Identify and correct errors with subject-verb agreement
Key Notes:
The subject and the verb in a sentence or clause must agree in number.
When a subject is singular, use a singular verb. Singular verbs usually end in -s.
Sarah visits her grandmother.
Brian teaches art history.
When a subject is plural, use a plural verb. Plural verbs usually do not end in -s.
- Kyle and Jessie walk home.
- Those brownies smell delicious.
Subject-verb agreement is usually determined by the simple subject. Remember that the simple subject and the verb aren’t always adjacent.
The excitement of the fans is palpable.
The violinists who performed the duet work together quite often.
Some sentences are inverted, meaning the subject follows the verb.
- Original: Your blueberry pancakes are here.
- Inverted: Here are your blueberry pancakes.
Learn with an example
1. ) Find the error with subject-verb agreement. Select the incorrect verb and type it correctly.
- A newly uncovered Viking fortress on Zealand, Denmark’s largest island, are shaped like a ring and may have served as a military training ground for a major Viking attack on England.
A newly uncovered Viking fortress on Zealand, Denmark’s largest island, is shaped like a ring and may have served as a military training ground for a major Viking attack on England.
2. ) Find the error with subject-verb agreement. Select the incorrect verb and type it correctly.
- Beneath Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park in the Philippines flow an underground river that empties into the Pacific Ocean.
Beneath Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park in the Philippines flows an underground river that empties into the Pacific Ocean.
3. ) Find the error with subject-verb agreement. Select the incorrect verb and type it correctly.
- Visitors to Actun Tunichil Muknal, a cave in Belize that serves as a Maya archaeological site, has to swim to its entrance.
Visitors to Actun Tunichil Muknal, a cave in Belize that serves as a Maya archaeological site, have to swim to its entrance.
let’s practice!🖊️
