Verb Basics:Subject-Verb Agreement

& Simple Past Tenses

Power Point PresentationDaniel, Dean, Darian

Subject-Verb Agreement

• The verb must agree in number with the subject. Singular subjects need singular verbs. Plural subjects need plural verbs.

Regular and Irregular verbs

• Verb: a word that shows action or a state of being

• Regular verb: a verb is regular if it takes “ed” as an ending in the past tense.

• Irregular verb: a verb is irregular if it changes form or spelling in the past tense rather than taking “ed” as an ending.

Procedure for determining agreementof subject and verb:

• 1. Identify the real subject.

• 2. Determine whether the subject is singular or plural.

• 3. Match the verb to the subject.

Examples

• The woman IS beautiful.

• The women ARE beautiful.

Errors and Corrections

• My father, along with several of his friends, are buying an antique boat. (incorrect)

• My father, along with several of his friends, is buying an antique boat. (correct)

Singular or Plural

• All• Any• Some

Singular pronouns take singular verbs when the pronouns are used as subjects in the sentence. For instance:

• Anybody Everybody• Anyone Neither• Anything• Either• Nobody• None• Each

Works Cited

• Purdue OWL. “Subject-Verb Agreement Guide." The Online Writing Lab at Purdue. 10 May 2008. Purdue University Writing Lab. 7 July 2008 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/599/01/>.

• Rodrigues,Dawn, and Myron C. Tuman.Writing Essentials. 1st Ed. New York:Norton, 1996.