Grammar for Grade 9
Episode VI
Subject-Verb Agreement
Verb Conjugation
Not just for French and Spanish!
The form of a verb changes, depending on its
subject:
– I go to the store.
– He go to the store. (There’s something wrong here!)
Matching the subject and the verb is making
them agree.
Agreement in Person and Number
Person and number
Subject Pronoun (s) Sample verbs [to be/to eat/to walk]
First person singular
I
am / eat / walk
Second person singular
thou
art / eatest / walkst
Third person singular
he, she, it
is / eats / walks
First person plural
we
are / eat / walk
Second person plural
you
are / eat / walk
Third person plural
they
are / eat / walk
We rarely use the second person singular these days, but it was common a long time
ago. We actually stopped because referring to one person with the plural form (you)
was polite...like saying “sir,” or “ma’am.” Using the second person singular (thou) was
only used between friends or family, or to people who were socially lower than the
speaker.
You don’t need to memorize the “thou” forms, but you should recognize them when
you see them.
Agreement With Linking Verbs
• Sometimes a predicate nominative is different
in number from the subject. In this situation,
the linking verb always agrees in number with
the subject, not the predicate noun.
– The topic of the lecture was whales.
• The verb, was, has to agree with the subject, topic.
– Fireworks are his idea of entertainment.
• The verb, are, agrees with the subject, fireworks.
Agreement With Special Subjects
When a collective noun refers to a group as a
whole, the verb is singular. When it refers to
each member of the group separately, the
verb is plural. The same is true for nouns of
amount.
– The team is playing well. [a group]
– The team are arriving in separate cars. [each one]
– Eight glasses of water is the recommended
amount. [all together]
– Eight glasses of water are on the table. [individually]
Special Subjects (con’t)
• Some nouns are singular, even though they end with
“s”.
– The news was disturbing last night.
– Mumps is a common childhood illness.
• Each and every before a compound subject make the
subject singular.
– Each dog and cat is losing its license.
– Every man and woman was saved.
• When compound subjects are joined by or or nor, the
verb agrees with the subject that is closer to the verb.
– Neither Mary nor her sisters are going.
– Neither her sisters nor Mary is going.
Subject vs. Preposition Object
• The subject of a sentence is never part of a
prepositional phrase. When checking for verb
agreement, be sure you have the actual
subject.
– The topic of the lectures are whales.
– The topic of the lectures is whales.
• Which of these is right? The second one.
Why?
• When there is a prepositional phrase between
the subject and verb, ignore it for agreement!
Common Errors
• Check to be sure that you are agreeing the
subject and the verb of every sentence.
• Check for special subjects and prepositional
phrases that get between subject and verb.
• These types of problems are often labeled
“SVA” when I return your paper. This stands
for subject-verb agreement. Fix it!