Subject-Verb Agreement Basics

In English, there are many different types of nouns, and the two most important types are countable and uncountable nouns. As the names suggest, countable nouns refer to those that can be counted such as "apple," "book," and "phone," while uncountable refers to nouns that cannot be counted like "water," "air," and "love."

These countable nouns also come in two different forms: 

singular (1) and plural (2 or more)

To make a plural form of a noun, we simply add —s or —es at the end of the word.

friend (1) friends (2 or more)

Verbs, on the other hand, have different characteristics. 

When writing in a present tense, verbs also have singular and plural forms, but the rule is the opposite: adding —s or —es at the end makes the verb "singular."

plays (1) play (2 or more)

As you can see from the chart above, the plural form of the verb "play" is "play," while the singular form is "plays."

The basic rule of subject-verb-agreement is simple:

When writing in present tense, use singular verb with singular subject, and use plural verb with plural subject.

My friend play in the living room. (incorrect)

singular s.  plural v.

My friends play in the living room. (correct)

plural s.   plural v.

Before we move on to more subject-verb agreement rules, let’s review the “Be verbs,” the most important and common verbs in English.

BE VERB

Surprisingly, many students, especially those who have learned English NATURALLY, don’t understand that words like “am,” “are,” and “is” are actually verbs. They are called the “be verbs.” They are unique because they come in many different forms and require subject-verb-agreement rules in both present and past tense.

When it comes to “You” and “I” the rule is also different. As you can see from the chart above, though they are “singular,” they don’t take the verb “is.” Instead, they have a world of their own.

Basic Subject Verb Agreement Rules:

1. Singular subject takes singular verb

The student is here.

My student lives in the city.

2. Plural subject takes plural verb

The students are here.

My students live in the city.

3. Uncountable nouns are considered singular

Water is refreshing.

Love requires sacrifice. 

*Past tense ignores the subject-verb-agreement rule (except for be verbs).

My friend lived in the city.

My friends lived in the city.

While the concept itself is not complex, applying this rule is not always easy. This is because there are many modifiers and elements that make finding the subject of a sentence very difficult. For example, can you identify the subject of the sentence below?

"In the island between two lost kingdoms was the treasure that Francis Drake buried."

*The subject is "the treasure".

To solve SVA questions well, we need to develop the habit of eliminating modifiers and leaving only the "essential", or "core", element in a sentence. I like to use slashes (/) like the ones you see below. This habit will not only help you solve SVA questions but also improve your comprehension skills.

The attempt / to kill the king / by the duke / failed.

Core sentence: The attempt failed.

The boy / who came from Canada / to meet his brothers/ was happy.

Core sentence: The boy was happy.