SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

What is subject and verb in the sentence?

How to identify subject and verb in the sentence

What exactly is subject verb agreement?

Basic rules

What is a subject in the sentence?

A subject is a person place thing or idea that is doing or being something (Who is performing an action: subject is performing an action and what action is going on/action is done what action may happen)

What is a verb in the sentence?

A verb is the action performed by the subject or state of being in a sentence. (What the subject is performing) Verbs can be expressed in different tenses, depending on when the action is being performed.

Example

Ajay plays Cricket.  (subject=Ajay verb=plays)

He runs to the beach (subject = He verb = runs because running is an action)

Based on count the subject may be singular or plural

(First person, Second person, and Third person) 

Think about other words that describe actions. "Walk," "think," "play," and "drive" are all action words and work as verbs.

Person	Singular	Plural
First person	I	You
Second person	You	You
Third person	He,she,it	They

What is subject verb agreement?

For making a sentence grammatically correct a verb must agree with its subject in number

The verb in a sentence must match the subject. In other words, if one person is performing an action, the verb is singular. If more than one person or objects are performing an action, the verb is plural.

Key: subject = yellow verb = green 

Subjects and verbs must agree in number.

SUBJECT–VERB AGREEMENT RULES

1.     If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular too.

Example: 

She writes every day

Geeta writes

A bird sings

The subject-verb agreement rules apply to all personal pronouns except I and you, which, although SINGULAR, require PLURAL forms of verbs.

I write

You write

If the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural.

Example: 

They write every day.

We write every day

She writes every day.

2. When the subject of the sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use a plural verb.

Example: The doctoral student and the committee members write every day.

Jack, John, and Bob walk to the store.

Bob and his brothers walk to the store.

Jenny and Tom play tennis together.

Either the book or the magazines are on the table.

A black pepper and chillies make food spicy

Explanation: Black pepper and chillies are plural thus, the verb used (make) is plural.

3.When there is one subject and more than one verb, the verbs throughout the sentence must agree with the subject.

Example: Interviews are one way to collect data and allow researchers to gain an in-depth understanding of participants.

Example: An assumption is something that is  generally accepted as true and is an important consideration when conducting a doctoral study.

4.When a phrase comes between the subject and the verb, remember that the verb still agrees with the subject, not the noun or pronoun in the phrase following the subject of the sentence.

Example: The student, as well as the committee members, is excited.

Example: The student with all the master’s degrees is very motivated.

Example: Strategies that the teacher uses to encourage classroom participation include using small groups and clarifying expectations.

Example: The focus of the interviews was nine purposively selected participants

5. When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by "or" or "nor," use a singular verb.

Example: The Chairperson or the CEO approves the proposal before proceeding.

The book or the pen is in the drawer.

Neither the professor nor his assistant knows the answer.

My aunt or my uncle is arriving by train today.

Neither Raj nor Ravi is available.

6. When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or pronoun joined by "or" or "nor," the verb should agree with the part of the subject that is closest to the verb. This is also called the rule of proximity.

Example: The student or the committee members write every day.

Example: The committee members or the student writes every day.

Either Bob or his brother walks to the store.

Neither Bob nor his brothers walk to the store.

Not  Bob but his brothers walk to the store.

Not  Bob but his brother walks to the store

  7. The words and phrases "each," "each one," "either," "neither," "everyone,"    "everybody," "anyone," "anybody," "nobody," "somebody," "someone," and "no one" are   singular and require a singular verb.

Example: Each of the participants was willing to be recorded.

Example: Neither alternative hypothesis was accepted.

Example: I will offer a $5 gift card to everybody who participates in the study.

Example: No one was available to meet with me at the preferred times.

Each boy and girl walks to the store

8.Noncountable nouns take a singular verb.

Example: Education is the key to success.

Example: Diabetes affects many people around the world.

Example: The information obtained from the business owners was relevant to include in the study.

Example: The research I found on the topic was limited.

9.Some countable nouns in English such as earnings, goods, odds, surroundings, proceeds, contents, and valuables only have a plural form and take a plural verb.

Example: The earnings for this quarter exceed expectations.

Example: The proceeds from the sale go to support the homeless population in the city.

Example: Locally produced goods have the advantage of shorter supply chains.

10. In sentences beginning with "there is" or "there are," the subject follows the verb. Since "there" is not the subject, the verb agrees with what follows the verb.

Example: There is little administrative support.

Example: There are many factors affecting teacher retention.

11. Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person but are considered singular and take a singular verb. Some examples are "group," "team," "committee," "family," and "class."

Example: The group meets every week.

Example: The committee agrees on the quality of the writing.

 However, the plural verb is used if the focus is on the individuals in the group. This is much less common.

Example: The committee participate in various volunteer activities in their private lives.

Subject verb agreement

How do you use have and has in a sentence?

Has is used with singular subjects and with the pronouns he, she, and it. Have is used with plural subjects and with the pronouns I, you, we, and they

How do you use need and needed in a sentence?

Semi-modal need and main verb need. We can use main verb need as an alternative to semi-modal need. Main verb need is followed by to and it changes with person, number and tense (I, you, we, they need to; she, he, it needs to; I, you, she, he, it, we, they needed to).

“Needed” is past tense. So it would be appropriate in this sort of sentence: “Yesterday my car broke down and I needed your assistance to get to work.” “Need” is present tense and indicates the need for help is continuing. “My car broke down and I need your assistance to get to work today.

Define gerund?

gerund is the -ing form of a verb used as a noun. Gerunds express actions like verbs. However, they function as nouns in sentences. Specifically, they can serve as subject, direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition.

Gerunds are verb forms ending in -ing. However, they function in a sentence not as verbs, but rather as nouns.

The definition of a gerund draws on both the concepts of nouns and verbs: A gerund is the -ing form of a verb used as a noun.

The -ing forms of verbs are commonly used as verbs to express action in sentences:

He is giving the children breakfast.

He was giving the children a bath.

He will be giving the children a surprise party when they finish sixth grade.

In those sentences, 'is giving,' 'was giving,' and 'will be giving' are functioning as verbs to communicate the action in the sentence. So they are not gerunds.

Consider these examples to see how an -ing word functions as a noun and a different word functions as a verb:

I enjoy swimming. ('enjoy' is the verb, 'swimming' is the gerund)

Meditating reduces anxiety. ('reduces' is the verb, 'meditating' is the gerund)

Walking is a good form of exercise. ('is' is the verb, 'walking' is the gerund)

Understand that a gerund is derived from a verb but functions as a noun.  It ends in -ing.  As in:  

“Jogging is my favorite type of exercise.” 

“Shopping for my sister is quite difficult.”

Types of gerunds

There are six types of gerunds:

1 Subject: Biking is my newest hobby.

2 Subject complement: My preferred commuting method is biking. 

3 Direct object: I love biking.

4 Indirect object: My sister gave biking a try.

5 Object complement: I see myself biking every day. 

6 Object of a preposition: I blocked out a few hours this Sunday for biking.

What Do You Mean By Singular Verb?

It is basically a verb that shows what has been done, being done or will be done. The singular verbs are used with the singular subject of the sentence. The singular subject can be made up of a person, place, thing or sometimes idea.

Plural	Singular	Past Tense	Past Participle
catches	catch	caught	caught
flies	fly	flew	flown
knows	know	knew	known
pays	pay	paid	paid
springs	spring	sprang	sprung
writes	write	wrote	written

Let’s now discuss four important rules of forming a plural verb from singular verb.

1. Adding ‘s’ to the Singular Verbs:

In English grammar rule, when the sentence is using singular third-person nouns and pronouns, then they just need to add an ‘s’ to the nouns or base form of the verb. 

Singular Verbs	Plural Verbs
Boat	Boats
House	Houses
Cat	Cats
Dog	Dogs
Pillar	Pillars
Pill	Pills
River	Rivers
Mountain	Mountains
Place	Places
Car	Cars
Vehicle	Vehicles
Network	Networks
Toy	Toys
Pen	Pens
Animal	Animals
Medicine	Medicines
Gun	Guns
Bed	Beds
Color	Colors
Work	Works
Pay	Pays
Say	Says
Know	Knows
Spring	Springs
Write	Writes
Become	Becomes
Drink	Drinks
Get	Gets
Lead	Leads
Seek	Seeks
Sing	Sings
Speak	Speaks
Steal	Steals
Tear	Tears
Wear	Wears

 2. You Must Drop The‘s’ with Plural Verb forms:

Sometimes while following the grammar rules, the reverse is true for the plural nouns and pronouns. So this time when it comes to plural nouns, you must drop the‘s’ of the base form.

Generally, when it comes to making some good note with the verbs and get to agree on it with the subject of the sentence, singular and plural rules comes handy.

3. Adding ‘es’ to the Singular Verb

In case, you are working with the singular third person nouns or pronouns then you need to add ‘-es’ to the base form of the verb.

Singular	Plural
Bus	Buses
Wish	Wishes
Catch	Catches
Pitch	Pitches
Box	Boxes
Watch	Watches
Match	Matches
Cloth	Clothes
Go	Goes
Drive	Drives
Forgive	Forgives
Hide	Hides

4. Changes in ‘- y’ to ‘i’ and adding ‘- es’

In certain cases, you have to change the ‘- y’ ending to an ‘- i’ and then it will be added to ‘es’ to give the form of the singular verb. In some exceptional cases, the irregular verbs change form from past tense to past participle.

Singular	Plural
Spy	Spies
Sky	Skies
Baby	Babies
Hobby	Hobbies
Daisy	Daisies
City	Cities
Penny	Pennies
Fly	Flies
Cry	Cries