What is a subject verb agreement?

Answer 1

Subject verb agreement means that the subject(s) and verb go together (agree) with one another. The primary factor of subject verb agreement is that the subject and verb "agree" through having the same number for a given tense.

In English, subject verb agreement isn't as big as of a factor as in other languages because there is much less verb conjugation, and common mistakes are often overlooked. E.g. "The person didn't know they were in for a surprise." This is wrong because "person" is singular and "they" is plural. The correct way to say this sentence with subject verb agreement is to use to use the singular pronoun "he" in place of the singular noun "person" (they is a colloquial gender-neutral substitution used in place of the paired pronouns "he or she").

Although languages as Spanish do not make subject verb mistakes as often, the masculine form of the pronoun may be used.

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The subject and its verb must agree in number. That is, a singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb. For example: use "The problem is the many disagreements," or "The many disagreements are the problem," never "The problem are the many disagreements. " Do not be concerned with the number in the predicate nominative: the verb always and only agrees with the subject of the sentence.

Basic Rule. The basic rule states that a singular subject takes a singular verb, while a plural subject takes a plural verb.

NOTE: The trick is in knowing whether the subject is singular or plural. The next trick is recognizing a singular or plural verb.

Hint: Verbs do not form their plurals by adding an S as nouns do. Rather, the S is used for the third person singular conjugation. In order to determine which verb is singular and which one is plural, think of which verb you would use with he or she and which verb you would use with they. Example: talks, talk

Which one is the singular form? Which word would you use with he? We say, "He talks." Therefore, talks is singular. We say, "They talk." Therefore, talk is plural.

There are several collateral rules for verb number:

Rule 1. (Compound Subject) : Two singular subjects connected by or or nor require a singular verb. Example: My aunt or my uncle is arriving by train today.

Rule 2. (Compound Subject) Two singular subjects connected by either/or or neither/norrequire a singular verb as in Rule 1. Examples: Neither Juan nor Carmen is available. Either Kiana or Casey is helping today with stage decorations.

Rule 3. When I is one of the two subjects connected by either/or or neither/nor, put it second and follow it with the singular verb am. Example: Neither she nor I am going to the festival.

Rule 4. When a singular subject is connected by or or nor to a plural subject, put the plural subject last and use a plural verb. Example: The serving bowl or the plates go on that shelf.

Rule 5. When a singular and plural subject are connected by either/or or neither/nor, put the plural subject last and use a plural verb. Example: Neither Jenny nor the others are available.

Rule 6. As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and. Example: A car and a bike are my means of transportation.

Rule 7. Sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by words such as along with, as well as, besides, or not. Ignore these expressions when determining whether to use a singular or plural verb. Examples: The politician, along with the newsmen, is expected shortly. Excitement, as well as nervousness, is the cause of her shaking.

Rule 8. The pronouns each, everyone, every one, everybody, anyone, anybody, someone, and somebody are singular and require singular verbs. Do not be misled by what follows of. Examples: Each of the girls sings well. Every one of the cakes is gone.

NOTE: Everyone is one word when it means everybody. Every one is two words when the meaning is each one.

Rule 9. With words that indicate portions-percent, fraction, part, majority, some, all, none, remainder, and so forth -look at the noun in your ofphrase (object of the preposition) to determine whether to use a singular or plural verb. If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb. If the object of the preposition is plural, use a plural verb. Examples:Fifty percent of the pie has disappeared.

Pie is the object of the preposition of. Fifty percent of the pies have disappeared.

Pies is the object of the preposition. One-third of the city is unemployed. One-third of the people are unemployed.

NOTE: Hyphenate all spelled-out fractions. All of the pie is gone. All of the pies are gone. Some of the pie is missing. Some of the pies are missing.None of the garbage was picked up. Noneof the sentences were punctuated correctly. Of all her books, none have sold as well as the first one. NOTE: Apparently, the SAT testing service considers none as a singular word only. However, according to Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, "Clearly none has been both singular and plural since Old English and still is. The notion that it is singular only is a myth of unknown origin that appears to have arisen in the 19th century. If in context it seems like a singular to you, use a singular verb; if it seems like a plural, use a plural verb. Both are acceptable beyond serious criticism" (p. 664).

Rule 10. When eitherand neither are subjects, they always take singular verbs. Examples: Neither of them is available to speak right now. Either of us is capable of doing the job.

Rule 11. The words here and there have generally been labeled as adverbs even though they indicate place. In sentences beginning with here or there, the subject follows the verb. Examples: There are four hurdles to jump. There is a high hurdle to jump.

Rule 12. Use a singular verb with sums of money or periods of time. Examples: Ten dollars is a high price to pay. Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense.

Rule 13. Sometimes the pronoun who, that, or which is the subject of a verb in the middle of the sentence. The pronouns who, that, and which become singular or plural according to the noun directly in front of them. So, if that noun is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb. Examples: Salma is the scientist who writes/write the reports.

The word in front of who is scientist, which is singular. Therefore, use the singular verb writes. He is one of the men who does/do the work.

The word in front of who is men, which is plural. Therefore, use the plural verb do.

Rule 14. Collective nouns such as team and staff may be either singular or plural depending on their use in the sentence. Examples: The staff is in a meeting.

Staff is acting as a unit here. The staff are in disagreement about the findings.

The staff are acting as separate individuals in this example. The sentence would read even better as:

The staff members are in disagreement about the findings.

Subject-verb agreement is a term used to describe the verb's tense matching the subject. The following sentence has a subject-verb agreement error: He like cherries. The following sentence has a correct subject-verb agreement: He likes cherries.

Answer 2

Subject-verb agreement refers to the need for the subject and verb in a sentence to agree in terms of number (singular or plural). This means that a singular subject should have a singular verb, and a plural subject should have a plural verb. Incorrect agreement can lead to awkward-sounding sentences and grammatical errors.