Subject - verb agreement 1 – The basics

Dr. Grammar says:

“What’s wrong with this sentence? He like computers and he have his own in his bedroom.”

EXPLANATION

What is a verb?

Verbs are action words…

(e.g. sleep, eat, go, buy, do are all verbs)

What is a subject?

Subjects are the people or things doing the actions…

(e.g. I sleep, we go, the cat eats, John buys, they go)

However, subjects can be singular (one person or thing) or plural (two or more people or things)

(e.g. The cat eats = singular, The cats eat = plural)

Subject-verb Agreement:

The verb must always agree with the subject.

This means that the verb changes when the subject changes.

First person singular = I eat rice for lunch.

First person plural = We eat rice for lunch.

Second person singular = You eat rice for lunch.

Second person plural = You eat rice for lunch.

Third person singular = He/She/It eats rice for lunch.

Third person plural = They eat rice for lunch.

The third person singular subject adds an “s” to regular verbs.

(It is very important to pronounce this /s/ when saying a third person singular verb.)

But…

Some verbs are irregular, and do not follow the rule above. They have a different form of the third person singular.

For example:

I am > we are > you are > he/she/it is > they are

I have > we have > you have > he/she/it has > they have

I do > we do > you do > he/she/it does > they do

I fly > we fly > you fly > he/she/it flies > they fly

So…

He like computers and he have his own in his bedroom.  X

He likes computers and he has his own in his bedroom. √

EXERCISE

Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verbs.

Every Monday I …………………(1. go) to the swimming pool. There is a girl who …………………(2. swim) at the same time as me. We …………………(3. say) “hello” every week, and then we …………………(4. leave). I …………………(5. want) to talk to her more because she …………………(6. be) very pretty and …………………(7. have) a beautiful smile, but I …………………(8. be) worried that she already …………………(9. have) a boyfriend. My friends …………………(10. think) that I should …………………(11. try) to speak to her. What do you …………………(12. think)?

Answers:

1. go

2. swims

3. say

4. leave

5. want

6. is

7. has

8. am

9. has

10. think

11. try

12. think

FURTHER PRACTICE

Try to make sentences using any of the following verbs with any of the subjects:

Subjects:                    Verbs:

I                                    do

You                              be

We                               am

He/she                       sleep

The dog                      have

The motorbikes        eat

The people                go

They                            fly

This material is provided by the Australian Centre for Education and Training (ACET).