I am doing an english paragraph and i was wondering if any one can explain subject verb agreement?

Question

Basic verb agreement
times and amounts

Answer 1

A verb must agree with its subject in number. If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb also must be plural.

If MANY A, EACH, or EVERY is used to modify a subject, that subject is singular even though it may have more than one part.

The subject NONE, SOME, ANY, ALL, MORE, MOST and fractions such as HALF may be singular or plural. The noun or pronoun to which the subject refers will determine its number. If a prepositional phrase with a plural subject follows the subject, the subject will be considered plural (exceptions: NONE may be used to mean NOT ONE; ANY may be used to mean ANY ONE).

The name of a book, song, magazine article, or company is singular even though the name itself may be compound or plural in form.

An amount (money, distance, time, etc) is singular when it is expressed as a single unit.

Collective nouns may be singular or plural. If the noun refers to a group as a single unit, a singular verb should be used. If the sentence suggests that members of the group are acting independently of one another, a plural verb should be used.

If OR or NOR is used to join two singular subjects, a singular verb should be used. If a singular subject and a plural subject are joined by OR or NOR, the plural form should be placed closer to the verb and a plural verb used.

When used as subjects, the following pronouns are singular: ANYONE, ANYBODY, EVERYONE, EVERYBODY, SOMEONE, SOMEBODY, ONE, NOBODY, EITHER, NEITHER, EACH. They should be used with singular verbs.

Some singular subjects end in "s" (e.g. mathematics, politics). The verb should be singular.

Answer 2

The subject and verb must agree in number: both must be singular, or both must be plural. Problems occur in the present tense because you must add an -s or -es at the end of the verb when the subject is a singular third person: he, she, it, or words for which these pronouns could substitute. See the following examples and notice the differences:

Singular: The student sings. (He or she sings)
Plural: Your children sing. (They sing)

Singular: The bird does migrate.(It does) Plural: Those birds do migrate. (They do)

What is most important in subject verb agreement is to be able to identify the subject and to know when it is singular or plural. For example,
1. The relative pronouns (who, whom, which, and that) are either singular or plural, depending on the words they refer to.
2.Indefinite pronouns (someone, somebody, each, either one, everyone, or anyone) are considered singular and need singular verbs although they convey plural meaning.
3. A few nouns can be either plural or singular, depending on whether they mean a group or separate individuals. These words are rarely used as plurals in modern writing.
4. A few subjects look plural but are really singular or vice versa. (Ex: The news is good/ The data are correct.)
5. If subjects are joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the closer subject.
6. If subjects are joined by and, they are considered plural.
7. A phrase that starts with a preposition, a gerund, or a relative pronoun and that modifies the meaning of the noun or subject does not contain the subject therefore the verb should not agree with it. EX: The survey covering seven colleges reveals a growth in enrollment. Subject:the survey Verb: reveals
8. Usually the verb will agree with the first noun to the left of the verb.

Above quoted from LEO

Answer 3

All answers mentioned above are correct, but not covering the whole subject.

In a sentence, the subject is the word the causes the action. A verb is the action word. A subject can be of different types, but this is not the point here.

A subject can be singular, plural or collective noun: Boy, boys, police, fleet. A verb can be transitive (requiring an object): I (subject) broke (verb) my arm (object), or intransitive (requiring no object): Birds fly, but this is not the point here.

A verb can be a regular verb: Eat, drink, fly, etc. and auxiliary verb: verb to be (am, is, are, was, and were), verb to have (have, has, and had), defective verbs (May, might, etc).

The verb has to agree with the subject, i.e. reflecting the subject status in singularity and plurality as well as the type of the subject and tense of the sentence:

1. I am a boy (subject singular. Type agrees only with AM. You can not say: I is a boy)

2. She is a girl (subject is singular. Type agrees only with IS)

3. We are boys (subject plural, therefore it has to take ARE as ARE is plural)

4. I have a book (subject singular. Type takes HAVE)
5. He has a book (subject singular. Type takes HAS)

6. Horses run fast (subject plural. Type takes RUN)
7. A horse runs fast (subject singular. type (here referring to the present tense) takes RUN + S which is indicative of singularity and tense)

8. If I were a king, I will rule with fairness (though WERE does not agree with I, it is an exception to express a WISH or something too difficult to happen)

9. The police is coming (subject singular, referring to the police as an entity)

10. The police are coming (subject is called collective noun, referring to the police as composed of individuals)

SUMMATION:

In the present tense, I takes am, he, she, it take is, we, they, you take are. I, you, we, they take have, he, she, it take has.

In the past tense, I, he, she, it take was, we, they, you take were. I, he, she, it, you, they, we take had.

Notice the difference of "If I were" It is an exception. Also YOU is both singular and plural subject: 1. you are a boy. 2. You are boys.

So, agreement between a subject and a verb is based on:

1. Singularity or plurality of the subject.
2. Type of the subject.
3. Tense of the sentence.

Bearing in mind all the exceptions.

I hope I have not given you a headach.

Answer 4

Subject and Verb agreement means that the subject you are using should agree with the Verde you are going to use. If the subject is singular the verb should also be singular. Example : The boy is skating on the road. In this sentence the subject is "boy" which is singular and the verb "is" is also in the singular form. However if the subject is plural, the verb should also be plural. Example : The girls are playing volleyball. In this sentence the subject is "girls" with "s" making it a plural form and the verb is "are" which is also in the plural form.

Answer 5

Subjects and verbs must agree. This means that if your subject is singular, your verb must be singular also. And if your subject is plural, your verb must be plural too. Example

The boys eat supper at 7.
The boy eats supper at 7.

English is funny in that a plural subject usually has an "s" on it, and a plural verb does not. The singular subject usually does not have an "s" but usually the singular verb does.

Answer 6

Subject-verb agreement means that the subject and the verb must be the same number; for example, here's an error

"Five people is coming to the party."

The subject "people" is plural, and the verb, "is" is singular.

It should be "Five people are coming."

Where most people have trouble is when "there" is used as a "dummy subject," as in:

"There is five people coming to the party."

The subject is still "people," so the sentence should read,

"There are five people coming to the party."

Answer 7

All IS well with the world. Nothing SEEMS to please Linda. One of the babies in teh nursery IS crying. Hope that helps. A little trick..take out all the "extra" words they use to try to confuse you. Look at the simple subject and then choose which verb agrees. ex. subject:one (of the babies) the subject is singular verb: IS this verb would agree with a singular subject Then put it all together: One of the babies in the nursery is crying.

Answer 8

If your subject is singular then your verb must also be singular.
If your subject is plural then your verb must also be plural.

Answer 9

The subject and the verb should be in the same tense. He walks, They walk.