Making Sure Subjects and Verbs Match in Sentences

Subject-verb agreement is a key part of English grammar. It helps make your sentences clear and easy to understand. When you learn about subject-verb agreement, you can write and speak better.

Important Ideas

1. What is Subject-Verb Agreement?

   • Subject-verb agreement means the subject of a sentence (the person, place, thing, or idea) must match with the verb (the action) in both number and person.
   • Example:
     • Correct: The dog barks. (One dog and one action)
     • Incorrect: The dog bark.

2. Finding the Subject

   • The subject can be a noun (like cat or car), a pronoun (like he or they), or a noun phrase (like the tall man).
   • Example: In the sentence "The students study," "students" is the plural subject.

Regular and Irregular Verb Forms

1. Regular Verbs

   • Regular verbs make their past forms by adding “-ed.”
   • Example:
     • Present: The teacher teaches.
     • Past: The teacher taught.

2. Irregular Verbs

   • Irregular verbs don't follow the usual rules and have to be memorized.
   • Example:
     • Present: The child goes.
     • Past: The child went.

Keeping Tenses Consistent

Subject-verb agreement also depends on the verb's tense: past, present, and future.

• Present Tense:

  • Singular: The cat runs fast.
  • Plural: The cats run fast.

• Past Tense:

  • Singular: She walked to school.
  • Plural: They walked to school.

• Future Tense:

  • Singular: He will play soccer.
  • Plural: They will play soccer.

Making Questions and Negatives

When you ask questions or make negative sentences, make sure the subject-verb agreement is still correct.

• Questions:

  • Singular: Does the dog bark?
  • Plural: Do the dogs bark?

• Negatives:

  • Singular: The cat does not like water.
  • Plural: The cats do not like water.

Knowing Nouns: Countable and Uncountable

Understanding whether nouns are countable or uncountable can help with subject-verb agreement.

1. Countable Nouns: These nouns can be counted (like book or apple).

   • Example:
     • Singular: A car is parked outside.
     • Plural: Cars are parked outside.

2. Uncountable Nouns: These nouns cannot be counted (like water or rice).

   • Example:
     • Correct: The water is cold.
     • Incorrect: The waters are cold.

Practicing Subject-Verb Agreement

To get good at subject-verb agreement, practice with different subjects and verbs. You can create sentences, find the subject, and check if the verbs match. Here are some steps to help you practice:

1. Pick a subject and decide if it's singular or plural.
2. Choose the correct verb form that matches the subject.
3. Look over your sentences for correct punctuation and flow.

By regularly using these rules and practicing, you will become skilled at subject-verb agreement. This is important for communicating effectively in English!