Subject/Verb Agreement

General Rule I You We They He She (It) Plural Verb Form Singular Verb Form: Examples work see play like study Examples works sees plays likes studies To Be: (I) am – (You/We/They) are To Have: have To Go: go To Do: do To Be: is To Have: has To Go: goes To Do: does

Examples I You We They He She (It) I play League of Legends with my friends every Saturday. He plays League of Legends with his friends every Saturday. You work at my favorite café. My mother works as a lawyer for the city of Seoul. We study at the library. She studies at the library. I am the oldest out of all my siblings, but you are the smartest. They have experience presenting in class. He is the oldest out of all my siblings, but she is the smartest. He has experience presenting in class.

Rule #2: Simple Past Tense Verbs To Be/Have/Go/Do Verbs I/He/She was the smartest in my class. We/They were the smartest students. You were the smartest student I/You/We/They had never been late to class. He/She has never been late to class. They went to Australia over the winter session. (all subjects use went) I did my homework already. (all subjects use did) Verb form is the same for all subjects I played League of Legends with my friends last Saturday. You worked at my favorite café last year. He studied at the library.

(Singular subject + singular subject = plural verb) Rule #3: And – OR When 2 subjects are connected with “and” or “or” And If both subjects in the sentence are singular, then use plural verb form. (Singular subject + singular subject = plural verb) Examples My brother and sister live with my parents The building and the tree seem old and tired Or The verb follows the closest noun or pronoun to it Examples Either the actors or the director is at fault (singular form) Either the director or actors are at fault (plural form)

These always take the singular verb form Rule #4: Indefinite Pronouns someone, somebody, each, either one, everyone, anyone, etc These always take the singular verb form Examples: Somebody steals coffee from the vending machine every day. Everyone walks to campus when it is sunny outside. Each person is responsible for studying the material.

Rule #5: Plural Looking Nouns news, mathematics, politics, economics, etc All these nouns are really singular, so take singular verb form Examples Mathematics is the foundation of science. Fake news is a problem for all governments.

Rule #6: “There is/are…” or “Here is/are…” The subject will come after the phrase “there is/are” or “Here is/are.” If more than one subject, look for the subject closest to the phrase. Examples There is a book on the table. There are books on the table. Here is the phone you lost. Here are the charts for your presentation. There is a child and two adults on the sofa. There are two adults and a child living next door.

*Often times “a lot of” is used Rule #7: Much vs Many* Much is used for uncountable nouns Many is used for countable plural nouns Much How much money do you have? We didn’t have much time to work on the project. Many I don’t have many close friends but a lot of friends. Many people live paycheck to paycheck. *Often times “a lot of” is used especially with positive statements and it is more informal can use with uncountable and countable nouns We didn’t have a lot of time to work. He bought a lot of oranges at the market.