Subject-Verb

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Language Network
Subject-Verb Agreement
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Subject-Verb Agreement
Heres the Idea Matching Verbs with
Subjects Agreement with Helping Verbs
Why It Matters
Practice and Apply
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Heres the Idea
Verbs must agree with their subjects in number.
Number refers to whether a word is singular or
plural.
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Heres the Idea
Singular subjects take singular verbs.
This book describes ways to analyze evidence of
all kinds.
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Heres the Idea
Plural subjects take plural verbs.
These books describe ways to examine physical
evidence.
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Heres the Idea
If a noun ends in s, it is usually plural. A
verb that ends in s is usually singular.
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Heres the Idea
In a verb phrase, it is the first helping verb
that agrees with the subject.
The officers have been searching for clues.
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Why It Matters
When you revise, you might change a subject from
singular to plural or vice versa. If you change
the number of a subject, be sure to change the
verb too.
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Practice and Apply
Rewrite the sentence so that the verb agrees with
its subject.
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Practice and Apply
Rewrite the sentence so that the verb agrees with
its subject.
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Practice and Apply
Rewrite the sentence so that the verb agrees with
its subject.
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Practice and Apply
Rewrite the sentence so that the verb agrees with
its subject.
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Subject-Verb Agreement
Heres the Idea Prepositional Phrase Appositive
Phrase
Why It Matters
Practice and Apply
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Heres the Idea
When a phrase comes between the subject and verb,
the number of the subject is not changed.
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Heres the Idea
Prepositional Phrase
The files on any computer are vulnerable to
electronic-age thieves.
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Heres the Idea
Appositive Phrase
Mitnick, the most cunning of the thieves, was
caught by one of his victims.
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Why It Matters
Writers often insert phrases between subjects and
verbs in order to put relevant information where
it belongs. They must keep track of each subject
so that they can make the verb agree.
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Practice and Apply
Rewrite the sentence so that the verb agrees with
its subject.
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Practice and Apply
Rewrite the sentence so that the verb agrees with
its subject.
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Practice and Apply
Rewrite the sentence so that the verb agrees with
its subject.
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Practice and Apply
Rewrite the sentence so that the verb agrees with
its subject.
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Subject-Verb Agreement
Heres the Idea Parts Joined by And Parts
Joined by Or or Nor
Why It Matters
Practice and Apply
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Heres the Idea
Compound Subject
A compound subject contains two or more simple
subjects. Compound subjects can take either
singular or plural verbs.
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Heres the Idea
A compound subject whose parts are joined by and
requires a plural verb.
The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew are the worlds
most famous teenage detectives.
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Heres the Idea
When the parts of a compound subject are joined
by or or nor, the verb should agree with the part
closest to it.
Nancy or the Hardy Boys are always near a crime
scene.
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Why It Matters
In terms of meaning, it often doesnt matter
which part of a compound subject comes first. A
writer may use whichever order sounds better.
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Practice and Apply
Rewrite the sentence so that the verb agrees with
its subject.
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Practice and Apply
Rewrite the sentence so that the verb agrees with
its subject.
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Practice and Apply
Rewrite the sentence so that the verb agrees with
its subject.
30
Practice and Apply
Rewrite the sentence so that the verb agrees with
its subject.