Subject/Verb Agreement & Basic Verb Tenses By Raymond Spencer Sharon Dove DeShaun Jones

Subject Verb Agreements Subject and verb of a sentence must agree in number: both must be singular, or both must be plural. All sentences have both a subject and a verb.

Examples Example – singular The student sings (he or she sings) The bird migrates (it does) Example - “plural” Your children sing (They sing) Those birds migrate (They do)

How To Recognize a Subject in a Sentence In a sentence, every verb must have a subject. If the verb expresses action like jump, run, or clap, the subject is who or what does (the verb) Example During lunch Sarah jumped off the table.

Using Verb Tenses 4 Past Tenses are 1. The simple past (“I went”) 2. Past Progressive (“I was going”) 3. Past Perfect (“I had gone”) 4. Past Perfect Progressive (“I had been going”)

4 Present Tenses 1. The simple present (“I go”) 2. The present progressive (“I am going”) 3. The present perfect (“I have gone”) 4. Present perfect progressive (“I will have been going”)

4 Future Tenses are 1. The simple future (“I will go”) 2. The future progressive (“I will be going”) 3. The future perfect (“I will have gone”) 4. The future perfect progressive (“I will have been going”)

The Progressive/Continuous Tenses The progressive tenses give the idea that an action is in progress at a particular time. The action can begin before another action, be in progress during another action, or can continue after another time or action. The progressive (or continuous) tenses are made by using a form of the verb "be" and the base form of a verb plus "ing": Subject + (am/is/are/was/were/will be) + (base form + ing)

3 Complete Tenses, or Perfect Tenses That describes a finished action. The past perfect (I had gone), present perfect (I have gone), future perfect (I have gone) A verb in the complete aspect indicates that the end of the action, event, or condition is known + the “is” is used to emphasize that the action is completed

3 Incomplete Tenses, or Progressive Tenses Describe an unfinished action The past progressive ( I was going) The present progressive (I am going) The future progressive (I will be going) A verb in the continuing aspect indicates that the action, event, or condition is going in the present, the past or future.

Works Cited "English Verb Tenses." Oregon State unknown. 29 Mar 2007 < s.html>. "Writing Tip: Subject Verb Agreement." Writing Center. February 17, UNLV. 29 Mar 2007 <