Subject and Verb Agreement

Subject and Verb Agreement

 

When you use a verb, you have to say who or what is doing the action. This ‘who or what’ is the subject of the verb. The subject and the verb match each other. You say that the subject and the verb agree when they match each other.

Use a singular verb if the subject is a singular noun. For example, the subjects ‘my dad’ or ‘our school’, or any of the pronouns he, she or it, require a singular verb. Most singular verbs end in s. Look at the subjects and their verbs in these examples. The subjects are in bold and the verbs are in color.

 

He always drinks milk when he’s hot.

She eats bananas for breakfast.

Mom walks to work every day.

My sister dances like a professional dancer.

The baby falls when she tries to walk.

Our cat climbs the trees in our garden.

This form of the verb is called the third person singular. You use it when the subject of the verb is not you or the person you are speaking to, but some other person—a third person—or a thing.

 

Here are some more third person singular verbs that end in s.

 

plays	sings	shines	rides	smiles
draws	paints	blows	thinks	stops
reads	rains	travels	talks	starts

The third person singular form of some verbs is made by adding es at the end. Some examples are verbs that end in sh, ch, ss, x, zz and o.

brushes	watches	kisses	fixes
rushes	reaches	misses	mixes
polishes	teaches	passes	buzzes
crashes	catches	presses	does
washes	touches	dresses	goes

Here are some sentences with verbs in their third person singular form.

 

The subjects are in bold and the verbs are in color.

 

She always brushes her teeth at bedtime.

 

Dad polishes his shoes until they shine.

 

My brother watches television after school.

 

Kim catches the ball with one hand.

 

Dad mixes flour and water when he makes bread.

 

The bee buzzes around the flowers.

 

My friend Sanjay goes to the same school as I do.

   How do you make the third person singular form of most verbs that end in y? Usually, you just change the y to an i and then add es.

 

carry –	carries	hurry	–	hurries
cry   –	cries	fly	–	flies
study –	studies	worry –		worries

 

 

A cat carries its kitten with its mouth.

 

Mr. Chen hurries to work every morning.

 

The baby cries a lot at night.

 

This plane flies to the island every day.

 

Alice tries hard at school.

 

She copies all the questions in her notebook.

copy – copies marry – marries bully – bullies

Some verbs that end in y have a vowel before the y. Just add an s at the end of these words to make the third person singular form.

 

buy  – buys              say                   – says            pray – prays

 

pay  – pays        annoy – annoys             stay  – stays

 

Mom buys bread at the supermarket.

 

Mr. Carter pays all his bills with a credit card.

 

My friend says he has a salt-water aquarium.

 

She annoys me with her silly jokes.

 

Anna stays with her aunt on weekends.

 

 

◗     If the subject of a verb is a plural noun, such as “Mom and Dad” or “our teachers”, use a plural verb. Do not add s, es or ies to plural verbs. Plural verbs are also used with the pronouns I, we, you and they.

 

Mom and Dad love us.

 

My sisters listen to music a lot.

 

The stars shine brightly on a clear night.

 

Some people drink tea.

 

I like juicy hamburgers.

 

We learn interesting things at school.

 

You all know the words to this song, children.

 

They always walk home from school together.

 

Suppose the subject of a noun refers to a group of people. Depending on the meaning of the sentence, you may use either a singular or a plural verb.

 

The audience was enjoying the play.

 

The audience have all gone home.

 

The class has thirty students.

 

The class are handing in their papers.

 

The band is performing until midnight.

 

The band were arguing among themselves.

Words that refer to groups of people or animals are called collective nouns. Here are some more examples:

crowd               committee                    herd

 

crew          litter                    flock

 

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

 Some verbs have an object. The object of a verb is the person or thing that is affected by the action of the verb. Look at this sentence:

 

Alice		eats		a banana  for breakfast.
▲		▲		▲
The subject		The verb is the		The object is affected
does the action		action word		by the action

 

The subject of the verb is Alice. She is the person who does the action: she eats. The object of the verb is a banana. A banana is affected by the action of the verb. So in this sentence, the object of the verb ‘eat ’ is ‘a banana’. Verbs that have objects are called transitive verbs.

 

Here are some sentences with transitive verbs. The verbs are printed in bold and their objects are printed in color.

 

John likes apples.            

Sam knows the answer to the question.

 

My sister cooks all our meals.                

My brother rides his bike in the street.

 

Dad buys tea at the market.           Mom writes stories in her spare time.

Some verbs don’t have an object. A verb that does not have an object is called an intransitive verb. Here are some sentences with intransitive verbs.

 

In China, lots of people walk to work.

 

The boys play in the yard after school.

 

Mr. Carter always drives very carefully.

 

Doris is a very successful businesswoman.

 

Michael and I both entered the race. He won but I lost.

 

 

Some verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. Notice that the transitive meaning and the intransitive meaning are sometimes different.

 

transitive verbs       intransitive verbs

 

The pilot flies the plane very well.

 

The boys play football on weekends.

 

My mom runs her own company.

 

We walk the dog every evening.

Eagles fly high in the sky.

 

The boys play in the yard on weekends.

 

My mom runs in the park for fun.

 

We walk on the beach every evening.