Subject Verb Agreement Most of the

Subject-verb agreement is one of the most important and fundamental grammatical rules in the English language. It refers to the fact that the subject and the verb in a sentence must agree in number and person. Most of the time, this means that a singular subject takes a singular verb, while a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Let`s take a closer look at this rule and explore some common examples of subject-verb agreement.

Singular subjects take singular verbs. For example:

– The dog barks at the mailman.

– My sister loves to read books.

– The teacher explains the lesson carefully.

In each of these sentences, the subject (dog, sister, teacher) is singular, and the verb (barks, loves, explains) is also singular. This is subject-verb agreement in action.

Plural subjects take plural verbs. For example:

– The dogs bark at the mailman.

– My sisters love to read books.

– The teachers explain the lesson carefully.

In each of these sentences, the subject (dogs, sisters, teachers) is plural, and the verb (bark, love, explain) is also plural. Again, this is subject-verb agreement.

However, subject-verb agreement can become more complicated when dealing with certain nouns that could be either singular or plural depending on context.

For instance, consider the following sentences:

– Most of the book is interesting.

– Most of the books are interesting.

In these examples, the phrase “most of” complicates the subject-verb agreement since it refers to a proportion of something rather than a specific number. In the first sentence, “book” is singular, so “is” is the appropriate verb. In the second sentence, “books” is plural, so “are” is the appropriate verb.

Another common example is with collective nouns, which are singular nouns that refer to a group of people or things. For instance:

– The team is playing well this season.

– The committee has made a decision.

In these examples, even though “team” and “committee” refer to groups of people, they are treated as singular units in terms of subject-verb agreement.

Overall, subject-verb agreement is an important rule to follow for clear and effective writing. By ensuring that your subjects and verbs match in number and person, you can communicate your ideas clearly and effectively to readers.