Subject-Verb Agreement Rules
How do you find the verb(s) in a sentence?
Ask what the subject is doing.
The politican, along with the newsman, is expected shortly. WHAT IS THE SUBJECT?
a.the politican
b.the politican, along with the newsman
c.the newsman
a.
Either the teacher or the children (like/likes) to read books.
likes
The crowd of people in front of the Taipei 101 fireworks show (stare, stares) in awe.
stares
Subject: crowd (a collective noun = a singular word that means a lot of people)
How do you find the subject of a sentence?
Ask who or what is performing the verb.
Neither of the boys (has, have) a job after school.
has
Teresa and her father (do, does) a lot of reading every evening.
Do
Both of the boys (has, have) a soccer ball.
Have
True or False?
If the subject is third person singular, the verb gets an -s
True
Example: Marijn showers every week.
Several of the trees in this neighborhood (has /have) red leaves.
Subject: Circle "Several" as the subject but draw a line to "trees" which "Several" refers to.
One of my favourite movies (begin, begins) at 10pm.
Begins
(Do, Does) the really good looking student among the biology lab tables (know, knows) what he's doing?
Subject: student (not "tables!)
True or False?
Gerunds (-ing words used as nouns) are singular.True
Example: Sleeping is my favorite hobby.
There (is/are) only 100 pages left in the novel I am reading for my English 1 book club group.
are
Subject: pages
*"Here" and "There" are NEVER subjects in a sentence. Look at noun that comes AFTER the word "Here"/"There"; that is almost always the subject!
Gymnastics (is, are) a really challenging course for the body, but it is worth it!
is
Subject: Gymnastics
Some nouns appear to be plural but are singular and take singular verbs, for example: gymnastics, physics, politics, news
Two of the dogs (is, are) black.
Are
Collective nouns (e.g., team, couple, group) are usually singular and get the third-person singular form of the verb.
True
Example: This group is great!
This team wins a lot!
Swimming in the ocean with my friends (is, are) something I love to do.
is
Either her grandparents or her father (stay, stays)with the children.
stays
One of the men (do, does) the shopping.
Does