Subject Verb Agreement

"Peter plays tennis"

Peter is the subject of the sentence. The subject is the person (or thing) that does an action.

In our sentence the subject is singular - Peter is one person. We can also have plural subjects (many), for example, animals, cars and towns.

Plays is the verb - it's an action. 'Eat', 'swim' and 'kick' are other examples of verbs.

So what is subject verb agreement?

Subject verb agreement means that the verb we use in a sentence can change depending on the subject. Let's use Peter again:

"Peter plays tennis" is correct because Peter is singular and the verb (plays) is singular.

"Peter play tennis" is NOT correct because the the verb is plural.

To use a plural verb we must use a plural subject:

"Peter and his friends play tennis."

Peter and his friends means more than one person and so it is a plural subject.

Subject Verb Object
It's and Its
Prepositions of Time

• Sandra always ___ a lot.
  
  sleep
  sleeps
  
  
• We ___ waiting for you to come.
  
  were
  was
  
  
• All of your clothes ___ in the suitcase.
  
  are
  is
  
  
• This flashlight ___ not work.
  
  does
  do
  
  
• The boy or the girl ___ in the garden.
  
  is
  are
  
  
• One of the cars ___ missing.
  
  is
  are
  
  
• The boss and his secretary ___ having a meeting.
  
  are
  is
  
  
• Everybody ___ English in school.
  
  learns
  learn
  
  
• No one ___ English as well as you.
  
  speaks
  speak
  
  
• What concerns me ___ the unemployment rate.
  
  is
  are
  
  
• Having too much free time ___ bad for children
  
  are
  is