Subject: English

Topic: Subject Verb Agreement

Grade: V

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 My father is teaching me to jump
from branch to branch. I am
small so I have not learnt to do
things well. My mother knows
everything about climbing but I
don’t know much.

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 What is Subject Verb Agreement?
• Subjects and Verbs must AGREE/ MATCH with one
another in number (singular or plural) and person (1 st

person / 2 person/ 3 person).

nd rd

• If a subject is singular, its verb must also be singular; if a

subject is plural, its verb must also be plural.

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 1. A box of ice-cream is placed in the fridge.

2. Each one has studied well for the exams.

3. A bat and a ball are needed to play cricket.

4. Neither the director nor the actors are following the lines
closely.

5. The orchestra is playing a popular song.

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Ex. 1: Identify whether the subject is singular or plural and add the verb
accordingly.
• 1. Your friend (talk/talks) too much.
• 2. The man with the roses (look/looks) like your brother.
• 3. The women in the pool (swim/swims) well.
• 4. Bill (drive/drives) a cab.
• 5. The football players (run/runs) five miles every day.
• 6. That red-haired lady in the raincoat (live/lives) across the street.
• 7. He (cook/cooks) dinner for his family.
• 8.The boys (walk/walks) to school every day.
• 9.The weather on the coast (appear/appears) to be good this weekend.
• 10. My friend (bounce/bounces) the ball too high.

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Ex.2: Identify the subject and the verb in the sentence.
1.
. Ravi stays in that tall building.
2. The dogs are running in the park.
3. One of the bottles is leaking.
4. Neither of the men is happy with this decision.
5. Most of the stew is eaten.
6. Ramesh and Geeta are studying.
7. There were two birds in the balcony.
8. The jury declared the thief guilty.

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Ex.3: Circle the correct verb in each of the sentences.
• 1. Margo and her parents (visit-visits) each other often.
• 2. Either the cups or the glasses (are-is) in the dishwasher.
• 3. Vern and Fred (need-needs) a ride to work.
• 4. Either Joyce or Ellen (was-were) here.
• 5. Neither Matt nor his brothers (was-were) at the party.
• 6. There (is-are) many things to do before the holidays.
• 7. A magazine and a book (was-were) lying on the floor.
• 8. The committee (work-works) hard for the development of
schools.

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 Sheela: Hello Sohan.
Sohan: Hello Sheela, I am going to the library. Would you likes to
join me?
Sheela: Sure, I has to borrow a book from the library.
Sohan: These groups of people is blocking the road. Let’s take the
other road.
Sheela: A herd of cows are blocking the other route.
Sohan: Why don’t we go to the music club? Let’s call Zoya and
Rohan. Let’s go to the library later.
Sheela: Neither Zoya nor Rohan like music. Zoya don’t like to play
the guitar.
Sohan: The crowd have scattered. We will reached the library
soon.

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 EVERY VERB MUST AGREE WITH ITS SUBJECT

Singular
Subject Plural
Subject

Singular Plural
Verb Verb

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• To make a noun plural, we add –s
–Singular: girl
–Plural: girls

• To make a verb plural, we take away the –s.

–Singular: he talks
–Plural: they talk
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 Watch the Verb Endings!
Singular Plural
• I walk • We walk
• You walk • You walk
• He/She/It walk s • They walk
– Joe walk s – Joe and Maria walk
– The girl walk s – The girls walk

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 Remember the 3 irregular verbs:
DO
Singular Plural
He does They do

HAVE
– She has They have

BE
– He is They are
– She was They were
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 Compound subjects joined by 'and'
• If there are two or more subjects joined by and, the
subject must be plural, so the verb will not get an 's'.
No –s on
Example verb
• The boy and the girl dance.
(= They dance.)

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 Compound subjects joined by 'or'
If there are two or more subjects joined by or, the
verb agrees with the part of the subject closest
to it.
Examples:

• The ranger or the campers saw the bear.

• The rangers or the camper saw the bear.

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 Watch out for 'everybody'

•Everybody loves grammar!

•Everybody understands
subject/verb agreement

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 How do I get this right?

Identify the verb.

Ask who or what is doing it.
This will identify the subject.
Say them together and make sure that
they match in terms of number.

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 The subject and the verb are the skeleton
(main part) of every sentence. Make sure
you fit those two important parts
together correctly!

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