1. Subject-Verb Agreement

2. What You Will Learn
In this tutorial, you will learn the basic principles of
subject/verb agreement.
Singular Subject
Plural Subject

3. Subjects
Singular subjects need singular verbs.
The beach ball is round.
Plural subjects need plural verbs.
The beach balls are round.

4. How Do You Know?
The easiest way to figure out whether a verb should be
singular or plural is to identify the subject.
The subject of a sentence is who or what the sentence is
about.

5. Singular Subject
The lighthouse is open for tours.
Who or what is the sentence about?
The lighthouse.
Is there one lighthouse, or more
|than one?|
Only one. So this is a singular subject.

6. Singular Subject
This one is a bit trickier:
This pile of rocks is not natural.
Is the subject singular or
plural?
CORRECT!
Don't be fooled...the subject here
is "this pile" not "rocks."

7. Progress Report
Singular Subject
Plural Subject

8. Plural Subject
| |
Volleyball courts
There is more than one court.
The subject is plural.
If the subject is plural,
we need a plural verb.

9. Plural Subject
The canoes were securely
moored.
Who or what is the
sentence about?
The canoes. There The canoe was
was more than one
moored.
canoe, so the subject The canoes were
of the sentence is
plural.
moored.

10. Progress Report
Singular Subject
Plural Subject

11. Enough Talk--Let's Quiz!
My brother is an avid surfer.
Do the subject and verb agree?

12. Who or what is the subject of the sentence?
Brother.
Brother is singular, so you use the singular verb--
"is."
My brother is an avid surfer.
CORRECT

13. Quiz!
A group of people was walking towards the beach.
Is this correct?
What's the subject of
the sentence?

14. A group of people was walking towards the beach.
CORRECT
It's " a group."
So while it wouldn't make sense to say "people was walking"
it does make sense to say "a group was walking.

15. Remember...
The subject is not always located directly next to the verb.
Make sure you read the sentence and figure out who or what
it is about before deciding whether to use a singular or plural
verb.

16. For Additional Help
To talk more about subject/verb
agreement in your essay, make an
appointment with a tutor in the
Online Writing Community.
It's easy--just click on the "Writing
Help" button in your Brandman
course shell, click on "Students" and
select "Tutortrac" to make an
appointment.

17. Sources
Photos were taken from http://www.flickr.com and are
credited individually. Roll the mouse arrow over the picture to
view the credit.