Subject-Verb Subject-Verb AgreementAgreement

Subject-Verb Subject-Verb AgreementAgreement

Subjects• Subject = who or what the

sentence is about

• Subjects come in two kinds– Singular = one person/thing– Plural = more than one

Verbs• Verbs are action words; they show what

the subject is doing, or make a statement about the subject

• Just like subjects, there are two types of verbs– Singular Verbs – In the present tense, end

in “s”: throws, finds, jumps.– Plural verbs – In the present tense, do not

end in “s”: throw, find, jump.

Agreement• Singular subjects need singular

verbs– My mom likes to go shopping.

• Plural subjects need plural verbs– My parents like my new shirt.

Disagreement is bad!There are a few tricky situations to

watch out for:

• Separation of subject and verb• Coordinating Conjunctions• Collective nouns• Pronouns

Separation of subject and verb

• Watch out for unnecessary words between the subject and the verb

– Incorrect: The reports, which covered the colonization of Africa, leaves out too much information.

– Correct: My plumber, as well as my grandparents, loves to sing karaoke.

• To correct these errors, identify the subject and verb and make sure that they are both singular or plural.

Coordinating Conjunctions

• And – The word and takes subjects and combines them.– Steve and Laura fail grammar tests.

• Or – The word or keeps subjects separate– Either Steve or Laura fails grammar tests.

• Nor – The word nor keeps subjects separate– Neither Steve nor Laura fails grammar tests.

Special Special TricksOr and nor keep subjects SEPARATE, not

necessarily SINGULAR!– Either the monkeys or the zebras eat

donuts on Saturdays.

If the two nouns are different (one is singular, one is plural) go with the noun that is closer to the verb.– Either the monkeys or that one zebra eats

donuts on Saturdays.

Collective Nouns• A collective noun is a singular noun

which represents a group of people or things. If you are referring to the group as one unit, it is singular.

– i.e. the class, the Bahamas• The Philippines is a great travel destination.

Pronouns• Many pronouns which sound plural are

singular.Singular Pronouns – everyone, everybody,

nobody, anybody, each.– Each of the plays holds the audience’s attention.– Everyone dances the electric slide.

Plural Pronouns – both, few, many, several– Few people dance as well as Mr. Horwitz.