Subject/Verb Agreement

The two most important words in any sentence are the subject and verb. The subject and verb must be in agreement with each other; that is, if the subject is singular, the verb must be singular; if the subject is plural, the verb must be plural. Subjects and verbs agree in case (1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person) and number (singular, plural).

When the subject and verb in a sentence do not agree, the sentence doesn't make sense (even though a reader may be able to figure out what is meant). Most problems with subject/verb agreement cannot be found by listening for them. The writer, when proofreading, will have to think about the logic of the sentence and carefully look for each subject and verb.

Using pronouns with a verb like work, the following pattern emerges:

The verb work used with subject pronouns
Person Singular Pronoun Singular Verb Plural Pronoun Plural Verb
1st I work We work
2nd You work You work
3rd He, She, It works They work

This chart shows how the verb work is used in the present tense with singular and plural pronouns.

Notice that in 3rd person singular the verb changes to works. Since in 3rd person, the writer is writing about someone, someplace, or something, the pronouns can be replaced with any noun (a person, place, or thing). For instance,

Singular Plural
The car works The cars work

This chart shows how singular and plural nouns are used with singular and plural verbs.

To make a noun plural, add an s; to make a verb singular, add an s . Only the noun or the verb (but not both) have an s. This is called the one s rule.

The one-s rule says that between the noun and the verb, only one can have an s ending. However, there are some situations where a subject can be plural without necessarily having an s ending.

 

ENGL1010 Composition I