Hi everybody, I this
occasion, I want to tell you that today in English class, I learned about
Subject Verb Agreement and Subject Verb Agreement Exercise and Subject Verb Agreement Exercise. So, I this occasion I will explain to you.
● Subject is the
person / people / thing(s) that do the activity.
Example: I, You, She, He, We, They, It, My Mom and My Dad,
Linda, Lusi, Linda and Lusi, The Bank, etc.
● Verb is a word
use to describe action, state, or occurrence, and forming the main part of
predicate of a sentence. There is Three Kind of Verb, Action Verb, Linking Verb, Helping Verb.
Action Verb
® Also knonw as MAIN VERB
®Action Verbs are words that express action (give, eat,
walk, etc.) or possession (have, own, etc.).
®Action Verbs can be either transitive (with object) and
intransitive (without object).
Example:
- Laurissa raises her hand.
(kkt)
- Abdus
gave Becky the pencil. (kkt)
- Laurissa
rises slowly from her seat. (kki)
- He was
pontificating about art and history. (kki)
Linking Verb
® A linking verb connects the subject of a sentence to a
noun or adjective that renames or describes the subject.
® To Be: is,
am, are, was, were
Example:
®Verb: seem, appear,
become, grow, remain, get, prove, turn, look, sound, smell, taste, feel.
Example:
She looks pale.
I feel happy
That sounds great!
Your cook smells good.
Helping verb
®Helping verbs are used before action or linking verbs to
convey additional information regarding aspects of possibility (can, could,
etc.) or time (was, did, has, etc.)
®MODALS always function as Helping Verbs.
MODALS: can, could, may, might, shall, will, ought to,
should, would.
Examples:
- Tejo is (helping verb) going (main verb) to Florida.
- The trip might (helping verb) be (main verb) dangerous.
- Tanya could learn to fly helicopters. (Could helps the main verb, learn.)
- Janine will drive to Idaho tomorrow. (Will helps the main verb, drive.)
MAIN RULE OF “Subject
Verb Agreement”, Only the subject
affects the verb!
®Subjects and verbs must agree in number. This is the
cornerstone rule that forms the background of the concept.
Examples:
®Don’t get confused by the words that come between the
subject and verb; they
do not affect
agreement.
Examples:
- The dog, who is chewing on my jeans, is usually very good.
®Prepositional phrases between the subject and verb usually
do not affect
agreement.
Examples:
®When sentences start with “there” or “here,” the subject
will always be placed
after the verb, so care needs to be taken to identify it
correctly.
Examples:
®If two subjects are joined by and, they typically
require a plural verb form.
Examples:
®The verb is singular if the two subjects separated by and
refer to the same
person or thing.
Examples:
®If one of the words each, every, or no comes before the
subject, the verb is
singular.
Examples:
®If the subjects are both singular and are connected by the
words or, nor,
neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also the
verb is singular.
Examples:
®The only time
when the object of the preposition decides plural or singular verb forms is
when noun and pronoun subjects like some, half, none, more, all, etc. are followed by a prepositional
phrase. In these sentences, the object of the preposition determines the form
of the verb.
Examples:
®The singular
verb form is usually used for units of measurement or time.
Examples:
®If the subjects
are both plural and are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor,
either/or, and not only/but also, the verb is plural.
Examples:
®If one subject is singular and one plural and the words are
connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but
also, you use the verb form of the subject that is nearest the verb.
Examples:
- Either the bears or the lion has escaped from the zoo.
- Neither the lion nor the bears have escaped from the zoo.
®Indefinite
pronouns (everything, anything, everyone, someone, somebody, nothing, etc)
typically take singular verbs.
Examples:
®Except for the
pronouns (few, many, several, both, all, some) that always take the plural form.
Examples:
®If two infinitives are separated by and they take the
plural form of the verb.
Examples:
®When gerunds are
used as the subject of a sentence, they take the singular verb
form of the verb; but, when they are linked by and, they take the
plural form.
Examples:
- Standing in the water was a bad idea.
- Swimming in the ocean and playing drums are my hobbies.
®Collective nouns like family, committee, herd, senate,
class, crowd, etc. usually take a singular verb form.
Examples:
- The herd is stampeding.
- Cooper family always attends the annual party.
®Titles of books, movies, novels, etc. are treated as
singular and take a singular
verb.
Examples:
- The Burbs is a movie starring Tom Hanks.
- Harry Potter has reached Top 3 Best Seller books.
Exercise : Subject and Verb
Agreement Exercise
Choose the correct
form of the verb that agrees with the subject.
1.
Annie and her
brothers (is, are) at school.
2.
Either my mother
or my father (is, are) coming to the meeting.
3.
The dog or the
cats (is, are) outside.
4.
Either my shoes
or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.
5.
George and
Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that movie.
6.
Benito (doesn't,
don't) know the answer.
7.
One of my
sisters (is, are) going on a trip to France.
8.
The man with all
the birds (live, lives) on my street.
9.
The movie,
including all the previews, (take, takes) about two hours to watch.
10.
The players, as
well as the captain, (want, wants) to win.
11.
Either answer
(is, are) acceptable.
12.
Every one of
those books (is, are) fiction.
13.
Nobody (know,
knows) the trouble I've seen.
14.
(Is, Are) the
news on at five or six?
15.
Mathematics (is,
are) John's favorite subject, while Civics (is, are) Andrea's favorite subject.
16.
Eight dollars
(is, are) the price of a movie these days.
17.
(Is, Are) the
tweezers in this drawer?
18.
Your pants (is,
are) at the cleaner's.
19.
There (was,
were) fifteen candies in that bag. Now there (is, are) only one left!
20.
The committee (debates,
debate) these questions carefully.
21.
The committee
(leads, lead) very different lives in private.
22.
The Prime
Minister, together with his wife, (greets, greet) the press cordially.
23.
All of the CDs,
even the scratched one, (is, are) in this case.
Answer :
1.
Annie and her
brothers are at school.
2.
Either my mother
or my father is coming to the meeting.
3.
The dog or the
cats is outside.
4.
Either my shoes
or your coat is always on the floor.
5.
George and
Tamara don't want to see that movie.
6.
Benito doesn't
know the answer.
7.
One of my
sisters is going on a trip to France.
8.
The man with all
the birds live, lives on my street.
9.
The movie,
including all the previews, takes about two hours to watch.
10.
The players, as
well as the captain, wants to win.
11.
Either answer is
acceptable.
12.
Every one of
those books is fiction.
13.
Nobody knows the
trouble I've seen.
14.
Is the news on at five or six?
15.
Mathematics is John's favorite subject, while Civics is Andrea's
favorite subject.
16.
Eight dollars is
the price of a movie these days.
17.
Is the tweezers
in this drawer?
18.
Your pants are at the cleaner's.
19.
There was
fifteen candies in that bag. Now there is only one left!
20.
The committee
debate these questions carefully.
21.
The committee
lead very different lives in private.
22.
The Prime
Minister, together with his wife, greet
the press cordially.
23.
All of the CDs,
even the scratched one, are in this case.
