Topic: Subject-Verb Agreement

Day 1: General Rule and Verb to be

Q: What is a subject-verb agreement?

A: A subject is either singular or plural.

A verb can also be singular or plural.

When a noun has become a subject and a verb has become a

main verb modifying the subject, they require a very strict

agreement between them: a singular subject takes a singular

verb and plural subject takes a plural verb.

e.g. She is that new student. They are the new students.

Singular subjects: she Plural subjects: they

Singular verbs: is Plural verbs: are

The baby always cries at night. The babies always cry at night.

Singular subjects: the baby Plural subjects: the babies

Singular verbs: cries Plural verbs: cry

Remarks: You might be able to get the rule for singular verbs:

unlike the nouns which are changed to plurals by adding an ‘s’,

the verbs are changed to singulars by adding an ‘s’!

Rules for adding ‘s’ to change a verb into singular:

1. Add ‘es’ for a verb ended with ‘o’, ‘ch’, ‘sh’.

e.g watch – watches (he watches television.)

go – goes (He goes to school everyday.)

wish – wishes (He wishes to be become a pilot.)

2. Change the ‘y’ into ‘i’ and then add ‘es’ when a verb ends with ‘y’ which follows a consonant.

e.g. cry – cries,

Compare: play – plays (‘y’ is after the vowel ‘a’!)

Remarks: ‘I’ and ‘you’ take plural verbs even if they are singular subjects!!!

And the verb to be for I is ‘am’, for you is ‘are’.

e.g. I am a girl.

You are a student.

I go to school every day at 6 o’clock.

You go to school every day at 7 o’clock.