Subject-Verb Agreement


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In today's lesson we continue our unit on verbs. 

What Is "Subject-Verb Agreement"?

You have probably heard the term subject-verb agreement. What does this term refer to?

Many verb tenses and verb forms must reflect the "person" and "number" of the subject, the noun that subject refers to.


  • The PERSON attribute corresponds to whether the subject is 1st person (I, we), 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, she, it, they). 

  • The NUMBER attribute indicates whether the subject is singular (one) or plural (more than one).


Verb Conjugation Chart

On a verb conjugation chart for any verb, the attributes are as follows:

1st Person Singular  (I) 1st Person Plural    (we)
2nd Person Singular  (you) 2nd Person Plural   (you)
3rd Person Singular (he, she, it) 3rd Person Plural      (they)


Let's Warm Up!

Practice identifying person and number for these present and past tense verbs.  Fill in the chart for each verb below.  Follow the pattern of 1a, which has been done for you.

For person, indicate 1st, 2nd or 3rd.
For number, indicate singular or plural.

1.   I remember a time when my brother went out to play and didn't come back.
  a. I remember 1st person singular
b my brother      
2. She was surprised that I was taking dancing lessons.
  a.        
  b.        
3.   It is very difficult to learn a second language such as English.  A person has to study very hard and dedicate a lot of time to it.
  a.        
  b.        
4. Young people don't have as much self-control as adults do.
  a.        
  b.        
5.   Handguns are dangerous.
           


Next... Subject-Verb Agreement and Prepositional Phrases


Continue as we discuss the two categories of verbs: We will present subject-verb agreement and prepositional phrases in the next lesson.

Now from the ESL Help Desk, thanks for dropping by for this lesson and remember to email us your questions about English grammar by way of our blog. 

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