8. Subject/Verb Agreement A complete sentence contains a subject and a verb. The subject tells who or what is doing something or being something, and the verb expresses the action or links the subject to the rest of the sentence. To maintain subject-verb agreement, a singular subject must have a singular verb form and a plural subject must have a plural verb form.
9. Singular and Plural Verb Forms A singular subject consists of one thing. the student A singular verb form in the present tense usually ends in –s. Studies The student studies for the test.
10. Singular and Plural Verb Forms A plural subject consists of more than one thing. the students A plural verb form in the present tense generally does not end in –s. study The students study for the test.
11. Checking for Subject/Verb Agreement To check for subject-verb agreement, you must first identify the subject of the sentence. Remember that prepositions and other words sometimes occur between the subject and verb. Once you identify the subject, you can add the correct verb form. INCORRECT Elaine go to the amusement park. CORRECT Elaine goes to the amusement park.
12. Checking for Subject/Verb Agreement To check for subject-verb agreement, you must first identify the subject of the sentence. Remember that prepositions and other words sometimes occur between the subject and verb. Once you identify the subject, you can add the correct verb form. INCORRECT The cars swerves to avoid hitting the fence. CORRECT The cars swerve to avoid hitting the fence.
22. 9. Kathy and Karen (attends, attend) an accelerated science program. attends attend
23. 10. Dancing (is, are) a form of art, a form of exercise, and a form of recreation. is are
24. Subject/Verb Agreement To determine correct subject-verb agreement, be sure that you have correctly identified the subject. Watch out for subject pretenders such as prepositional phrases. INCORRECT The bowl of cookies are on the table. CORRECT The bowl of cookies is on the table.
32. 9. Remakes such as Freaky Friday often (becomes, become) more successful than the original movie. becomes become
33. 10. My pet ferrets, whose names are George and Laura, (eats, eat) more food than I do. eats eat
34. Indefinite Pronouns Sometimes the subject of a sentence is an indefinite pronoun. Here are some singular indefinite pronouns that take singular verb forms. anybody everyone nothing anyone everything somebody anything nobody someone each no one something everybody
35. Examples INCORRECT Each of us need to pay five dollars. CORRECT Each of us needs to pay five dollars.
38. HOW TO CHECK FOR SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT Remember that singular subjects take singular verb forms, and plural subjects take plural verb forms. Be sure that you have correctly identified the subject. Watch out for subject pretenders, such as prepositional phrases. Indefinite pronouns such as everyone, anyone, something, and no one are singular and take singular verb forms.
46. 8. Nobody with a new computer (uses, use) the old software. uses use
47. 9. Someone with red lipstick (leaves, leave) smudges on the cloth napkins. leaves leave
48. 10. Anything on the boat made of wood (requires, require) a waterproof finish. requires require
49. Vegas Grammar Review Game I will place you in groups Each group will receive $200 in grammar money You wager on each sentence before you see it Always a $10 minimum $50 maximum through sentence 5 $100 maximum through sentence 10 $200 maximum through sentence 15 No maximum wager through sentence 20 For 1 through 5, select the correct verb choice with your group’s iClicker. For 6 through 10, choose the correct conjugation of the verb in parentheses at the end of the sentence. For 11 through 20, write the subject(s), verb(s), and label the verb(s) as action (A), linking (L), or helping (H). If you have the answer correct, I will check your work. If you have all of the prepositions and phrases correct as well, you win your wager. If you answer incorrectly, I take your money. The group with the most money after sentence 20 wins three extra credit points.
