Subject-verb agreement is a crucial aspect of grammar, where the verb in a sentence needs to agree with the subject in terms of number and person. This means that singular subjects go with singular verbs, while plural subjects go with plural verbs.
Let`s take a look at some examples of subject-verb agreement:
1. Singular subject with singular verb:
– The dog barks at the mailman. (dog – singular subject, barks – singular verb)
– John reads a book every day. (John – singular subject, reads – singular verb)
– The teacher teaches math to students. (teacher – singular subject, teaches – singular verb)
2. Plural subject with plural verb:
– The dogs bark at the mailman. (dogs – plural subject, bark – plural verb)
– The students study hard for the exams. (students – plural subject, study – plural verb)
– The birds chirp in the morning. (birds – plural subject, chirp – plural verb)
3. Singular subject with plural verb (wrong):
– The dog bark at the mailman. (dog – singular subject, bark – plural verb)
The above sentence is incorrect as the singular subject `dog` is paired with the plural verb `bark`. The correct sentence would be – The dog barks at the mailman.
4. Plural subject with singular verb (wrong):
– The students studies hard for the exams. (students – plural subject, studies – singular verb)
The above sentence is incorrect as the plural subject `students` is paired with the singular verb `studies`. The correct sentence would be – The students study hard for the exams.
Subject-verb agreement is essential in communication as it helps in ensuring clarity and correctness in communication. It also helps in improving the readability and understanding of the text. While these are just a few examples of subject-verb agreement, it is important to keep this aspect of grammar in mind when writing or editing any piece of text.