1. Subject Verb AgreementBy
Sherry Davis
Instructor Dullaghan

2. SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT DEFINITION
Subject-verb agreement is a grammatical rule that states that the verb must agree in number with its subject. In English, present tense verbs change to show agreement in the third person singular form (subjects represented by the pronouns HE, SHE, IT) by adding an S or ES.

3. Subject
 Grammar. (in English and many other languages) a syntactic unit that functions as one of the two main constituents of a simple sentence, the other being the predicate, and that consists of a noun, noun phrase, or noun substitute which often refers to the one performing the action or noun substitute which often refers to the one performing the action or being in the state expressed by the predicate, as He in He gave notice.

4. Verb
 Any member of a class of words that are formally distinguished in many languages, as in English by taking the past ending in -ed, that function as the main elements of predicates, that typically express action, state, or a relation between two things, and that (when inflected) may be inflected for tense, aspect, voice, mood, and to show agreement with their subject or object.

5. Agreement  
Grammar. correspondence in number, case, gender, person, or some other formal category between syntactically connected words, esp. between one or more subordinate words and the word or words upon which they depend; selection by one word of the matching formal subclass, or category, in another word syntactically construed with the first.

6. Examples
When an expletive construction (there is, there are, here is, etc.) begins a sentence, the subject (which determines the number of the verb) comes after the verb.
There are several explanations for the Civil War.
We were looking down the street when —all of a sudden — here come Joe and his two brothers. If the management team takes this attitude, there is very little latitude for negotiation.

7. Examples
The conjunction or does not conjoin (as and does): when nor or or is used he subject closer to the verb determines the number of the verb. Whether the subject comes before or after the verb doesn't matter; the proximity determines the number. ·
Either my father or my brothers are going to sell the house.
Neither my brothers nor my father is going to sell the house.
Are either my brothers or my father responsible?
Is either my father or my brothers responsible?

8. Subject-verb agreement at a glance
Singular Plural First Person I Love We Love Second Person You Love You Love Third Person he/she/it Loves They Love First Person I Try We Try Second Person You Try You Try Third Person he/she/it Tries They Try Present-tense forms of have First Person I Have We have Second Person You Have You have Third Person he/she/it Have They have
Present-tense forms of do
Singular Plural
First person I do/don’t We Are/were
Second Person You do/don’t You Are/were
Third Person he/she/it does/doesn’t They Are/were
Present-tense forms of be
First Person I am/was We are/were
Second Person You am/was You are/were
Third Person he/she/it is/was They are/were

9. Examples She and her friends are at the fair.
1. When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use a plural verb.
She and her friends are at the fair.
2. When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or nor, use a singular verb. The book or the pen is in the drawer

10. Tips
Do not use the s form of a verb that follows a helping verb such as can, must, or should.
Make the verb agree with its subject, not with a word that comes between. Example The samples on the tray in the lab need testing.
Phrases beginning with the prepositions as well as, in addition to, accompanied by, together with, and along with do not make a singular subject plural.
Treat most subjects joined with and as plural
Example Leon and Jan often jog together.
words such as athletics, economics, mathematics and physics are usually singular, despite their plural form.

11. Media Clip
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12. Annotated Bibliography
Hacker, Diana. The Bedford Handbook. Boston Ma
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