Subject/Verb Agreement

Subject/Verb Agreement• Since the subject and verb work together in a

sentence, they must also “agree.” Different subjects need different forms of verbs.

• When the correct verb follows a subject, it is called subject/verb agreement.

• A verb must agree with its subject in number. A subject that refers to one person, place, or thing is a singular subject. A subject that refers to more than one is called a plural subject. Singular: The dog wants to go running with me. Plural: The dogs want to go running with me.

• Rule of Thumb: “s” verbs follow most singular subjects but NOT plural subjects.

Mistakes to Watch For…• With two or more subjects:

Incorrect: Nancy and Lee wants to lead the way. Correct: Nancy and Lee want to lead the way.

• When the verb comes BEFORE the subject: Incorrect: There is four restaurants on Main St. Correct: There are four restaurants on Main St.

• When a word or phrase comes between the subject and the verb: Incorrect: The teacher, in addition to three of her

best students, agree that tests should not be tricky.

Correct: The teacher, in addition to three of her best students, agrees that tests should not be tricky.

Mistakes to Watch For…• With indefinite pronouns: pronouns that do not

refer to a specific person (someone, everyone, each, neither, such as)

• Some indefinite pronouns (everyone, each, neither, such as) take a singular verb.

• Others (both, many) always take a plural verb.

• Treat the indefinite pronoun as singular if it refers to something that cannot be counted. Each wishes to be included in the invitation.

• Treat the indefinite pronoun as plural if it refers to more than one of something that can be counted. Neither wish to be included in the invitation.

Subject/Verb Agreement: Practice

1. Someone (want/wants) to revise the work schedule.

2. Computers (is, are) more dependable than they were five years ago.

3. The sheriff, together with three deputies, (agree, agrees) to establish a roadblock.

4. Trisha and I (swim, swims) together every morning.

5. Neither Bo nor Jeff (know, knows) the answer.

6. Here (is, are) the technical manual.

7. Letters and memos (is, are) printed on company letterhead stationery.

8. (Candy, Candies) harms teeth because of its high sugar content.

9. (Sabrina, Sabrina and Mary) is going to the fireworks display tonight.

10.On my front lawn (was, were) two discarded beer cans.

Resources

Content for this presentation was borrowed from:

“The Least You Should Know About Writing Skills,” by Paige Wilson and Teresa Ferster Glazier.

“Expressways for Writing Scenarios: From Paragraph to Essay,” by Kathleen T. McWhorter