Intermediate English Grammar for ESL Learners - Robin Torres-Gouzerh 2016
Third-person singular and plural
14 Subject-verb agreement
Agreement means that two or more words must correspond with each other in order to make proper sense of a sentence. For example, the gender and number of a pronoun or possessive adjective must match the gender and number of the noun it refers to. If you wish to say that a man wants to wear a new shirt he just bought, you would say the following.
John is putting on his new shirt. (Mascuune SINGULAR SUBJECT / MASCULINE SINGULAR POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE)
That meaning is lost if you change the gender or number of either the subject or the possessive adjective.
Mary is putting on his new shirt.
John is putting on our new shirt.
The boys are putting on my new shirt.
The rules of agreement do not mean that these three examples are incorrect— they could be. But in this case, they are not, because the desired meaning is that a man wants to wear a new shirt he just bought: “He puts on his own shirt.”
Third-person singular and plural
In subject-verb agreement in the third person, the difference between a singular and a plural subject is important. In most cases, a plural subject has a different present-tense verb ending from a singular subject.
The boy plays tag in the street.
The boys play tag in the street.
She learns a lot about English.
They learn a lot about English.
When the auxiliary have is used in the present perfect tense, there is also a difference between the singular and the plural.
My brother has been in Ireland for two weeks.
My parents have been in Ireland for two weeks.
Using a singular verb with a singular subject and a plural verb with a plural subject is essential for writing and speaking correctly in English.
Exercise 14.1 Underline the appropriate verb form in each sentence.
Example There is | are two magazines on the living room table.
1. There is | are many reasons for voting.
2. Angela writes | write lots of e-mails, but she doesn’t save any.
3. Peter and I was | were playing poker the other night.
4. The people in Madrid is | are very well dressed.
5. Susan’s mother always wakes | wake her up in time for school.
6. My grandmother’s friends likes | like to go to church at noon.
7. There was | were many children playing in the park.
8. Does | Do you like those movies?
9. Mother Teresa, Gandhi, and Camus was | were socially engaged.
10. He is | are a very good speaker.
Subject-verb agreement is essential, no matter what type of verb is involved. When auxiliaries are used, they must be conjugated to agree with the subject of the sentence.
A child is playing in the garden.
Many children are playing in the park.
Does the woman understand English?
Do the tourists understand French?
Exercise 14.2 Complete each sentence with an appropriate form of the verb in parentheses.
1. They ... (run) up and down the stairs when the accident took place.
2. My aunt ... (not + work) in a hair salon.
3. The house ... (have) a fence around it.
4. Our village’s huts ... (be) exotic.
5. Everybody ... (scream) really loudly.