20 Subject Verb Agreement Rule

John Oliver S. Bermudez

BSE 1 English 1

20 Rules of Subject Verb Agreement

While grammar is not as static a science as is typically assumed, there are 20 rules of subject verb agreement that attempt to objectify part of the English language form. Most of the concepts of subject verb agreement are straightforward, yet some aspects of singular and plural usage in English grammar are more complicated.

Consider the second person plural pronoun y'all as it are used in the southern American dialect, for example. Addressing a group of people in the second person using Standard English is inefficient and requires more words.

A sentence like I want to talk to all of you sitting at the table in Standard English can be accomplished quite simply in southern American dialect with the sentence I want to talk to y'all.

Consequently, the 20 rules of subject verb agreement will vary somewhat by dialect.

What Are the Rules?

1. Subjects and verbs must agree in number. This is the cornerstone rule that forms the background of the concept.

Examples

The dog growls when he is angry.

The dogs growl when they are angry.

2. Don’t get confused by the words that come between the subject and verb; they do not affect agreement.

Examples

The dog, who is chewing on my jeans, is usually very good.

3. Prepositional phrases between the subject and verb usually do not affect agreement.

Examples

The colors of the rainbow are beautiful.

4. When sentences start with “there” or “here,” the subject will always be placed after the verb, so care needs to be taken to identify it correctly.

Examples

There is a problem with the balance sheet. Here are the papers you requested.

5. Subjects don't always come before verbs in questions. Make sure you accurately identify the subject before deciding on the proper verb form to use.

Examples

Does Lefty usually eat grass? Where are the pieces of this puzzle?

6. If two subjects are joined by and, they typically require a...