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grammar Level: A1 18 min

Subject-Verb Agreement

Learn the basic rules of subject-verb agreement. Match singular subjects with singular verbs and plural subjects with plural verbs, including common exceptions.

grammar a1 subject-verb-agreement singular plural verbs

Subject-verb agreement means the verb must match the subject. If the subject is singular, the verb is singular. If the subject is plural, the verb is plural.

Basic Rules

RuleExample
Singular subjects take a singular verb.My dog wants dinner.
Plural subjects take a plural verb.The students study every night.
Non-count subjects take a singular verb.Water is essential for survival.

Memory Trick

For he, she, and it, the verb usually needs an -s. For I, you, we, they, use the base verb.

Look at the meaning of the subject, not only the final letter.

SubjectMeaningVerb
A girlone personA girl walks her dog.
The booksmore than one thingThe books are on the floor.
The childrenmore than one personThe children play outside.
The classone groupThe class starts at 9:00.

Be careful: some singular nouns end in -s (class, bus, news), and some plural nouns do not end in -s (children, people, men, women).

Other Cases

CaseExample
Nouns joined by and take a plural verb.Maria and Antonio have a baby.
Irregular plural subjects take a plural verb.People talk to me every day.

Common Exceptions at A1

CaseExample
Each and every take a singular verb.Every student has a book.
Everybody / Everyone and nobody / no one take a singular verb.Everyone was tired.
Collective nouns (family, team) usually take a singular verb.My family has three dogs.
Subjects about time, money, or distance take a singular verb.Five hours is enough sleep.

Do Not Match the Nearest Noun

Sometimes another noun comes between the subject and the verb. The verb still agrees with the real subject.

SubjectExtra InformationCorrect Sentence
The bookon the tableThe book on the table is mine.
The studentsin my classThe students in my class are friendly.
My teacherwith two assistantsMy teacher with two assistants is here.

There Is / There Are

With there is and there are, the verb agrees with the noun after it.

SingularPlural
There is a book on the desk.There are two books on the desk.
There is one student here.There are many students here.

Common Mistakes

MistakeBetterWhy
The children plays outside.The children play outside.Children is plural.
The news are good.The news is good.News is singular in English.
My teacher with two students are here.My teacher with two students is here.The subject is teacher, not students.
There is many books.There are many books.Use are with plural nouns.

Practice

Exercise 1 — Choose the Correct Verb

1 / 22

She never ___ breakfast.

Summary

  • Subject-verb agreement means the verb must match the subject.
  • With he, she, it, and singular nouns, many simple-present verbs add -s or -es.
  • With I, you, we, they, and plural nouns, use the base verb.
  • Look at the real subject, not the nearest noun.
  • Some plural subjects do not end in -s: children, people, men, women.
  • Some singular subjects end in -s: news, mathematics, class.
  • Use there is with singular nouns and there are with plural nouns.
  • Words like everyone, everybody, nobody, each, and every usually take a singular verb.

Keep practicing by finding the subject first, then choosing the verb that matches it.