SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT Sadie Vahle Sam Hjelm

YOUR SENTENCES MUST AGREE BY NUMBER AND PERSON!! Main Point YOUR SENTENCES MUST AGREE BY NUMBER AND PERSON!!

What does this mean? You must make sure that the verbs you use in each sentence reflects the subject. For example: Singular Subject = Singular Verb: The boy runs fast. Plural Subject = Plural Verb: The boys run fast.

Singular or Plural? The first step to making your subject and verb agree is to determine whether the subject is singular or plural. Singular = 1 Plural = More than 1

Singular or Plural? The second step is to make sure the your verb matches your subject. Singular Subject = Singular Verb When you have a singular subject, you usually add –s or –es to the end of the base form of the verb. Plural Subject = Plural Verb

Singular or Plural Practice Verbs: run is climbs bikes crawl washes wishes are bump Subjects: shoe cities Linda teams she parks phones Bill Minnesota

Compound Subjects Sometimes, there is more than one subject in a sentence. These subjects are often combined with the word and. Example: Annie and Maria When you have more than one subject in a sentence, you must use the plural verb. Example: Annie and Maria eat lots of food.

Joining Phrases Joining phrases may seem like compound sentences, but watch out! Joining phrases are phrases other than and that join nouns together, like as well as, along with, in addition to Example: Laura, as well as Bill, works hard on math. Disregard these extra phrases when deciding on which verb to use. Instead, just focus on the other subject that isn’t included in the phrase. The team, along with the coaches, attend practice. In addition to Riley, the family consists of eight.

Neither/Nor, Either/Or When using neither/nor or either/or in a sentence, follow this rule: Make sure the verb agrees with whatever subject it’s closer to. Example: Neither the hostess nor the waiters seem to like working here. Neither the waiters nor the hostess seems to like working here.

Collective Nouns Collective Nouns talk about a whole group as one thing. (Family, team, class, etc.) These can be used with both plural and singular verbs, depending on what you are trying to portray. Example: The football team disagree about whether they want new uniforms. In this sentence, you are talking about the individual members disagreeing with each other, therefore you need a plural verb. The football team disagrees with the referee about the call. In this sentence, the team is acting as one unit, therefore the singular verb would be used.

Titles When the title of a book, movie, or TV show is the subject of a sentence, always use the singular form of the verb! Example: Twilight is the best movie.

Switching Places Sometimes the verb comes before the subject in a sentence. Make sure to determine the subject that the verb is referring to! Example: Incorrect: Beside the nachos sit the plate of potato skins. Correct: Beside the nachos sits the plate of potato skins.

Works Cited Abrams, Liesa. "Subject Verb Agreement." No Fear Grammar. New York: Spark Pub., 2005. Print."BBC - Skillswise Words - Verb Subject Agreement Worksheets." BBC - Homepage. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/sentenceb asics/verbsubjectagreement/worksheet.shtml>. "Purdue OWL." Welcome to the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL). Web. 30 Apr. 2010. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/599/1/>. "Subject Verb Agreement Worksheet 2." College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences - Georgia Southern University. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. <http://class.georgiasouthern.edu/writingc/handouts/subject verbagreement2.htm>.