What is Subject/Verb Agreement?
Subject/verb agreement occurs when a verb matches up to the subject performing it in number (singular or plural). Singular subjects take singular verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs.
Examples of Subject/Verb Agreement
Some examples of subject/verb agreement would be the following:
The teacher grades papers every weekend. (“teacher” = singular subject; “grades” = singular verb)
The house plant has pink flowers. (“plant” = singular subject; “has” = singular verb)
My parents visit my sister in Chicago every summer. (“parents” = plural subject; “visit” = plural verb)
All of the math students have their own calculators. (“students” = plural subject; “have” = plural verb)
When Subject/Verb Agreement is Confusing
Sometimes a prepositional phrase can come between the subject and verb, and that can make it hard to determine which verb to use. A good rule of thumb is to cover up any prepositional phrases that come between the subject and verb, and that should help you determine the correct subject/verb agreement. Take these for example:
Correct: The box of cookies is on the counter.
Incorrect: The box of cookies are on the counter.
Notice that “cookies” is not the subect (it’s in the prepositional phrase), but rather “box” is the subject so it needs the singular verb “is.” Also, you can get rid of the prepositional phrase “of cookies” and you’re left with “The box is on the counter” which is much easier to determine the correct subject/verb agreement.
So remember to cover up any prepositional phrases that come between your subject and verb, and that will help you determine the correct subject/verb agreement.
A good extension of this lesson is understanding subject/verb agreement with compound subjects using “or,” so be sure to review that lesson as well!
Download a Free Worksheet on Subject/Verb Agreement!
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How well do your students understand subject/verb agreement?
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