Do you want to know what subject-verb agreements are? Read on for the definition and for examples.
Every time a new student signed up for English tutorials, I always got them to do a grammar review quiz.
On this quiz, there would be a section where I ask them to write a sentence or two telling me what they did over the weekend. I get them to do this so that I can quickly assess their writing level.
There was this one grade 5 student a few years ago who wrote:
“This weekend my family went to the park. Me and my brother plays in the playground.”
After reading those sentences, did you recognize anything? Do they sound correct? Is there a grammatical error anywhere?
Please answer yes.
The grammatical error is in the second sentence and it’s incorrect because the subject of the sentence and the following verb don’t agree (there’s also a pronoun error, but we’ll talk about that another time).
In case you forgot, a subject is what or who the sentence is about (you can read more about it in this article here).
A verb is an action word and/or a “being” word. Here are some examples of verbs: run, throw, felt, is, are.
What are Subject-Verb Agreements?
Subject-verb agreements are a grammatical error in which the subject of the sentence doesn’t agree, tense-wise, with the verb.
For instance, if a subject is a plural (more than one), then the verb also has to be a plural. If a subject is singular (one), then the verb has to be as well.
Here are some sample combos:
- They | Are
- Jon | Is
- She | Writes
- Jon and Harry | Jump
- Kelsey | Jumps
For the last two examples, did you notice how, with the verbs, one has an “s” and the other doesn’t?
The reason why it’s like that is because singular verbs are spelled with an “s,” while plural verbs are not.
How to Fix Subject-Verb Disagreements
If you come across this grammar mistake, you can fix it by changing the tense.
You can either change the subject’s tense or amount to agree with the verb or you can change the verb’s tense to agree with the subject’s.
I personally find it easier to change the verb to agree with the subject because the majority of the time, that’s where the mistake is.
The subject’s amount is usually stated correctly because I know how many people or things I’m talking about.
Do you get everything so far?
Awesome!
Subject-Verb Agreement Practice Questions
Here are some practice questions you can try. All you have to do is state if the subjects and verbs in each sentence agree:
- Amanda and Gwen play pick-up basketball.
- Gwen jump high to grab a rebound.
- Amanda passes the ball well.
- They wins the game.
Which sentence/s have the error and which are written correctly?
If you found the above questions helpful to your learning, you should consider getting a grammar workbook.
They have more questions (and ones on other topics as well) that you can work on.
This is beneficial because the more you practice your grammar skills, the better your writing will become.
If you’re interested, you can find some at my store here.
Final Thoughts
Mistakes with subject-verb agreements is a common grammatical error. Many people commit it.
But they’re an easy fix. You just have to be able to recognize the error in your writing.
So, buy a workbook and start practicing so that you can improve your writing.
P.S.
Sentences 2 and 4 have subject-verb disagreements. 1 and 2 are written correctly.