BASIC ENGLISH GRAMMER AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND VERBS

 AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND VERB

WHAT IS THE AGREEMENT OF SUBJECT AND VERB?

WHEN IN THE GIVEN SENTENCE IF SUBJECT CHANGED THERE WOULD BE  CHANGE IN THE VERBS ALSO.

LOOK AT THE SENTENCES.
THEY LOOKS AT THE CATS.

I PLAYS WITH MY FRIENDS.

WE IS HAPPY TO MEET YOU.

DO THEY SOUND CORRECT? NO! WHAT IS WRONG IN THESE SENTENCES? YES,  THE VERB IS NOT WRITTEN CORRECTLY. THE SENTENCES SHOULD BE LIKE THESE:

THEY LOOK AT THE CARS.

I PLAY WITH MY FRIENDS.

WE ARE HAPPY TO MEET YOU.

NOW, LET US LOOK AT THE SENTENCE:
THEY LOOK AT THE CATS.
AS WE HAVE SEEN BEFORE, ‘THEY‘ IS THE SUBJECT OF THE SENTENCE. NOW, IF WE CHANGE THE SUBJECT OF THE SENTENCES AND REPLACE IT WITH ‘HE‘, WILL THERE BE ANY OTHER CHANGE IN THE SENTENCES?
YES, THE VERB ALSO CHANGES. THE SENTENCE NOW BECOMES:
HE LOOKS AT THE CATS.
THIS IS KNOWN AS THE AGREEMENT OF THE SUBJECT AND THE VERB.
LOOK AT THE PICTURES AND THEN READ THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES:

IN THE FIRST SENTENCE, THE SUBJECT BOY IS SINGULAR; SO THE VERB RUNS IS ALSO IN THE SINGULAR FORM (WITH ‘S’ OR ‘ES’).


IN THE SECOND SENTENCE, THE SUBJECT BOYS IS PLURAL; SO THE VERB RUN IS ALSO IN THE PLURAL FORM (WITHOUT ‘S’ OR ‘ES’).

SIMILARLY, IN SENTENCE 3, THE SUBJECT GIRL IS SINGULAR; SO THE VERB IS READING IS ALSO IN THE SINGULAR FORM.


SIMILARLY, IN SENTENCE 4, THE SUBJECT GIRLS IS PLURAL; SO THE VERB ARE READING IS ALSO IN THE PLURAL FORM.

A VERB MUST BE IN THE SAME FORM AS ITS SUBJECT.

REMEMBER: WHEN THE SUBJECT CHANGES IN NUMBER, THE VERB CHANGES TOO.

LOOK AT THE SUBJECTS IN THESE SENTENCES. THEY ARE PRONOUNS: 
FIRST-PERSON:         I AM SLEEPING                I EAT FOOD.
SECOND PERSON:     YOU ARE SLEEPING        YOU EAT FOOD.
THIRD PERSON:        HE IS SLEEPING               HE EATS FOOD.

IN THE FIRST CASE, THE SUBJECT IS IN THE SINGULAR FORM AND IS IN THE FIRST PERSON. THE VERB IS ‘AM’ OR PLURAL FORM (WITHOUT ‘S’ OR ‘ES’).

IN THE SECOND CASE, THE SUBJECT IS IN THE SINGULAR FORM AND IS IN THE SECOND PERSON. THE VERB IS ‘ARE’ OR PLURAL FORM (WITHOUT ‘S’ OR ‘ES’).

IN THE THIRD CASE THE SUBJECT IS IN THE SINGULAR FORM AND IS IN THE THIRD PERSON. THE VERB IS ‘IS’ OR SINGULAR FORM (WITH ‘S’ OR ‘ES’).

IT IS UNDERSTOOD FROM THE ABOVE SENTENCES THAT A VERB AGREES WITH ITS SUBJECT IN PERSON TOO. WHEN THE SUBJECT CHANGES IN PERSON, THE VERB MUST BE CHANGED.

HENCE, WE SAY THAT A VERB MUST AGREE WITH ITS SUBJECT IN NUMBER AND PERSON.

WHICH ARE THE ‘TO BE’ VERBS?

TO BE’ VERBS – ‘AM’, ‘IS’, ‘ARE’, ‘WAS’ OR ‘WERE’

THE WORDS ‘AM’, ‘IS’, ‘ARE’, ‘WAS’ AND ‘WERE’ ARE ALSO VERBS.
THEY ARE FORMS OF THE VERB ‘TO BE’. THEY ARE KNOWN AS ‘ HELPING VERBS’.
THE VERBS ‘AM’, ‘IS’ AND ‘ARE’ ARE USED IN THE PRESENT TENSE.
THE VERBS ‘WAS’ AND ‘WERE’ ARE USED IN THE PAST TENSE.

 WE USE ‘AM’ AFTER I IN THE PRESENT TIME.
WE USE ‘IS’ FOR SINGULAR NOUNS OR PRONOUNS LIKE HE, SHE, IT, THIS OR THAT IN THE PRESENT TIME.
WE USE ‘ARE’ FOR PLURAL NOUNS OR PRONOUNS LIKE WE, YOU, THEY, THESE OR THOSE IN THE PRESENT TIME.

HERE ARE SOME EXCERSICE FOR YOUR BETTER UNDERSTANDING.
1.USE SUITABLE VERB THAT IS NEEDED IN THE SENTENCE:


2. USE ‘HAS’ AND ‘HAVE’ TO FILL IN THE BLANKS.


3. WRITE THE CORRECT WORD.
4. FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH PROPER FORM OF VERBS IN BRACKET.

5.FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH THE VERB IN AGREEMENT WITH ITS SUBJECT.
THANK YOU.

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