SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

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SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
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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

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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

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Remember there are irregular verbs

• DO
• Singular Plural
• He does They do
• HAVE
• She has They have
• BE
• He is They are
• She was They were

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Tip for Subject/verb Agreement
Generally, if the subject doesnt end in S, the
verb will.
If the subject does end in S, the verb wont.
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No S on subject
-S on verb
The girl dances.
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-S on subject
The girls dance.
No S on verb
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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
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Prepositional phrases

• The subject can never be part of a prepositional
  phrase.
• Example
• The students in my class study / studies hard.

X
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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.