Can you find all the errors in the following sentences?
If you can’t find the errors, the following explanations can help.
When should you add an “s” to the end of a verb? This is a Subject-Verb Agreement issue, and errors with agreement happen most often because of this missing “s”.
Many English language learners struggle with knowing which verbs need to finish with an “s” mostly because the “s” is not needed in most verb tenses, and it’s only needed in one situation in the present tense.
However, it is important to learn where to include the “s” at the end of a verb for at least two reasons:
-this one situation occurs frequently in academic English
-the missing “s” quickly marks students as non-native English speakers
The only situation where a verb needs to finish with an “s” is:
-present tense
-3d person singular
Simple Present Tense:
|
Person |
Singular |
Plural |
||
|
1st |
I |
walk |
we |
walk |
|
2nd |
you |
walk |
you |
walk |
|
3d |
he/she/it |
walks |
they |
walk |
Notice that, when the subject is he, she or it, the verb needs a final “s”. The same is true when the subject is a singular noun such as Cathy, the mayor, poverty, or Vancouver.
The mayor chairs city hall meetings. She follows an agenda.
The research demonstrates that . . . . It adds support to . . . .
The field of anthropology studies . . . . It explores . . . .
3d person present tense verbs appear frequently in academic writing because they give facts, and present information.
One exception to the “s” rule above is the “be” verb (am, are, is, was, were) because it has irregular spelling changes. Look at the present and past tense charts below for the verb “be” to notice that the spelling changes happen for 1st, 2nd, and 3d person in past and present tense.
Simple Past Tense:
|
Person |
Singular |
Plural |
||
|
1st |
I |
was |
we |
were |
|
2nd |
you |
were |
you |
were |
|
3d |
he/she/it |
was |
they |
were |
Simple Present Tense:
|
Person |
Singular |
Plural |
||
|
1st |
I |
am |
we |
are |
|
2nd |
you |
are |
you |
are |
|
3d |
he/she/it |
is |
they |
are |
You can find more information and practice with Subject-verb agreement links in the resources boxes to the right.
Things that confuse writers about subject/verb agreement include:
Each of these is explained here.
1. The subject doesn’t look plural, but it is
Usually plural nouns in English have an “s” or “es” on the end. However, some plural words do not end in “s”.
For example: people, children, sheep and mice.
So, the subject is treated like they.
The question to ask yourself is, “Am I talking about one thing or more than one thing?”
In the example below, you are writing about more than one child.
"Most children love chocolate.
Most children can be replaced by they. Therefore, the verb does not get an “s”.
2. The subject is a noun we don’t count
In English, some nouns are not counted.
For example,
we don’t count water, happiness or gold.
We might count glasses of water or liters of water, but we don’t count the water itself.
We cannot say one water or two waters.
When we use non-count nouns, we treat the subject as singular.
For example, we might say,
Water is a precious natural resource.
Water in this sentence can be replaced by it, so we treat water as a singular subject.
3. Words come between the subject and the verb
Sometimes people get confused about the subject of a verb. This often happens when other words come between the subject and the verb.
Look at these examples. Which one is correct?
a) The potatoes in the fridge are left over from last night.
b) The potatoes in the fridge is left over from last night.
To decide on the correct verb form, you need to decide which noun is the true subject. The potatoes or the fridge? Clearly, it is the potatoes.
The correct answer is a)
The words in the fridge are between the subject and the verb.
The potatoes (in the fridge) are left over from last night
When you check for subject/verb agreement errors, you need to ask yourself, “What is the true subject of this verb?” It is a mistake to only look at the noun that comes before the verb.
4. The subject is a word like who, which or that
Look at the following example.
S1 V2 S2 V2
These courses are not for people who hate writing.
This sentence has two verbs. The first verb is are. The subject of are is these courses. The second verb is hate. The subject of hate is who, which refers to people.
Now look at the next example.
S1 V1 S2 V2
She met a man who works for the phone company.
5. The verb comes before the subject
When the verb comes before the subject, some people get confused about subject/verb agreement.
Look at the following sentences.
In the corner of the living room are two porcelain dogs.
There is a stain on the carpet.
Why are Paul and Simon so tired?
In each of these sentences, the verb comes before the subject. The first step in deciding on the agreement is to find the verb in each sentence. To find the subject, ask yourself a who or what question about the sentence.
For example, you might ask:
“Who or what are in the corner of the living room?”
The answer is two porcelain dogs. Therefore, two china dogs is the subject of the verb.If there was only one porcelain dog, look what would happen to the sentence.
In the corner of the living room is one porcelain dog.
6. The subject is an indefinite pronoun like each, anybody or both
Most indefinite pronouns are treated as singular nouns.
They include:
one, anyone, everyone, someone, nobody, anybody, everybody, somebody, nothing, anything, everything, something, each, either and neither
For example, we say:
Everybody is coming at 6:00.
The only indefinite pronoun that we treat as plural is both.
For example, we say:
Both are late for class.
You can find more information and practice checking for subject-verb agreement errors in the resources boxes to the right.
Subject-verb agreement is an issue that should not concern you while you are writing a paragraph or essay.
Instead, you should leave concerns about subject-verb agreement until the editing or proofreading stage of writing.
Even good writers have subject-verb agreement problems in their writing. After they have completed a draft, they need to go back and check their writing for subject-verb agreement problems.
You can find more information and practice with Subject-verb agreement in the resources boxes to the right.
Now, let's look back at the four sentences at the beginning of the page again. Do you know how to fix them now?
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