Subject-Verb Agreement

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Subject-Verb Agreement
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Subjects

• Subject who or what the sentence is about
• Subjects come in two kinds
• Singular one person/thing
• Plural more than one

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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.

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Agreement

• Singular subjects need singular verbs
• My mom likes to go shopping.
• Plural subjects need plural verbs
• My parents like my new shirt.

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Practice (Present Tense)

• The iguana _______ (to drink) the water.
• The grasshoppers _______ (to hop) away from the
  iguana.

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Disagreement is bad!

• There are a few tricky situations to watch out
  for
• Separation of subject and verb
• Coordinating Conjunctions
• Collective nouns
• Pronouns

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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.

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Practice (Present Tense)

• The lions, which ate a gazelle, (to be)
  satisfied.
• The man who lives down the street (to rake) his
  leaves every day!
• My dog, in addition to my cat, (to want) to be
  fed.

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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.

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Practice (Present Tense)

• Jim and Joe (to eat) their dinner.
• Neither she nor he (to know) the answer.
• Either the democrat or the republican (to win)
  the election.

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Special Tricks

• Or 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.

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Practice (Present Tense)

• Either the runner from Deerfield or the runners
  from VHHS (to win) the race.
• Neither The Smiths nor Mr. Johnson (to know) what
  time garbage day is.

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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.

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Practice (Present Tense)

• The class (to learn) agreement.
• The United Nations (to be) an important
  institution.
• The team (to practice) on Tuesdays.

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Pronouns

• Many pronouns which sound plural are singular.
• Singular Pronouns everyone, everybody, nobody,
  anybody, each.
• Each of the plays holds the audiences attention.
• Everyone dances the electric slide.
• Plural Pronouns both, few, many, several
• Few people dance as well as me.

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Practice (Present Tense)

• Everybody (to be) here on time today!
• Nobody (to understand) the problem.
• Several people (to listen) to the announcement.