Subject/ verb agreement and verb tenses By: Cierra Y., John C., Linda R.

Subject agreement Define: Define: Matching the verbs and subjects according to how they are presented in the sentence. Matching the verbs and subjects according to how they are presented in the sentence. They could be shown in either singular or plural form. They could be shown in either singular or plural form.

Subject agreement singular Singular subject--he, she, it (pronouns)-- should be substituted with singular nouns. For example: the student sings (she or she sings) For example: the student sings (she or she sings) most of the time your noun will be on the left side of the verb. This helps you identify the subject in the sentence. But it varies.

Subject agreement plurals Plurals forms occurs when you are talking about more than one subject. Plurals forms occurs when you are talking about more than one subject. Such as student (singular) and students (plural) child (singular) and children (plural)

Regular Verbs They can be easily changed to present and past by adding or taking away the “ed” at the end of the word. They can be easily changed to present and past by adding or taking away the “ed” at the end of the word. For example: For example: Walk (present) can be changed to walked (past) But not all verbs are as easy to spot…

Irregular verbs Aren’t that easy to change. Aren’t that easy to change. You have to change the whole word Such as: saw (past) and see (present) They are ir regular because they do not take an “ed” ending in the past tense, as regular verbs do.

Verb tense Control the shift in verb tense, or the time-frame in which actions take place. Control the shift in verb tense, or the time-frame in which actions take place. Non-narrative writing should employ verb tenses consistently and clearly. Non-narrative writing should employ verb tenses consistently and clearly.

For example The ocean contains rich minerals that washed down the rivers and steams. The ocean contains rich minerals that washed down the rivers and steams. Notice that there are two different verb tenses in this sentence (present and past), but that it is an accurate time frame for both actions. Shannon walk to the store, but she ran down the asiles. Shannon walk to the store, but she ran down the asiles. In this case two different verb tenses cause confusion.

Work cited page Maggie, Escalas. "Literacy Education Online." Leo. 05 Oct Jun 2007 < Maggie, Escalas. "Literacy Education Online." Leo. 05 Oct Jun 2007 < l l > l "English Basics." RHL School. 12 Oct June "English Basics." RHL School. 12 Oct June "OWL." Online Writing Lab Purdue University. 28 Jun "OWL." Online Writing Lab Purdue University. 28 Jun mar/g_tensec.htmlhttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/gram mar/g_tensec.html