1. Subject/Verb Agreement

  2. Subjects • Subjects are mostly found at the beginning of the sentence. • Subjects are nouns or pronouns that are “doing” an action. Example: My dog, Jesse, jumps over the log. Who jumps over the log? Jesse does.

  3. Verbs • Verbs are actions or state of being. • Verbs show the reader what action the subject is doing. Example: My dog, Jesse, jumps over the log. What did Jesse do? Jesse jumps.

  4. What it’s all about! My dog, Jesse, jumpsover the log. • My dog is a noun and the subject of the sentence. • Jesse is renaming the noun and called an appositive. • Jumps is the action or verb of the sentence. • Over the log is a phrase called a prepositional phrase because “over” is a preposition.

  5. Agreement If a subject is singular, its verb must be singular. Example: My dog, Jesse, jumps over the log. (only one dog jumps over the log in the sentence.) Notice that the verb jumps has an “s” on it. Remember a verb is NOT a noun. Don’t treat it like one. A verb with an “s” is singular.

  6. Agreement Cont’d If a subject is plural, its verb must be plural. Example: My dog, Jesse, and Ralph’s dog, Fido, jump over the fence. (2 dogs are jumping over the fence, now) Notice that the verb jump does NOT have a “s”. This is because a verb is plural when it does NOT have an “s”. Remember: A verb is NOT a noun!

  7. Practice • The cook (slices/slice) the meat thinly. • Vegetables (makes/make) a good lunch. • He (is/are) working for the city. • They (was/were) going to the game. • Our football team (is/are) the best.

  8. Answers • The cook (slices/slice) the meat thinly. • Vegetables (makes/make) a good lunch. • He (is/are) working for the city. • They (was/were) going to the game. • Our football team (is/are) the best.

  9. Explanation 1. The cook (slices/slice) the meat thinly. How many cooks? 1 Therefore, the verb must be singular. Singular verbs HAVE an “s.”

  10. Explanation 2. Vegetables (makes/make) a good lunch. How many vegetables? More than 1. Therefore, the verb must be plural. Plural verbs DO NOT have an “s”

  11. Explanation 3. He (is/are) working for the city. Is “he” singular or plural? Singular. Therefore, the verb must be singular. Singular verbs HAVE an “s”

  12. Explanation 4. They (was/were) going to the game. How many went to the game? More than 1. Therefore, the verb is plural. A plural verb DOES NOT have an “s.”

  13. Explanation 5. Our football team (is/are) the best. Is team singular or plural? Singular. Team is called a “collective noun” and groups many into one, therefore is singular. The verb must be singular and have a “s.”

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