Transcript Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb Agreement
Do I need an
s at the end
of the verb?
Or should I
leave the s
off?
Agreement in a Nutshell
The elephant
trumpets for a peanut.
elephant = singular subject
trumpets = singular verb
The elephants
trumpet for peanuts.
elephants = plural subject
trumpet = plural verb
Add s to a verb = singular
Singular starts with s!
In the present
tense, singular
verbs end in the suffix
s; plural verbs do
not.
Two [or mor e] singular
nouns joined by and make a
plur al subject.
The chicken wing and pork rib sit
untouched on Ruth’s plate.
Because there’s no s
at the end of sit, you
know it’s a plural verb.
W hen each or ever y pr ecedes
two [or mor e] singular nouns
joined by and , you have a
singular subject.
Every chicken wing and pork rib sits
untouched on Ruth’s plate.
Because there is an
s at the end of sit,
you know it’s a
singular verb.
I n t h i s s i t u at i o n , n o m at t e r
how m any s i n g u l a r n o u n s yo u
join with and, the subject is
sti l l s i n g u l a r.
Every chicken wing, pork rib, slice of pepperoni pizza,
hotdog, hamburger, steak, and fried shrimp sits
untouched on Ruth’s plate.
T hese indefinite pr onouns
ar e always singular [even
w hen they seem plur al].





Each, either, neither
Anyone, anybody, anything
Everyone, everybody, everything
No one, nobody, nothing
Someone, somebody, something
Everyone on Earth =
more than one
person—billions of
people, in fact.
The word everyone,
however, is still
singular.
Bewar e inter r upting phr ases.
 As well as
 Along with
 Together with
 Including
 In addition to
 Especially
The squirrel as well as the pigeons keep
keeps
an
eyeeye
an
on on
Sammy,
Sammy,
thethe
sneaky
sneaky
cat.cat.
Bad
kitty!
This sentence might
sound right, but it is
completely wrong!
Bewar e inver ted wor d or der.
Here is
are
onions
you
need
chili.
thethe
onions
you
need
forfor
thethe
chili.
In In
the
the
refrigerator
are
the
jalapeño
peppers
you
refrigerator
is the
is
the
jalapeño
jalapeño
peppers
peppers
you you
might
want towant
might
add.to add.
Here and
there are
never the
subjects.
Cross through
prepositional
phrases to find
the real subject!
A subject -verb
a g r eement item on an
objective test might
look like this . . .
Quick Test
Directions: In the items that follow, choose
the option that corrects an error in the
underlined portion(s). If no error exists, choose
“No change is necessary.”
Y U NO
know
SVA?!?
Item 1
In the cabinet is
is the
are
the
the
tools
tools
tools
that
that
that
you
you
you
will
will
will
need
need
need
to
toto
AA
unclog the bathroom sink; I have
have found
found that
that aa
B
plunger and a prayer often do
do the
the trick.
trick.
C
A.are
A.are
B.has
C.does
D.No change is necessary.
Item 2
Jasmine and Rodney have
have decided
decided to
to double
double the
the
A
number of cupcakes that they are baking since
B
everyone love
love moist
loves
moist
moistcake
cake
cakeand
and
andchocolate
chocolate
chocolatefrosting.
frosting.
frosting.
CC
A.has
B.is
C.loves
C.loves
D.No change is necessary.
Item 3
Not only those students but also their professor
looksforward
look
look
forward
forwardto
toto
the
the
thefinal
final
final
exam;
exam;
exam;
everyone
everyone
everyone
has
has
has
AA
BB
exciting vacation plans that start
start next
next Monday.
Monday.
C
A.looks
A.looks
B.have
C.starts
D.No change is necessary.
Item 4
At the pet store, each iguana, mouse, and gerbil
tries
try
try
to
toto
climb
climb
climb
the
the
the
walls
walls
walls
of
ofof
its
itsits
glass
glass
glass
cage
cage
cage
while
while
while
AA
humans hover
hover outside
outside like
like giant
giant predators
predators who
who are
are
B
C
ready to strike.
A.tries
A.tries
B.hovers
C.is
D.No change is necessary.
The End.
Bad
kitty!