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Subject Verb Agreement

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"Peter plays tennis"

Peter is the subject of the sentence. The subject is the person (or thing) that does an action.

In our sentence the subject is singular - Peter is one person. We can also have plural subjects (many), for example, animals, cars and towns.

Plays is the verb - it's an action. 'Eat', 'swim' and 'kick' are other examples of verbs.

So what is subject verb agreement?

Subject verb agreement means that the verb we use in a sentence can change depending on the subject. Let's use Peter again:

"Peter plays tennis" is correct because Peter is singular and the verb (plays) is singular.

"Peter play tennis" is NOT correct because the the verb is plural.

To use a plural verb we must use a plural subject:

"Peter and his friends play tennis."

Peter and his friends means more than one person and so it is a plural subject.

Subject Verb Object
It's and Its
Prepositions of Time

  • Sandra always ___ a lot.



  • We ___ waiting for you to come.



  • All of your clothes ___ in the suitcase.



  • This flashlight ___ not work.



  • The boy or the girl ___ in the garden.



  • One of the cars ___ missing.



  • The boss and his secretary ___ having a meeting.



  • Everybody ___ English in school.



  • No one ___ English as well as you.



  • What concerns me ___ the unemployment rate.



  • Having too much free time ___ bad for children