SUBJECT – VERB AGREEMENT

In English grammar, subject-verb agreement is the correspondence of a verb with its subject in person
(first, second, or third) and number (singular or plural). Also called subject-verb concord.
The principle of subject-verb agreement applies to finite verbs in the present tense and, in a limited way,
to the past forms of the verb to be (was and were).

Subject verb agreement simply means the subject and verb must agree in number. This means both
need to be singular or both need to be plural.

In present tenses, nouns and verbs form plurals in opposite ways:  

                      
nouns ADD an s to the singular form,
BUT
verbs REMOVE an s from the singular form.

"A singular subject needs a singular verb, and a plural subject needs a plural verb. (Reminder: The verb is
the action word in the sentence. The subject is who or what does the action. . . .)

 The girl [singular subject] reads [singular verb] mystery stories.

 The girls [plural subject] read [plural verb] mystery stories.
 Tonya [singular subject] is [singular verb] asleep.
 Tonya and her friends [plural subject] are [plural verb] asleep."

(Rebecca Elliott, Painless Grammar, 2nd ed. Barron's, 2006)

Here are nine subject-verb agreement rules.

1. A Midsentence phrase or clause between subject and verb does not change the number of the
subject.
Examples:
2. Indefinite pronouns as subjects
 Singular indefinite pronoun subjects take singular verbs.

 Plural indefinite pronoun subjects take plural verbs.

PLURAL: several, few, both, many

 Some indefinite pronouns may be either singular or plural: with uncountable,

use singular; with countable, use plural.

EITHER SINGULAR OR PLURAL: some, any, none, all, most

Sugar is uncountable; therefore, the sentence has a singular verb.

Marbles are countable; therefore, the sentence has a plural verb.

3. Compound subjects joined by and are always plural. (two subjects in the same sentence) usually
take a plural verb, unless the combination is treated as singular in popular usage or the two subjects
refer to the same thing or person. Here are some examples of subject verb agreement with
compound subjects:

When using "or" or "nor" in a compound subject containing a singular and plural subject, the verb
agrees with the closest subject. Examples of compound subjects using or, neither-nor, or either-or
include:
4. With compound subjects joined by or/nor, the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it.

In the above example, the plural verb are agrees with the nearer subject actors.

In this example, the singular verb is agrees with the nearer subject director.

5. Inverted Subjects must agree with the verb.   

6. Collective Nouns (group, jury, crowd, team, family, etc.) may be singular or plural, depending on
meaning.

In this example, the jury is acting as one unit; therefore, the verb is singular.

In this example, the jury members are acting as twelve individuals;

therefore, the verb is plural.
7. Titles of single entities (books, organizations, countries, etc.) are always singular.

8. Plural form subjects

Plural form subjects with a singular meaning take a singular verb. (e.g. news, measles, mumps,
physics, etc.)

 Plural form subjects with singular or plural meaning take a singular or plural verb, depending
on meaning. (e.g. politics, economics, etc)

In this example, politics is a single topic; therefore, the sentence has a singular verb.

In this example, politics refers to the many aspects of the situation;

therefore, the sentence has a plural verb.

 Plural form subjects with a plural meaning take a plural verb. (e.g. scissors, trousers)

Note:  In this example, the subject of the sentence is pair; therefore, the verb must agree with it. 
(Because scissors is the object of the preposition, scissors does not affect the number of the
verb.)
9. With subject and subjective complement of different number, the verb always agrees with the
subject.

10. With one of those ________ who, use a plural verb.

The above example implies that others besides Hannah like to read comic books.  Therefore, the
plural verb is the correct form to use. 

 With the only one of those ________who, use a singular verb.

The above example implies that no one else except for Hannah likes to read comic books. 
Therefore, the singular verb is the correct for to use.

 With the number of _______, use a singular verb.

  With a number of _______, use a plural verb.

 With every ______ and many a ________, use a singular verb

REFERNSI

https://www.thoughtco.com/subject-verb-agreement-1692002
https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/sub-verb.htm
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-subject-verb-agreement.htm
 SUBJECT – VERB AGREEMENT
In English grammar, subject-verb agreement is the correspondence of a verb with its subject in person
(first, second, or third) and number (singular or plural). Also called subject-verb concord.
The principle of subject-verb agreement applies to finite verbs in the present tense and, in a limited
way, to the past forms of the verb to be (was and were).

Subject verb agreement simply means the subject and verb must agree in number. This means both
need to be singular or both need to be plural.

Agreement When Prepositional Phrases Come Between the Subject and the Verb
 "A prepositional phrase cannot contain the subject of the sentence. Do not be confused
when a prepositional phrase (a phrase that begins with of, in, between, and so on)
comes between the subject and the verb. In such cases, the object of the preposition
appears to be the subject of the sentence when really it is not. This error can lead to an
incorrect verb choice, as in the three incorrect sentences below.
Incorrect
High levels of mercury occurs in some fish.
Correct
High levels of mercury occur in some fish.

Incorrect
Water in the fuel lines cause an engine to stall.
Correct
Water in the fuel lines causes an engine to stall.

Incorrect
Food between the teeth result in decay.
Correct
Food between the teeth results in decay."
(Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell, Writing First with Readings: Practice in Context,
3rd ed. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006)

Notes on Subject-Verb Agreement

 "Expressions indicating quantity or amount to be considered as a unit require a singular
verb. These expressions often refer to amounts of money, units of time, or
measurements:

Five dollars is the price of that shirt.

Two hundred yards is a long way to crawl.

"Nouns plural in form but singular in meaning require a singular verb:

Mumps is very uncommon in the United States today.

"A verb is never affected by a subject complement:

 The gift he gave his friend was books.
( Books is the subject complement.)"
(Gordon Loberger and Kate Shoup, Webster's New World English Grammar Handbook, 2nd
ed. Wiley, 2009) 

Agreement With Compound Subjects Joined by And

 "Compound subjects are composed of several nouns or pronouns connected by and, or,
either-or, or neither-nor. Subjects connected by and almost always form a plural subject
and demand a plural verb.

Dogs and cats love to have their ears scratched.

Cream cheese and tomato are delicious on a bagel.

There are two exceptions to this rule. The first occurs when a seemingly compound and plural
subject comes to be regarded as singular through popular usage:

Bacon and eggs is my favorite breakfast.

Corned beef and cabbage is an Irish tradition

The other exception occurs when subjects connected by and describe a single person or thing:

The creator and champion of the sport is injured.

The cause and solution to our problems is this.

In the first sentence, the words creator and champion refer to a single person, so the verb is
singular. In the second sentence, the words cause and solution refer to a single object or issue.
The verb must also be singular."
(Michael Strumpf and Auriel Douglas, The Grammar Bible. Owl Books, 2004) 

Agreement With Coordinated Noun Phrases

 "If the subject contains coordinated noun phrases, the agreement is usually with the
second noun phrase when the two phrases differ in number:
Either Fred or his his cousins are going.
Either my aunts or my mother is going."
(Ronald Wardhaugh, Understanding English Grammar: A Linguistic Approach, 2nd ed.
Blackwell, 2003)

Agreement With Collective Nouns and Indefinite Pronouns

 "Nouns such as family, choir, team, majority, minority--any noun that names a group of
individual members--can be treated as either singular or plural, depending on context
and meaning:
 The family have all gone their separate ways.
The whole family is celebrating the holidays at home this year.
The majority of our city council members are Republicans.
The majority always rules.

Other singular-in-form nouns, such as remainder, rest, and number, also have a plural meaning
in certain contexts; their number depends on their modifiers:
The remainder of the job applicants are waiting outside.
The rest of the books are being donated to the library.
A number of customers have come early.

This system also applies to certain indefinite pronouns, such as some, all, and enough:

Some of the books were missing.

All of the cookies were eaten.

Notice what happens to the verb in such sentences when the modifier of the subject headword
is singular:

The rest of the map was found.

Some of the water is polluted.
All of the cake was eaten.
The remainder of this chapter is especially important."
(Martha Kolln and Robert Funk, Understanding English Grammar, 5th ed. Allyn & Bacon,
1998) 
Agreement When the Subject Follows the Verb

 "In most sentences, the subject comes before the verb. However, in some cases, the
subject follows the verb, and subject-verb agreement needs special attention. Study the
following examples:

Over the building flies a solitary flag. (flag flies)

Over the building fly several flags. (flags fly)
There is a good reason for that deadline. (reason is)
There are good reasons for that deadline. (reasons are)"
(Paige Wilson and Teresa Ferster Glazier, The Least You Should Know About English, Form A:
Writing Skills, 11th ed. Wadsworth, 2012)

REFERNSI

https://www.thoughtco.com/subject-verb-agreement-1692002
https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/sub-verb.htm
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-subject-verb-agreement.htm
 MAKALAH
SUBJECT – VERB AGREEMENT

Disusun Oleh :
A. Latifah Mahsa H
Aldita Carolina
Enno Zubaidah

Universitas Kutai Kartanegara

Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan
Bahasa Inggris