Subject-verb-agreement Interactive grammar course

Subject-Verb-Agreement Unlike Swedish where all the verbforms in the present tense are the same (e.g. jag går, han går) we have to choose different verbforms for different persons (e.g. I go, he goes) in English.

I go you go he/she/it goes we go they go As you can see, it is only in the third person singular that an –s is added.

Third Person Singular He, she, it Any word or phrase that can be replaced by he, she, it. E.g. Bob (=he), my grandmother (=she),my neighbour’s furry hat (=it) other words that are considered singular in English (even though it sometimes might seem very odd) e.g. everybody, everyone

Was and Were Another subject-verb problem is was and were. Was is the only verb that has more than one form in the past tense. Normally all the forms in the past tense are the same. E.g. I went, you went, he went, we went etc. But was has different forms for different persons.

I was you were he/she/it was we were they were Once upon a time the second person singular had another pronoun (thou), but to be polite people started to use a plural pronoun (you) when talking to eachother. Therefore you has the plural form were. As you can see, the rules here are not the same as in the present tense. The first and third person singular forms are the same, while the second person singular shares the plural form. I was you were he/she/it was we were they were

To be The word to be (the infinitive of was/were) is also a bit problematic in the present tense: I am you are he/she/it is we are they are

Modal auxiliaries This is a group of verbs that does not get a third person –s It includes the verbs can, may, must, shall, will. I can – he can I may – he may etc

SUMMARY The verb to be has two different forms in the past tense: was and were. In the first and third persons singular we use was, all other forms take were. To be is the only verb to have three different forms in the present tense. I am, you are, he is, we are, you are, they are. Apart from may, must, shall, will, can all other verbs get an –s in the third person singular, present tense. He talks etc.

Exercises Start with this easy exercise Easy exercise If you made mistakes, have another look at the explanation; otherwise go on to the next page. Back to explanation Next

Exercise 3 is a bit more difficult. Do it if you fancy a challenge Now, try these exercises Exercise 2 Exercise 3 Exercise 3 is a bit more difficult. Do it if you fancy a challenge