3-2 Subject-Verb Agreement
Key Concepts
- Subject
- Verb
- Agreement
Subject
The subject of a sentence is the person, place, thing, or idea that the sentence is about. It is usually the noun or pronoun that comes before the verb.
Verb
The verb is the action word in a sentence. It tells what the subject is doing or what is happening to the subject.
Agreement
Subject-verb agreement means that the subject and the verb must match in number. If the subject is singular, the verb should also be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb should be plural.
Examples
Singular Subject and Verb:
- The cat sleeps.
- She reads a book.
Plural Subject and Verb:
- The cats sleep.
- They read books.
Analogies
Think of the subject and verb as a pair of shoes. Just like you need the right shoe for each foot, the subject and verb need to match to fit together correctly. If you have one foot, you need one shoe; if you have two feet, you need two shoes. Similarly, a singular subject needs a singular verb, and a plural subject needs a plural verb.