SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT

SUBJECT & VERB AGREEMENT

In our lesson today, we are going to tell explain SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT. We always focus on quality contents; thereby they can be highly useful to our readers. For this we go through the internet before creating any content, to see what people have searched on the topic that we are going to create.  Today, before creating this content on  SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT, we went through the search engines to know what are the queries of people in this context, what they have wanted to know? And today we saw the following keywords, that people round the globe entered into the search engines to get answers of their queries about THE AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND VERB.

Subject verb agreement, subject and verb agreement, subject and verb agreement practices, subject and verb agreement worksheet, subject and verb agreement pdf. subject and verb agreement examples, subject and verb agreement chart, subject and verb agreement subject and verb agreement quiz, subject and verb agreement quizzets, what are the rules of subject and verb agreement ? why should people study subject and verb agreement ? why should I study subject and verb agreement ? subject and verb agreement for kids, subject and verb agreement concept, subject and verb agreement tutorials, subject and verb agreement rules,  compound subject and verb agreement, subject and verb agreement lessons, subject and verb agreement projects, subject and verb agreement project, subject and verb agreement, what is a subject? subject and verb agreement concord exercises, concord v and many more.

Our focus will be to answer all these queries and much more in this lesson.

1.    First of all know what is SUBJECT?

                                

Answer:  See the image above, A subject is something or somebody about which or whome, something is told in a sentence.

For example: if we say the cow gives five liters milk  every day, here we are talking about THE COW and it is the subject of this sentence. If we say Neha is a lovely girl, Neha is the subject. If we say Tiger is an endangered animal. TIGER is the subject. I guess the concept of subject is now clear to all of you.

2.    What is a verb?

Answer: See the image above, the verb is the chief word in the sentence, there may be a sentence without noun or pronoun or adjective or adverb or preposition or conjunction or interjection, but there can’t be any sentence without at least one VERB. Verb is the nucleus of any sentence. Such as a cell cannot be alive without a nucleus, a group of words is not a sentence without a verb. Every sentence deals with at least one action and the verb is the display of that action. For better understanding see the above image once again.

3.    What is SUBJECT & VERB AGREEMENT?

Image subject & verb agreement

Answer: A verb must agree to its subject in number and person. A verb and a subject are something that must function in harmony as per the rules of SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT.

Subject and verb agreement is a set of rules that the grammar of English language orders us to follow.

SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT

Rule 1.  

Often by what is called the ERROR OF PROXIMITY, the verb is made to agree in number with a noun near it instead of its actual subject. This must be avoided.

The quality of these apples is not good.

The debut of Amir Khan and Juhi Chawla was a great hit.

The knowledge of English grammar rule is most needful for your career.

The result of evil deeds is always evil.

Rule  2. 

Two or more singular nouns or pronouns joined by AND take a plural verb.

Rita and Sita are best friends.

Copper and iron are being used from primitive age.

Fire and water do not agree.

Are your brother and sister in the room?

He and I are playing.

But if the nouns suggest one idea to the mind, or refer to the same person or thing, the verb is singular; as 

The horse and the chariot is at door.

Time and tide waits for none.

The horse and the chariot is at the door.

Bread and butter is his only food.

Dal and roti is the food of common people of India.

Honour and glory is the reward of valiance.

The rise and fall of the tide is due to lunar influence.

My friend and benefactor has come.

To borrow money and not returning it is unfair.

                                                                                       The novelist and orator is dead.

Rule 3:

Words joined to a singular subject by WITH, AS WELL AS etc. are parenthetical. The verb should agree to the singular subject;

Mrs. Ragini along with her children is going to the park

The house with its contents was kept in auction.

The mayor, with the councilors is present in the meeting.

The prime minister along with his cabinet minister visits Rajghat every second October.

The ship, with its crew, was lost.

English as well as Hindi is taught here.

Justice, as well as mercy allows it.

Mrs. Ragini, along with her children is coming today.

Rule 4:

Two or more singular subjects connected by OR or NOR require a singular verb.

Neither stick nor stone was effective to cease the frog from singing.

No nook or corner was left unexplored.

Our happiness or our sorrow is chiefly due to our own actions.

Either Tom or Jerry has eaten the cake.

Neither food nor water was available there.

Neither stick nor stone was effective to cease the frog from singing.

But when at least one subject joined by OR or NOR is plural, then the verb becomes plural.

Neither the President nor the office bearers were present on that day.

Neither the moon nor the stars are being seen, due to clouds.

Rule 5:

When the subjects joined by OR or NOR are of different persons, the verb agrees with the nearer.

Either I or Rahul is to attend the party.

Either Rahul or I am to attend the party.

Rule 6: 

EITHER, NEITHER, EACH, EVERYONE, MANY A, must be followed by a singular verb

He asked me whether either of the plans was good.

Neither of these two boys is capable to answer it.

Each of these flowers is in this garden.

Every one of the boys loves bike riding.

Many a man has done so.

Rule 7:

Two nouns qualified by EACH or EVERY, even though connected by AND, require a singular verb.

Every man and every woman was informed about it.

Each bird and each squirrel living in the tree was homeless after the storm uprooted it.

Rule 8:

Some nouns which are plural in form, but singular in meaning, take a singular verb.

The news is not true.

Mathematics is a game played according to certain simple rules.

Rule 9:

A collective noun takes a singular verb when the collection is thought as one whole; plural verb when the individuals of which are thought as separate from each other.

 The committee are discussing every point of the whole matter.

The committee is going to submit their report today.

Rule 10:

When a plural noun is a proper name for some single or some collective unit, it must be followed by a singular verb.

Three Idiots is a funny movie.

The Arabian Nights is still a great favourite.

Three Idiots is a funny movie.

Rule 11:

When a plural noun denotes some specific quantity or amount considered as a whole, the verb is generally singular.

Twenty minutes enough for this work.

Eight kilometers is a long distance.

Eighty rupees is too much for this pen.

Rule 12:

When there is a fraction of a whole as the subject of a sentence, it takes a singular verb.

Half of the work was done.

One third of the construction is complete.

=======================================================================

Hope you have enjoyed today’s lesson. We wish to here from you. Please comment your remark below in the comment section. Please visit our website www.englishgrammartoday.com