Subject Verb Agreement

1
Subject Verb Agreement

• Learning Objective
• To identify verbs that agree with their subject
  in a sentence.

2
Why do you need to understand and use subject
verb agreement?

• People will not think that you are ignorant or
  uneducated.
• Subject verb agreement is tested on the STAR and
  the district benchmark coming up in April.
• Helps you to write and speak English better.

3
Number

• Number is the form a word takes when it is
  singular or plural.
• Singular one person, place, thing, or idea.
• Plural two or more people, places, things, or
  ideas
• Singular egg, person, fox, I, die, each
• Plural eggs, people, foxes, we, dice, all

4
Practice

• Identify the following nouns as singular or
  plural
• Cell phone
• Dogs
• iPod
• Fish
• boxes

5
Agreement of Subject and Verb

• A subject should agree in number with its verb.
  Singular subjects should have singular verbs, and
  plural subjects should have plural verbs.
• Examples The student studies algebra.
• The students study algebra.
• Both subjects have verbs that agree with it in
  number.
• In a verb phrase, the first helping verb agrees
  in number with the subject.
• Example The student is studying algebra.
• The students are studying algebra.

6
Agreement of Subject and Verb continued

• Generally, nouns ending in s are plural.
• Examples bands, thoughts, friends, lizards
• Generally, verbs ending in s are singular.
• Examples jumps, hears, borrows, waits
• Verbs used with the singular pronouns I and you
  do not end in s.
• Examples I talk, you talk

7
Identify the verb that agrees in number with the
subject.

1. Milli (run, runs) down the hall.
2. I (play, plays) the electric guitar in my band.
3. The people in the building (practice, practices)
   fire drills regularly.
4. Juan, the student with a cast on his leg, (need,
   needs) crutches to get around.
5. They (say, says) I need to replace the book I
   lost.
6. It (is, are) important to brush your teeth every
   day.

8
Summary

• What is subject verb agreement?
• How do you decide whether to use a singular or
  plural form of a verb in a sentence?
• What part of the verb agrees with the subject
  when there is a verb phrase?
• Why is it important to understand subject verb
  agreement?