Name: ____________________________
Date: _____________________________
Class Period: ______
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
1. Plurals in English Grammar
 To make a ______ plural, we add –s
o Singular: girl
o ________: girls
 To ______ __ ________ plural, we take away the –s.
o ____________: he talks
o Plural: they talk
2. Watch the Verb Endings
____________
 I ______
 You walk
 He/She/It walk s
o Joe walk s
o The girl walk s
______________
 We walk
 ______ walk
 They _____
o Joe and Maria walk
o The girls walk.
3. Remember there are Irregular Verbs:
 DO
Singular
___________
o He does
They do
 _______
o She has
They have
 BE
o He is
They are
o She was
They ________
4. Tip for Subject/Verb Agreement
 Generally, if the _________ doesn’t end in –S, the _________ will.
 If the subject _________ end in –S, the ______ won’t.
Examples:
 The _____
dances.
 The girls _________.
5. Multiple subjects joined by “and”
 If there are _____ or more ____________ joined by and, the subject
must be _______, so the verb will not get an “s”.
Example:
 The boy and the girl _______.
No –S on verb
(= ______ dance.)
6. Multiple subjects joined by “or”
 If there are two or more _______ joined by or, the______ agrees witthe
part of the _________ __________ to it.
Examples:
 The professor or the students walk the halls.
 The students or the professor walks the halls.
7. Indefinite Pronouns
 Some _______________ pronouns are always singular. Here are some
examples: anyone, _____________, someone, no one, nobody
 Others can be either __________ or __________. (all, some)
o Everybody loves grammar!
o Some people love grammar.
8. Relative Pronouns
 ___________ ___________ (who/which/that) can be either _______ or
plural, depending on the word they ________ to.
o The student who works hard will succeed.
o The students who work hard will succeed.
9. Helpful hints
 Sometimes, ____________ _______ come between the subject and the
verb. Just take out the _______ in the middle to see whether or not the
___________ and _______ agree.
Example:
 The student, though she had lots of ________ in other schools,
finds/find (?) her new class easy.
o The student, though she had lots of problems in other
schools, finds her new class easy.
o The student finds her new class easy.
10. Prepositional phrases
 The subject can never be part of a prepositional phrase.
Example
 The students in my class study / studies hard.
Practice: In the sentences below, do the subjects & verbs agree?
(Write yes or no. If no, please correct)
•
They goes to the gym after class to work out. __________________
•
Harry and his friends wants to see the new movie coming out this weekend.
______________
•
The cat who is meowing at my door wants in. __________________
•
Neither the cat nor the dogs likes the new food. _________________
•
The mayor as well as his brothers are going to jail. _______________
•
Nobody wants to dance. ____________________
•
The paper or the ruler are in the desk._________________