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Verb agreement definition and examples

Verb agreement definition and examples

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05/20/2023

Verb agreement, also known as subject-verb agreement, is the grammatical concept that ensures that the verb in a sentence agrees in number and person with its subject. When the subject of a sentence is singular, the verb must be in the singular form. When the subject is plural, the verb must be in the plural form.

Here's a detailed explanation of verb agreement:

  1. Singular Subject and Singular Verb:

    • When the subject of a sentence is singular (referring to one person, thing, or entity), the verb must also be in the singular form.
    • Example:
      • "She walks to school every day." (The singular subject "she" agrees with the singular verb "walks.")
  2. Plural Subject and Plural Verb:

    • When the subject of a sentence is plural (referring to more than one person, thing, or entity), the verb must be in the plural form.
    • Example:
      • ​​​​​​​"They walk to school every day." (The plural subject "they" agrees with the plural verb "walk.")
  3. Examples of Subject-Verb Agreement:

    • Singular subject with singular verb:
      • "The dog barks at strangers."
      • "He eats breakfast every morning."
    • Plural subject with plural verb:
      • "The dogs bark at strangers."
      • "They eat breakfast every morning."
  4. Exceptions and Special Cases:

    • In the third-person singular present tense, the verb form usually takes an "-s" or "-es" ending (e.g., "he runs," "she watches"). However, some verbs are irregular and do not follow this pattern (e.g., "he has," "she goes").
    • In certain situations, collective nouns (e.g., team, family) can be treated as either singular or plural, depending on the context and intended meaning.
    • Indefinite pronouns (e.g., everyone, somebody) are usually treated as singular, even though they may refer to multiple individuals.

 

Proper subject-verb agreement ensures grammatical correctness and clarity in writing and speaking. It helps to maintain the logical connection between the subject and the verb, making sentences more coherent and understandable.

Verb agreement, also known as subject-verb agreement, is the grammatical concept that ensures that the verb in a sentence agrees in number and person with its subject. When the subject of a sentence is singular, the verb must be in the singular form. When the subject is plural, the verb must be in the plural form.

Here's a detailed explanation of verb agreement:

  1. Singular Subject and Singular Verb:

    • When the subject of a sentence is singular (referring to one person, thing, or entity), the verb must also be in the singular form.
    • Example:
      • "She walks to school every day." (The singular subject "she" agrees with the singular verb "walks.")
  2. Plural Subject and Plural Verb:

    • When the subject of a sentence is plural (referring to more than one person, thing, or entity), the verb must be in the plural form.
    • Example:
      • ​​​​​​​"They walk to school every day." (The plural subject "they" agrees with the plural verb "walk.")
  3. Examples of Subject-Verb Agreement:

    • Singular subject with singular verb:
      • "The dog barks at strangers."
      • "He eats breakfast every morning."
    • Plural subject with plural verb:
      • "The dogs bark at strangers."
      • "They eat breakfast every morning."
  4. Exceptions and Special Cases:

    • In the third-person singular present tense, the verb form usually takes an "-s" or "-es" ending (e.g., "he runs," "she watches"). However, some verbs are irregular and do not follow this pattern (e.g., "he has," "she goes").
    • In certain situations, collective nouns (e.g., team, family) can be treated as either singular or plural, depending on the context and intended meaning.
    • Indefinite pronouns (e.g., everyone, somebody) are usually treated as singular, even though they may refer to multiple individuals.

 

Proper subject-verb agreement ensures grammatical correctness and clarity in writing and speaking. It helps to maintain the logical connection between the subject and the verb, making sentences more coherent and understandable.

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212 Comments
Anonymous

i am preparing my self for ielts for  the upcoming sep

Jay Mangukiya

Could you please evaluate my essays and also mention errors if possible!
https://ieltsonlinetests.com/wot/result/writing-practice-test-1-389526

Titania

It is considered by many people a good thing for every child to master a musical instrument. I partially agree with this statement. This essay will discuss, the advantages of learning a musical instrument, and how learning it is a choice and not a duty.

In the first place, playing a musical instrument has been proven to have great effects on the persons mentality and academic skills. To put it simply, mastering a instrument makes the person smarter. For example, children who can play a instrument tend to have better grades than those who do not. Moreover, it helps relieve stress and can be a big advantage on college application. This can be seen in number of students who can play a musical instrument, and who have gotten accepted to top universities around the world. Hence, it is recomended for children to master at least one musical instrument.

In the meantime, whether learning it or not depends on the interests and hobbies of the child. In other words, it is not a mandatory thing that every single child must learn. For instance, some children like music, therefore, they pick up a music instrument. Meanwhile, the others like sports or martial arts, in this case, it would be wrong to make the child learn a instrument. As you can see, before deciding things for the children we must ask about their hobbies and interests.

To summarize, it is true that learning a musical instrument has numerous advantages, such as good grades and admissions into top universities. Neverthless, some children like doing other things like sports and martial arts. Due to this reason, people must not force every child to learn a instrument.

Alex

Pls review my writing passage and share your valuable feedback )
https://ieltsonlinetests.com/wot/result/writing-practice-test-2-230832

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Sonya Galouzis

Hi, I'm trying to register but when it gets to how best would you describe yourself e.g. student..... I click my choice and press enter but it won't upload and keeps asking me to choose one. I look forward to your response.

Alaa Dallah

Big thank you to this website. Today I sat for my IELTS test after preparing with you. I wish whoever works on updating this website would read my comment. This site has the best design and it mimics the real IELTS test accurately yet I want to make few notes hoping that you would improve the website for future users:

1. There are many spelling and punctuation mistakes in the texts, they need to be revised.
2. There are some spelling mistakes in the KEY ANSWER!
3. Most keys do not have all the possible answers for example 2 m = 2 metres = two metres
4. Some keys do not follow the question instructions like (only three words) yet the key will contain numbers
5. Most Listening recordings are unrealistic, accents are forced and they sound funny. Nothing like real IELTS.
6. Listening tests now do not include an example at the beginning

I volunteer to help, if possible. Please send me an e-mail if you accepted my offer. Thank you.

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