Subject-Verb Agreement
- Subjects and verbs in a sentence must agree.
- Singular subjects take singular forms of verbs, and plural subjects take plural forms of verbs.
The cheerleader practices her jumps and lifts every day.
There are some special things to remember when making sure that subjects and verbs agree in sentences:
Many
indefinite pronouns take singular verbs.
Always-Singular Indefinite Pronouns | each
someone
anyone
nobody
somebody
no oneanybodyeveryoneeverybody
|
Collective nouns are also
usually singular when they are the subjects of sentences.
Examples of Collective Nouns| army
class
team
flock
crowd
crewherdgangaudiencecommittee
|
The
committee members meet on the first Thursday of every month.
Compound subjects are those that have
more than one subject in a single clause or sentence.
- Compound subjects joined by and are plural. They agree with the plural forms of verbs.
- Compound subjects joined by or, nor, either/or, or neither/nor take a verb that agrees with the last subject.
Either Georgie or Bob is selling his bicycle.
Neither Bob nor his friends are selling their bicycles.
Predicates can also be
compound.
- Compound predicates have more than one main verb per subject in a clause or sentence.
- All the main verbs must agree with the subject of a clause or sentence.
Even though they often begin sentences, the words There and Here are never the subjects of sentences.
When looking for the subject of a sentence that begins with Here or There, look right after the verb.
5th Grade Writing - Forming Sentences Lesson