Subject-verb agreement is an important part of English grammar. It helps make sure our sentences are clear. This idea is all about matching the subject of a sentence (who or what the sentence is about) with the verb (what the subject does). Let’s look at how to find and fix subject-verb disagreements in your writing.
Subject-verb agreement means the verb must match the subject in number. This means whether the subject is singular (one) or plural (more than one).
In simple terms:
There are times when it can be tricky to keep the subject and verb in agreement. Here are some common mistakes:
Collective nouns (like team, group, or family) can be confusing. They can take either singular or plural verbs. It depends if you’re talking about the group as a whole or the individual members.
Singular: The team wins the championship.
Plural: The team celebrate their victories.
Some words that don’t specify a person, like everyone, each, and nobody, are always singular. Others, like few, many, and several, are always plural.
Singular: Everyone is invited to the party.
Plural: Many are interested in the event.
When you change verbs for different tenses, make sure they still agree with the subject in number and tense.
Here are some examples:
Present Tense:
Singular: She writes every day.
Plural: They write every day.
Past Tense:
Singular: He played football yesterday.
Plural: They played football yesterday.
Future Tense:
Singular: She will run in the marathon.
Plural: They will run in the marathon.
Modal verbs (like can, could, may, might, must) stay the same no matter what the subject is.
In active voice, the subject does the action, while in passive voice, the subject gets the action. It is important to keep the agreement in both.
Active: The teacher explains the lesson.
Passive: The lesson is explained by the teacher.
When you change direct speech into indirect speech (or the other way around), make sure the verbs match the subject.
Direct: She said, “I am happy.”
Indirect: She said she was happy.
Spotting and fixing subject-verb disagreement makes your writing clearer. By understanding the rules of subject-verb agreement and knowing common mistakes, you can improve your writing a lot. Always check your writing for agreement errors and review your subjects and verbs before you finish your work.
By mastering this important part of English grammar, you’ll boost your writing skills and share your ideas more clearly.
Subject-verb agreement is an important part of English grammar. It helps make sure our sentences are clear. This idea is all about matching the subject of a sentence (who or what the sentence is about) with the verb (what the subject does). Let’s look at how to find and fix subject-verb disagreements in your writing.
Subject-verb agreement means the verb must match the subject in number. This means whether the subject is singular (one) or plural (more than one).
In simple terms:
There are times when it can be tricky to keep the subject and verb in agreement. Here are some common mistakes:
Collective nouns (like team, group, or family) can be confusing. They can take either singular or plural verbs. It depends if you’re talking about the group as a whole or the individual members.
Singular: The team wins the championship.
Plural: The team celebrate their victories.
Some words that don’t specify a person, like everyone, each, and nobody, are always singular. Others, like few, many, and several, are always plural.
Singular: Everyone is invited to the party.
Plural: Many are interested in the event.
When you change verbs for different tenses, make sure they still agree with the subject in number and tense.
Here are some examples:
Present Tense:
Singular: She writes every day.
Plural: They write every day.
Past Tense:
Singular: He played football yesterday.
Plural: They played football yesterday.
Future Tense:
Singular: She will run in the marathon.
Plural: They will run in the marathon.
Modal verbs (like can, could, may, might, must) stay the same no matter what the subject is.
In active voice, the subject does the action, while in passive voice, the subject gets the action. It is important to keep the agreement in both.
Active: The teacher explains the lesson.
Passive: The lesson is explained by the teacher.
When you change direct speech into indirect speech (or the other way around), make sure the verbs match the subject.
Direct: She said, “I am happy.”
Indirect: She said she was happy.
Spotting and fixing subject-verb disagreement makes your writing clearer. By understanding the rules of subject-verb agreement and knowing common mistakes, you can improve your writing a lot. Always check your writing for agreement errors and review your subjects and verbs before you finish your work.
By mastering this important part of English grammar, you’ll boost your writing skills and share your ideas more clearly.