ESL003: Upper-Intermediate English as a Second Language

Now that we have reviewed grammatical number, person, and case, let's look at subject-verb agreement in more detail to see how they can always be matched in our sentences.

The basic idea behind sentence agreement is pretty simple: all parts of your sentence should match or agree. We'll start with subject-verb agreement. Verbs need to agree with their subjects in number (singular or plural) and in person (first, second, or third). In order to check agreement, you simply need to find the predicate and ask who or what is doing the action of that verb.

Type and Placement of Subjects

Subjects can be easily identified by first finding the predicate or main verb and asking who or what is performing the action as in the example below:

It's also useful to remember from ESL001 that subjects can be nouns, noun phrases, or pronouns. They can also be simple or compound and can appear at the beginning of a sentence before the predicate or in the middle of a sentence after the predicate.

The cat and the mouse are playing together. (compound subject / 2 nouns)

They remind me of Tom and Jerry! (simple subject / 1 pronoun)

There is a white kitten under the table. (simple subject / noun phrase)

Agreement Rules

1. Present Simple Tense: Regular and Irregular Verbs

All regular verbs (and nearly all irregular ones) in English agree in the third-person singular of the present indicative by adding a suffix of either -s or -es. Regular verbs follow a predictable pattern.

Person	Singular Form	Plural Form
First Person	I live.	We live.
Second Person	You live.	You live.
Third Person	He/She/It lives.	They live.

As the examples in the table above show, the verb form stays the same for the first- and second-person singular and the first- and second-person plural.

In this sentence, the subject is mother. Because the sentence only refers to one mother, the subject is singular. The verb in this sentence must be in the third-person singular form.

In this sentence, the subject is friends. Because this subject refers to more than one person, the subject is plural. The verb in this sentence must be in the third-person plural form.

However, not all verbs follow a predictable pattern. These verbs are called irregular verbs. Some of the most common irregular verbs are be, have, and do. Learn the forms of these verbs in the present tense to avoid errors in subject-verb agreement.

Be

Study the different forms of the verb to be in the present tense.

Person	Singular Form	Plural Form
First Person	I am.	We are.
Second Person	You are.	You are.
Third Person	He/She/It is.	They are.

Have

Study the different forms of the verb to have in the present tense.

Person	Singular Form	Plural Form
First Person	I have.	We have.
Second Person	You have.	You have.
Third Person	He/She/It has.	They have.

Do

Study the different forms of the verb to do in the present tense.

Person	Singular Form	Plural Form
First Person	I do.	We do.
Second Person	You do.	You do.
Third Person	He/She/It does.	They do.

Let's watch some explanations and examples of subject-verb agreement for the present simple tense:

2. Compound Subjects

A compound subject is formed by two or more nouns and the coordinating conjunctions and, or, or nor. A compound subject can be made of singular subjects, plural subjects, or a combination of singular and plural subjects.

Compound subjects combined with and take a plural verb form.

Compound subjects combined with or and nor are treated separately. The verb must agree with the subject that is nearest to the verb.

TIP: If you can replace the pronoun they for the compound subject, then the sentence takes the third person plural verb form.

3. Separation of Subjects and Verbs

As you read or write, you may come across a sentence that contains a phrase or clause that separates the subject from the verb. Often, prepositional phrases or dependent clauses add more information to the sentence and appear between the subject and the verb. However, the subject and the verb must still agree.

If you have trouble finding the subject and verb, cross out or ignore the phrases and clauses that begin with prepositions or dependent words. The subject of a sentence will never be in a prepositional phrase or dependent clause.

The following is an example of a subject and verb separated by a prepositional phrase:

The following is an example of a subject and verb separated by a dependent clause:

4. Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to an unspecified person, thing, or number. When an indefinite pronoun serves as the subject of a sentence, you will often use a singular verb form.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule because some indefinite pronouns may require a plural verb form. To decide whether to use a singular or plural verb with an indefinite pronoun, think about the noun that the pronoun would refer to. If the noun is plural, then use a plural verb with the indefinite pronoun. View the chart to see a list of common indefinite pronouns and the verb forms they agree with.

Indefinite pronouns that always take a singular verb	Indefinite pronouns that can take a singular or plural verb
anybody, anyone, anything	all
each	any
everybody, everyone, everything	none
much	some
many
nobody, no one, nothing
somebody, someone, something

The indefinite pronoun everybody takes a singular verb form because everybody refers to a group performing the same action as a single unit.

The indefinite pronoun all takes a plural verb form because all refers to the plural noun people. Because people is plural, all is plural.

In this sentence, the indefinite pronoun all takes a singular verb form because all refers to the singular noun cake. Because cake is singular, all is singular.

5. Collective Nouns

A collective noun is a noun that identifies more than one person, place, or thing and considers those people, places, or things one singular unit. Because collective nouns are counted as one, they are singular and require a singular verb. Some commonly used collective nouns are group, team, army, flock, family, and class.

In this sentence, class is a collective noun. Although the class consists of many students, the class is treated as a singular unit and requires a singular verb form.

Let's watch some explanations and examples of subject-verb agreement for collective noun subjects:

6. The subject follows the verb

You may encounter sentences in which the subject comes after the verb instead of before the verb. In other words, the subject of the sentence may not appear where you expect it to appear. To ensure proper subject-verb agreement, you must correctly identify the subject and the verb.

Here or There

In sentences that begin with here or there, the subject follows the verb.

TIP: If you have trouble identifying the subject and the verb in sentences that start with here or there, it may help to reverse the order of the sentence so the subject comes first.

7. Interrogative (Questions)

When you ask questions, a question word (who, what, where, when, why, or how) appears first. The verb and then the subject follow.

TIP: If you have trouble finding the subject and the verb in questions, try answering the question being asked.

Now that we have reviewed subject-verb agreement rules, let's take a look at pronoun-antecedent agreement in more detail to see how they can always be matched in our sentences.

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Content adapted from:

Source: Jen Booth, Emily Cramer, and Amanda Quibell, https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/gccomm/chapter/subject-verb-agreement/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License.

Source: ESLgold.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfuYtcSj1ms
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Source: JForrest English, https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&v=GSNioRsRTaE
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.