Learning English

Subject-Verb Agreement 1

I am happy. You are happy. He is happy! The subjects and verbs agree. But what about when the subject is a more complicated noun? Dan explains 3 ways to deal with difficult subject-verb agreement.

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Summary

Subject-Verb Agreement 1

Verbs always agree with the subject noun in a sentence:

'I always go to work early.'
'She always goes to work early.'
'We are old'
'The house is old.'

There are many types of noun and noun phrase in English, and it can be difficult to know if a particular noun takes a singular verb or a plural verb. 

1. When singular and plural are the same.

‘The species is on the brink of extinction.’ (It...)
‘The species are on the brink of extinction.’ (They...)

Here the noun 'species' does not change form to show a plural, even if the meaning changes. In this case, be careful about whether you are talking in the singular or plural meaning and make sure to change the verb.

Other examples: economics, sheep, politics, headquarters, series and fish (which has an alternative plural).

2. Nouns with no plural.

‘The news about the king’s death has been reported around the world.’  (It)

English has countable and uncountable nouns. When you want to show a plural countable noun, use an 's' e.g. a hat / 3 hats. Uncountable nouns have no plural and always use a singular verb. But, 'news' is a noun that is uncountable AND ends in an 's'. 

More examples: school subjects, such as mathematics, gymnastics and physics; Games, such as dominos and darts and the disease: measles.

3. Nouns with no singular

'The police are coming! The police are coming!' (They)

Some nouns in English are collective. They represent a group or number of objects together. In many cases, these nouns are considered plural: they are collections of single pieces kept together. Because of this, they take a plural verb and have no singular noun form.

More examples: staff, congratulations, cattle, thanks and fishes (an alternative plural which means the different species of fish which are in the same place).

This also applies with 'pair nouns' - nouns where two things are joined together. Examples of these are: glasses, scissors, tweezers, trousers, heaphones and tights.

'My jeans don't fit anymore!' (They)

Finally, in English we can combine the definite article THE with an adjective to create a group noun meaning 'all of...' This is common for nationalities. They also take a plural verb.

'The British are coming. The British are coming.' (They...)

End of Session

That wraps up this week’s Masterclass. Remember, the choice of noun determines the choice of verb - understand the nouns, and your verb will never disagree. 

Next, join us for News Review, where we'll be discussing a major story in the news, and the language you need to understand it.