T 12 Subject-Verb Agreement

Topic 12

Subject - Verb Agreement

In the Subject – Verb Agreement, we are dealing with the Simple Present Tense.  For the Simple Past Tense,  only ‘was / were’ is involved.

 [Singular Subject]  Singular Verb---------------------------------

 [Plural Subject] Plural Verb  -----------------------------------------.

Generally speaking, [A Singular Subject] has a Singular noun.  [A Plural Subject] has a Plural noun.

     Singular Verb  ---------- is / was

                                             v + s / es  (F1 + s / es)

     Plural Verb ------------- are / were

                                            V (root verb) (F1)

1.  Verb-to-be

     am     (Only the Personal Pronoun [I] goes with ‘am’)

            is             was            

            are           were

         

2.  have | has

           He                                           I     |   We

           She           has                          You |  You         have  

           It                                                       They

                                                 

3.  do / does

           He                                       I     /        We

           She     does  (not)               You   /     You     do  (not)

           It                                                          They   

          [George] is a hardworking boy.

          [Rice] is our staple food.

          [The children] are very noisy now.

          [Henry] was very busy yesterday.

          [My parents] were not at home last Tuesday.

          Leena has an expensive racket.

          I have a box of crayons.

          He does his work well.

          You do your homework in the afternoon.                            

                    

The Subject may be:

1.  a noun

2.  a noun phrase

3.  P1  -----  I /You/ He/ She /It /We /You /They                   

4.  P4  -----  Mine/ Yours / His / Hers / Its / Ours / Yours / Theirs

5.  Demonstrative Pronouns à  This/ That /These / Those

6.  Indefinite Pronouns

7.  F2

8.  To infinitive

9.  A Noun Clause

Examples:

1.  [Cats] have soft fur. 

2.  [That house] belongs to Hassan.

3.  [I] have many friends.

4.  [This] is Anna’s bicycle.  [Mine] is over there.

5.  [This / That ] Singular Verb …………………

     [These / Those] Plural Verb ………………..

6.  [Everybody] is busy today. 

7.  [Swimming] is a good form of exercise.    

8.  [To complete the project in time] requires self-discipline  

     and self-will.

9.  [All what she has said] is well-based.

     [What they can do now] is to admit the truth.

When an Indefinite Pronoun/  F2 (Gerund) / To infinitive functions as a subject, it  always take a Singular Verb.

Indefinite Pronouns

anybody         everybody              nobody           somebody

anyone           everyone               *no one          someone

anything         everything             nothing          something

A phrase is a coherent string of words. 

       house  -----  a word

       That house ------ a phrase

The subject noun which can be replaced by ‘He/She/ It’ takes a singular verb.

The subject noun which can be replaced by ‘I/ We/ You/You / They’ take a plural verb.