Subject Verb Agreement

REGULAR VERB
IRREGULAR VERB
ERRORS IN SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
COMPOUND SUBJECTS
SEPARATION OF SUBJECTS AND VERBS
INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
THE SUBJECT FOLLOWS THE VERB
HERE OR THERE
 Subject Verb Agreement

 Subject-verb agreement is one of the most common errors

that people make. Having a solid understanding of this
concept is critical when making a good impression, and it
will help ensure that your ideas are communicated clearly.
 Agreement
Agreement in speech and in writing refers to the proper
grammatical match between words and phrases. Parts of
sentences must agree, or correspond with other parts, in
number, person, case, and gender.
Number. All parts must match in singular or plural forms.
• Person. All parts must match in first person (I), second
person (you), or third person (he, she, it, they) forms.
• Case. All parts must match in subjective (I, you, he, she, it,
they, we), objective (me, her, him, them, us), or possessive
(my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, their, theirs, our,
ours) forms. For more information on pronoun case
agreement, see Section 1.5.1 "Pronoun Agreement".
• Gender. All parts must match in male or female forms
Subject-verb agreement describes the proper match between
subjects and verbs.
Because subjects and verbs are either singular or plural, the subject of a
sentence and the verb of a sentence must agree with each other in number.
That is, a singular subject belongs with a singular verb form, and a plural
subject belongs with a plural verb form
Regular Verbs
Add an -es to the third person singular form of regular
verbs that end in -sh, -x, -ch, and -s. (I wish/He
wishes, I fix/She fixes, I watch/It watches, I kiss/He
kisses.)
Singular Form Plural Form
First Person I live. We live.
Second Person You live. You live.
Third Person He/She/It lives. They live.
Irregular Verbs
Not all verbs follow a predictable pattern. These verbs are
called irregular verbs. Some of the most common irregular
verbs are be, have, and do.
 Be
Study the different forms of the verb to be in the present
tense.
Singular Form Plural Form
First Person I am. We are.
Second Person You are. You are.
Third Person He/She/It is. They are.
Have
Singular Form Plural Form
First Person I have. We have.
Second Person You have. You have.
Third Person He/She/It has. They have
Do
Singular Form Plural Form
First Person I do. We do.
Second Person You do. You do.
Third person He/She/It does. They do.
 Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement
Errors in subject-verb agreement may occur when
• a sentence contains a compound subject;
• the subject of the sentence is separate from the verb;
• the subject of the sentence is an indefinite pronoun, such as
anyone or everyone;
• the subject of the sentence is a collective noun, such as team or
organization;
• the subject appears after the verb.

Recognizing the sources of common errors in subject-verb

agreement will help you avoid these errors in your writing.
 Compound Subjects
A compound subject is formed by two or more nouns and the
coordinating conjunctions and, or, or nor. A compound
subject can be made of singular subjects, plural subjects, or a
combination of singular and plural subjects.
Compound subjects combined with and take a plural verb
form.
Compound subjects combined with or and nor are treated
separately. The verb must agree with the subject that is
nearest to the verb.
If you can substitute the word they for the compound subject, then the
sentence takes the third person plural verb form.
 Separation of Subjects and Verbs
 As you read or write, you may come across a sentence that
contains a phrase or clause that separates the subject from
the verb. Often, prepositional phrases or dependent clauses
add more information to the sentence and appear between
the subject and the verb. However, the subject and the verb
must still agree.
 If you have trouble finding the subject and verb, cross out
or ignore the phrases and clauses that begin with
prepositions or dependent words. The subject of a sentence
will never be in a prepositional phrase or dependent clause.
 The following is an example of a subject and verb separated
by a prepositional phrase:

The following is an example of a subject and verb separated

by a dependent clause:
Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns refer to an unspecified person, thing, or
number. When an indefinite pronoun serves as the subject of
a sentence, you will often use a singular verb form.
However, keep in mind that exceptions arise. Some indefinite
pronouns may require a plural verb form. To determine
whether to use a singular or plural verb with an indefinite
pronoun, consider the noun that the pronoun would refer to.
If the noun is plural, then use a plural verb with the indefinite
pronoun. View the chart to see a list of common indefinite
pronouns and the verb forms they agree with
 Indefinite Pronouns Indefinite Pronouns That
Always Take a Singular Verb Always Take a Plural Verb
anybody, anyone, anything All
each Any
everybody, everyone, everything None
much Some
many
nobody, no one, nothing
somebody, someone, something
Collective Nouns
A collective noun is a noun that identifies more than one
person, place, or thing and considers those people, places, or
things one singular unit. Because collective nouns are
counted as one, they are singular and require a singular verb.
Some commonly used collective nouns are group, team,
army, flock, family, and class.
 The Subject Follows the Verb
You may encounter sentences in which the subject comes
after the verb instead of before the verb. In other words, the
subject of the sentence may not appear where you expect it to
appear. To ensure proper subject-verb agreement, you must
correctly identify the subject and the verb.
Here or There
In sentences that begin with here or there, the subject follows
the verb.
If you have trouble identifying the subject and the verb in
sentences that start with here or there; it may help to reverse
the order of the sentence so the subject comes first.
Qu

Question

When you ask questions, a question word (who, what, where, when, why, or
how) appears first. The verb and then the subject follow.
If you have trouble finding the subject and the verb in
questions, try answering the question being asked.