1. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

2. EVERY VERB MUST AGREE WITH ITS SUBJECT
Plural
Subject
Singular
Subject
Singular
Verb
Plural
Verb

3. Making Subjects and Verbs Agree
Lesson #1
Making Subjects and Verbs Agree

4. Strange things about English Grammar
To make a noun plural, we add –s
Singular: girl
Plural: girls
To make a verb plural, we take away the –s.
Singular: he talks
Plural: they talk

5. Watch the Verb Endings! Singular Plural I walk We walk You walk
He/She/It walk s
Joe walk s
The girl walks
Plural
We walk
You walk
They walk
Joe and Maria walk
The girls walk

6. Tip for Subject/Verb Agreement
Generally, if the subject doesn’t end in –S, the verb will.
If the subject does end in –S, the verb won’t.

7. No –S on subject
-S on verb
The girl dances.

8. -S on subject
The girls dance.
No –S on verb

9. Lesson #2
Locating the Subject

10. Sometimes, several words come between the subject and the verb.
Possible Pitfalls
Sometimes, several words come between the subject and the verb.
The student, though she had lots of problems in other
schools, finds/find (?) her new class easy.
schools, finds her new class easy.
The student finds her new class easy.

11. Prepositional phrases
A preposition is a word that show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in a sentence.
A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun.

12. Prepositional phrases
The subject can never be part of a prepositional phrase.
Example
The students in my class study / studies hard. X

13. Prepositional phrases
The subject can never be part of a prepositional phrase.
You try it!!!
Madagascar is an island near the southeastern
African coast.
It is located in the Indian Ocean.

14. Possible Pitfalls
Sometimes, the subject will come after the verb, in questions or when sentence begins with there.
Examples
Why is he falling asleep?
Why are they falling asleep?
There is no excuse for such behavior.
There are no excuses for such behavior.

15. Possible Pitfalls
Relative Pronouns (who/which/that) can be either singular or plural, depending on the word they refer to.
The student who works hard will succeed.
The students who work hard will succeed.

16. Lesson #3
Collective Nouns

17. Collective Nouns
Collective Nouns - Collective noun is the name we give to a group of nouns to refer to them as one entity.
Examples :
Flock tribe panel audience army
Regiment board team crew staff pack
Gang group team troupe crowd
Choir class band bunch
Now let’s review!!!!!!

18. Lesson #4
Indefinite Pronouns

19. All and both, however, are plural
Indefinite Pronouns
Nobody have a clue about what they are doing. (should be has)
Everything are ready for the party. (should be is)
Neither Fred, nor Ed, nor Ted know the way. (should be knows)
All and both, however, are plural
All of them wants to go. (should be want)

20. Indefinite Pronoun List
[-0ne words]
[-body words]
[-thing words]
one
nobody
nothing
each
anyone
anybody
anything
neither
everyone
everybody
everything
either
someone
somebody
something
All of these indefinite pronouns are singular

21. Lesson #5
Compound Subjects

22. Compound subjects joined by “and”
If there are two or more subjects joined by and, the subject must be plural, so the verb will not get an “s”.
Example
The boy and the girl dance.
(= They dance.)
No –S on verb

23. Compound subjects joined by “or”
If there are two or more subjects joined by or, the verb agrees with the part of the subject closest to it.
Examples:
The professor or the students walk the halls.
The students or the professor walks the halls.

24. How do I get this right?
First, identify whether or not you have problems with subject/verb agreement.
If you don’t have any problems with this, don’t worry about it!
If you do have problems
Identify the verb. Ask who or what is doing it.
This will identify the subject.
Say them together and make sure that they match in terms of number.