Subject and Verb Agreement

Words in a sentence MUST work together to give clarity and understanding. Thus, it is crucial that BOTH the subject and verb agree (work together).

A sentence is a group of words with a SUBJECT and a VERB about one main idea.The SUBJECT of the sentence is the who or what the sentence is about. It is the noun or pronoun that performs the action.

Recognizing Subjects and Verbs

What is a sentence?

Who/What is the SUBJECT?

• Sally likes cats. Who is this sentence about?SALLY =SUBJECT

• I attend Rasmussen College.Who? I

Sally

Who/What is the SUBJECT?

• The dog is hungry. What is this sentence about?

-The DOG

• Jack and Jill play volleyball. -Who? JACK AND JILL

What is the VERB?

• The VERB is the action in a sentence. It is what the subject does.• Sally likes cats. What does Sally do? She LIKES cats.• Jim drives a truck.What does Jim do? He DRIVES a truck.• Children play games. What do children do? They PLAY games.

I’m Jim. I drive a truck.

Non-action (linking VERBS)Sometimes the verb in a sentence does not show action. It can also show the state or relationship between the subject and another part of the sentence.• The dog IS hungry. What is the dog? Hungry—hungry describes what the dog IS. dog = hungry• Susan and Sam ARE my cousins.

Who are Susan and Sam? My cousins. Are is the word that shows the relationship between Susan and Sam and the word cousins.

Susan and Sam = my cousins.

VERBS

Linking Verbs (non-action verbs)

• What is she?• She ______smart.

– She is smart.– She seems smart.– She appears smart.

• Each of these linking verbs links the subject SHE to the adjective SMART. Linking verbs do not show action, but they show a relationship between the subject and another word in the sentence.

• She is smart. IS joins or links the two words together .

A Few Examples of Linking Verbs

• is• am• was • were• seem • become• smell• appear

Subject Verb Agreement Person and Number

• Basic Principle: Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs.

• My one brother lives in CA. • My two sisters live in Florida.

Singular verbs end in s– lives agrees with the singular subject

brother

Plural verbs have no –s.Live agrees with the plural subject

sisters.

Hint: Sometimes when your

subject has an –s ending, your verb

will not need one.

More Basic Principle Examples

• The child likes candy. (singular)• Children like candy. (plural)• The mouse likes cheese. (singular)• Mice like cheese. (plural)• The woman loves shoes. (singular)• All women love shoes. (plural)

More Examples

• The child does not like candy.• The children do not like candy.• The mouse has not eaten cheese.• The mice have not eaten cheese.• The woman does not love camping.• The women do not love camping.

When writing sentences, it is important that the subject and the verb agree.

Incorrect:

She don’t know the answer.We was waiting for you. I be waiting for you.I is a student.He ain’t comin.

Correct:

She doesn’t know the answer.We were waiting for you. I am waiting for you.I am a student.He is not coming.

Making the verb BE agree.

present tense: AM, IS and ARE

• I am a student.• You are a student.• She is a student.• He is a student.• It is great to be a student.• We are students.• They are students.

Making the verb BE agree.

past tense: WAS and WERE

• I was a child. • You were a child.• She was a child.• He was a child.• It was great to be a child.• We were children.• They were children.

REVIEWTake some time to read and review the chapters in your e-textbook if you have additional questions about subject/verb agreement.