Section outline

  • Subject Verb agreement is a grammatical rule that the verb & subject in a sentence must always agree.

    Following factors govern the rules of this agreement:

    Let's understand some basic rules before we go to the detail rules.

    • Basic rules:
      1. Modal verbs never change form to agree with subject.
      2. Plural action verbs are usually the root or base form of verbs.
      3. Please refer auxiliary verbs to know the correct use with singular & plural subjects.
      4. Verbs in past and future tenses don't change as per the subject-verb agreement i.e. the verb form remains the same for singular & plural subjects.
      5. To form correct form of singular action verbs use the following table:
      Verbs Rule Examples
      Regular & end with a vowel & 'y' Add 's' play = plays 
      eat = eats
      End with ‘o, ch, sh, x, ss, gh, z’ Add 'es' teach = teaches
      go = goes
      End with a consonant & ‘y’ Add 'ies'  try = tries
      deny = denies