Subject-Verb Agreement

We want our subjects and verbs to agree with each other - we don't need any Real Housewives tension in our sentences.

Real housewives at peace

Now, this only actually matters in the present tense - we don't care as much about the past or future.

Basic Rule

In the present tense, if our subject is singular, our verb should be singular. And if our subject is plural, our verb should be plural.

The tricky part is that, usually, we know our subject is singular if it ends in s, but our verb is usually singular if it DOESN'T end in s. Think of it this way - for everyone to be chill, only one can of them can end in s otherwise a fight might break out.

Same outfit drama

Here are some examples of basic subject-verb agreement. Notice that we only have one word ending in s for each subject-verb pair:

He listens to way too much K-Pop.
My friends listen to way too much K-Pop.

Try it out and practice! See if you can match the subjects with their verbs correctly. Remember, if the subject ends in an s, the verb shouldn't.

Is & Are

This trick even works with the special verbs, like is and are, since we use is for singular nouns and are for plural nouns.

Here are some examples of basic subject-verb agreement. Notice that we only have one word ending in s for each subject-verb pair:

My dog is chaotic.
All dogs are chaotic.

So, we still just want only the subject or only the verb to end in s. Try it out and practice!

The exceptions are the nouns "I" and "You." "I" and "You" act like plural nouns, so whatever verb we use SHOULD NOT end in s.

Think of it this way - each of us contains multitudes, so "I" and "You" should be plural, and there should be no extra s's floating around.

You can see these rules in action in Olivia Rodrigo's lyrics below:

driver's license

And all my friends are tired

Of hearing how much I miss you.

Those are the basic rules, but there are some more tricky situations & rules for subject-verb agreement that we can go over. You ready?

Multiple Nouns Using "And"

If we have two or more nouns, and they're connected with and, then we have a plural noun. Think about it - "peanut butter" is a single food and "jelly" is a single food (each can be eaten by themselves - don't @ us), so together, we have two foods combined.

That means the combo is plural, so we don't want any extra s's. We'd say something like:

Peanut butter and jelly are an iconic duo.
Peanut butter and jelly give me life.

Multiple Nouns Using "Or"

But, if we have two or more nouns, and they're connected with or, then we have a singular noun. Think of it this way: only one person can be the GOAT. It might be LeBron or it might be Serena. But at the end of the day, greatest of all time means one, singular person.

That means we need our verb to end in s. We might say:

LeBron or Serena is the GOAT.
LeBron or Serena gets GOAT status.

Let's do a quick review of the two rules above:

Doesn't vs. Don't

"Doesn't" is a shorter way of saying "does not." See how "does" ends in s? That means that "does not" or "doesn't" is the singular form of this verb.

"Don't" is a shorter way of saying "do not." This is the plural form of this verb, since there's no s in sight.

So, we should only use "doesn't" when our verb is singular, and we should use "don't" when our verb is plural. Like this:

She doesn't know her read receipts are on.
My parents don't know their read receipts are on.

Try it out!

Patrick Mahomes loves his ketchup

Ignore the Noise 🎧

Sometimes, there will be additional details about the subject in the sentence. These are just distractions that you should ignore. Find your subject, and focus on it.

Let's say the first part of our sentence is, "My cat, who is loved by all dogs." Don't get tricked by the plural "dogs" - our subject is "my cat," which is singular.

This means that our verb needs to be singular, so it should end in an s. Like this:

My cat, who is loved by all dogs, screeches.

Try it out!

Tricky Words

Some of these are confusing, but every noun in this list is singular:

  • Each, Each one
  • Either, Neither
  • Everyone, Everybody
  • Anyone, Anybody
  • Someone, Somebody
  • No one, Nobody

Some of them seem plural, like "everyone," but think of these as like one singular group of people, so they act singular.

The same thing actually happens with words like "family" or "team." These act as singular nouns because they refer to ONE singular group.

My team is my family.
Each person struggles differently.
Everyone does their best.

"There is" or "There Are"

When the sentence starts with "There," we need to look to the end of the sentence, after the verb, to identify the subject.

In the sentence, "There are too many Star Wars movies," our subject is "Star Wars movies," which is plural. That's why we're using the plural verb "are."

But, in the sentence, "There is only one good Star Wars movie," our subject is "one good Star Wars movie," which is singular. That's why we're using the singular verb "is."

You can see this rule in action in J. Cole's lyrics below:

ATM

Life can bring much pain.

There are many ways to deal with this pain.

Choose wisely.

Try it out yourself!

There are more special-situation rules, but these should cover you for most situations!

We gotchu covered.