Subject and Verb Agreement Sentence Examples

• 24/12/2022

Subject-verb agreement is a fundamental grammar rule that plays a crucial role in forming correct sentences. It refers to the agreement between the subject and the verb in a sentence in terms of their tense, number, and person. In simple words, the verb should match the subject in terms of singular or plural form and present or past tense. In this article, we will discuss some subject-verb agreement sentence examples and the common mistakes to avoid.

Singular vs. Plural:

The first rule of subject-verb agreement is to ensure that the verb agrees with the number of the subject. For example:

– The dog barks at the mailman. (Singular subject “dog” takes the singular verb “barks.”)

– The cats meow at the birds. (Plural subject “cats” takes the plural verb “meow.”)

However, there are some tricky cases where the subject and verb agreement can be confusing. For instance:

– One of the students is absent. (Singular verb “is” agrees with the singular subject “one.”)

– None of the students are absent. (Plural verb “are” agrees with the plural object “students.”)

Collective Nouns:

Another tricky area of subject-verb agreement involves collective nouns. These refer to a group of people or things as a single entity. For example:

– The team is ready for the game. (Collective noun “team” takes a singular verb “is.”)

– The crowd are cheering for their favorite team. (Collective noun “crowd” takes a plural verb “are.”)

Inverted Sentences:

In some sentences, the subject appears after the verb, and this creates confusion in subject-verb agreement. For example:

– In the garden, the flowers smell sweet. (The verb “smell” agrees with the singular subject “flowers.”)

– Up in the sky, the birds fly freely. (The verb “fly” agrees with the plural subject “birds.”)

Common Mistakes:

Some common mistakes in subject-verb agreement include:

– Ignoring the subject and verb agreement, causing the sentence to be grammatically incorrect.

– Getting confused with collective nouns and treating them as singular or plural.

– Ignoring the tense of the subject and verb.

In conclusion, subject-verb agreement is a crucial grammar rule that impacts the clarity and coherence of a sentence. By keeping these subject-verb agreement sentence examples in mind and avoiding common mistakes, you can write clear and grammatically correct sentences that avoid confusion and misunderstandings. As a professional, it is important to ensure your content is not only optimized for search engines, but also clear and concise for readers to understand.