1. Subject-Verb Agreement

2. Subjects Subject = who or what the sentence is about
Subjects come in two kinds
Singular = one person/thing
Plural = more than one

3. Verbs
Verbs are action words; they show what the subject is doing, or make a statement about the subject
Just like subjects, there are two types of verbs
Singular Verbs – In the present tense, end in “s”: throws, finds, jumps.
Plural verbs – In the present tense, do not end in “s”: throw, find, jump.

4. Agreement Singular subjects need singular verbs
My mom likes to go shopping.
Plural subjects need plural verbs
My parents like my new shirt.

5. Disagreement is bad!
There are a few tricky situations to watch out for:
Separation of subject and verb
Coordinating Conjunctions
Collective nouns
Pronouns

6. Separation of subject and verb
Watch out for unnecessary words between the subject and the verb
Incorrect: The reports, which covered the colonization of Africa, leaves out too much information.
Correct: My plumber, as well as my grandparents, loves to sing karaoke.
To correct these errors, identify the subject and verb and make sure that they are both singular or plural.

7. Coordinating Conjunctions
And – The word and takes subjects and combines them.
Steve and Laura fail grammar tests.
Or – The word or keeps subjects separate
Either Steve or Laura fails grammar tests.
Nor – The word nor keeps subjects separate
Neither Steve nor Laura fails grammar tests.

8. Special Special Tricks
Or and nor keep subjects SEPARATE, not necessarily SINGULAR!
Either the monkeys or the zebras eat donuts on Saturdays.
If the two nouns are different (one is singular, one is plural) go with the noun that is closer to the verb.
Either the monkeys or that one zebra eats donuts on Saturdays.

9. Collective Nouns
A collective noun is a singular noun which represents a group of people or things. If you are referring to the group as one unit, it is singular.
i.e. the class, the Bahamas
The Philippines is a great travel destination.

10. Pronouns Many pronouns which sound plural are singular.
Singular Pronouns – everyone, everybody, nobody, anybody, each.
Each of the plays holds the audience’s attention.
Everyone dances the electric slide.
Plural Pronouns – both, few, many, several
Few people dance as well as Mr. Horwitz.