Lesson 2: Subject-Verb Agreement (Review)

Specific Learning Outcome:

At the end of the lesson, the students must have been able to:
A. Deduce subject-verb agreement rules from sample materials.

Link-it-in

Instruction: Read the testimony of a COVID-19 front liner then do the activity that follows.

Andre Anglin, 51, bus driver in Columbus, Ohio

I start at 6:45 in the morning, and I usually get off around 6:30 p.m. Before 12 o’clock,
it’s like a ghost town. But after 12 o’clock, people start coming out. I greet almost every
passenger that comes on. Most people are going to loved ones’ houses to check on them.
There’s a few people that might be going to the grocery store. And some people have
essential jobs they have to go to.

I feel proud to be able to do my part, especially for the ones that may be going to the
hospital because they’re worried that they have it, so they can get checked out. I was in
the military, so I still have that sense of honor. I want to do everything I can to make
sure that people are taken care of and protected. My employer moved the standing line
back so that we’re kind of in an isolated area, and people are now coming in and out the
backdoor, so there’s no more up-close personal contact with people coming near the fare
box. I also make sure that I’m keeping myself sanitized and everything, but I feel more
proud about helping other people than, at this moment, my own safety.
When I was in [the Gulf] war, I was in an aircraft carrier and it was actually stressful in
the same way. This is an enemy that we really don’t have a full understanding of. So
we’re doing our best to fight something that we don’t know, and I’m just trying to do
my part. I also learned especially going to war that a smile can go a long way to making
people feel better about everything that’s going on.

I was talking to a gentleman yesterday and he was like, “Without y’all, this city
would be shut down.” And he said he wished he could do something special for us. But
you know, I thought that him saying thank you was enough for me. —As told to Abby
Vesoulis

Source: https://time.com/collection/coronavirus-heroes/5816885/frontline-workers-coronavirus/

Come to think of it…

1. How does Andre Anglin view his job during the pandemic?
2. What grammar features did you observe in his testimony?
Decoding Grammar Concepts
Instruction: Identify a noun/pronoun and a verb from each sentence below by writing them in
the box.

Sentences Noun Verb

1. I start at 6:45 in the morning, and I usually
get off around 6:30 p.m.
2. I greet almost every passenger that comes
on.
3. Most people are going to loved ones’
houses to check on them.
4. I feel proud to be able to do my part,
especially for the ones that may be going to
the hospital because they’re worried that
they have it, so they can get checked out.
5. I also make sure that I’m keeping myself
sanitized and everything, but I feel more
proud about helping other people than, at
this moment, my own safety.

*If you are not quite sure of your answers, re-do the activity after reading the Pin to Post.

Pin to Post!

Subject-Verb Agreement Rules Examples

*words underlined once are SUBJECTS while words with wavy underlines are VERBS.

1. Third person (he/ she/ it), singular
number requires ‘-s’ or ‘-es’ form of
the verb.
2. When the subject and verb are
separated by a long phrase or a
clause, the verb must agree with the
actual subject (and not that of the
phrase/ clause).
3. When the subject is a phrase begins
 He helps the poor in this pressing
times.
 She advertises free lunch for all the
frontliners.
 Duterte, along with his cabinet
members, holds meeting every
Monday to solve COVID-19 issues.
 One of the doctors in a hospital in
 with, ‘one of‘, the verb that follows
is singular.
4. When two nouns in a sentence refer
to the same person or thing, the verb
that follows is singular.
5. Nouns such as shoes, trousers,
scissors, binoculars, spectacles etc.
are followed by a plural verb, BUT if
they sentence, begins with the
phrase, “A pair of”, a singular verb
follows.
6. Uncountable nouns, such as:
furniture, equipment, stationery,
poetry, machinery, information etc.
are always followed by a singular
verb.
7. If a collective noun is used in the
sentence, and it is spoken of as a
single/ united entity, a singular
verb follows. BUT if individual
members are being referred to, or
the group is divided, in that case, a
plural verb follows.
8. When two nouns are connected by:-
a) Phrases like accompanied
by, in addition to, as well as,
along with etc., the verb
agrees with the first noun.
9. b) ‘either or’, ‘neither nor’, the verb
that follows, must agree with the
noun that is nearest to it.
10. An indefinite pronoun is always
followed by a singular verb.
11. The verb that follows a relative
pronoun, takes its number from the
noun that precede the relative
pronoun.
Plug in
Instruction: Below are sentences on COVID-19. Underline the SUBJECTS once while place a
curvy underline on VERBS. After doing so, explain how the subject and the verb
relate in each sentence.
Ex. The City government of Malaybalay puts Beverly Hills subdivision and Orangefields
subdivision in lock down after confirming positive cases.
Manila catches COVID from one of
his patients.
 The skeletal development system is
one of the most complex systems in
the body.
 Eyeglasses are essentials nowadays
to prevent us from touching our
eyes.
 A pair of eyeglasses is essential
nowadays to prevent us from
touching our eyes.
 News today is filled with COVID-19
news.
 The faculty are deliberating whether
or not to pursue online class.
 The faculty has decided to do
modular/ flexible learning.
 The senator, as well as the
congressman, fights for the people
who lost their job in this pandemic.
 Either the president or the senators
make changes to the COVID-19 law.
 Either the senators or the president
makes changes to the COVID-19
law.
 Everyone has to wear masks.
 Nobody is happy with the
prolonged quarantine.
 The boxes of masks which is on the
table are to be given to the students.
 The box of masks which is on the
table is to be given to the students.
 The subject which is ‘the city government of Malaybalay’ is the doer of the action which is
‘put’.

1. The virus that causes COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when
an infected person coughs, sneezes, or exhales.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________

2. These droplets are too heavy to hang in the air, and quickly fall on floors or surfaces.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________

Boot Up

PRACTICE A
Instruction: Pictures tell millions of stories. Below are photos of the effects of COVID-19
pandemic in the Philippines. Write 3 sentences per picture describing their content.

1.

(a) ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________
(b) ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________
 (c) ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________

2.

(a) ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________
(b) ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________

_____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

Lesson 3: Present Tenses

Specific Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the lesson, the students must have been able to:
A. Identify the types of present tenses;
B. Exemplify proper use of present tenses; and
 C. Compose an online post on the current situation in the locality employing accurate
present tenses and subject-verb agreement.

Link-it-in

Instruction: Read the following article on Covid-19.

Current evidence indicates that the COVID-19 virus is transmitted through

respiratory droplets or contact. Contact transmission occurs when contaminated hands
touch the mucosa of the mouth, nose, or eyes; the virus can also be transferred from one
surface to another by contaminated hands, which facilitates indirect contact transmission.
Consequently, hand hygiene is extremely important to prevent the spread of the COVID-19
virus. It also interrupts transmission of other viruses and bacteria causing common colds, flu
and pneumonia, thus reducing the general burden of disease.

Previous outbreaks have demonstrated that when health systems are overwhelmed,
mortality from vaccine-preventable and other treatable conditions can also increase
dramatically. During the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak, the increased number of deaths caused
by measles, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis attributable to health system failures
exceeded deaths from Ebola.

To help countries navigate through these challenges, the World Health Organization
(WHO) has updated operational planning guidelines in balancing the demands of
responding directly to COVID-19 while maintaining essential health service delivery, and
mitigating the risk of system collapse. This includes a set of targeted immediate actions that
countries should consider at national, regional, and local level to reorganize and maintain
access to high-quality essential health services for all. In the Philippines, WHO country
office in the Philippines and its partners have been working with the Department of Health
and subnational authorities to respond to the pandemic.

Decoding Grammar Concepts

Instruction: Discuss how these sentences differ in their use of verb tenses.

Current evidence Previous outbreaks have In the Philippines, WHO

indicates that the demonstrated that when country office in the
COVID-19 virus is health systems are Philippines and its
transmitted overwhelmed, mortality VERSUS partners have been
VERSUS
through from vaccine-preventable working with the
respiratory and other treatable Department of Health and
droplets or contact. conditions can also subnational authorities to
increase dramatically. respond to the pandemic.

Guide questions for discussion:

1. How do these following present tenses differ?
 indicates
 have demonstrated
 have been working
 2. When should you use each form of these present verb tenses?

Pin to Post!
Boot Up

PRACTICE A

Instructions: Encircle/highlight the correct present form of the verb to complete the
sentences.

1. Several months (pass, have passed, have been passing) since the first
confirmed COVID-19 case was announced in the Philippines on 30
January 2020, with a 38-year old female from Wuhan testing positive for
the novel coronavirus.
2. The World Health Organization (works, has worked, has been working)
with Ministries of Health worldwide to prepare and respond to COVID-
19.
3. With the ongoing threat of the spread of the 2019 novel Coronavirus
(2019- nCoVARD), the Department of Health strongly (urges, has urged,
has been urging) the public to avoid attending, participating in, and
organizing events that draw a huge number of attendees.
4. The DOH likewise (recommends, has recommended, has been
recommending) the cancellation of planned big events or mass gatherings
until further advice.
5. The DOH (sets up, has set up, has been setting up) a Command Center
which will focus solely on 2019-nCoV.

PRACTICE B

Instructions: Encircle/highlight the correct present form of the verb to complete the
sentences in the paragraph.

As part of continued action to protect the public, the FDA 1.(warns, has warned, has been
warning) consumers and health care professionals about hand sanitizer products that 2.(contain,
have contained, have been containing) methanol (a.k.a. wood alcohol), a substance often used to
create fuel and antifreeze. Methanol is not an acceptable active ingredient for hand sanitizer
products and can be toxic when absorbed through the skin as well as life-threatening when
ingested. The agency 3.(sees, has seen, has been seeing) an increase in hand sanitizer products that
are labeled as containing ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol) but that 4.(test, have tested, have
been testing) positive for methanol contamination. State officials 5.(report, have reported, have
been reporting) recent adverse events from adults and children ingesting hand sanitizer products
contaminated with methanol, including blindness, hospitalizations and death.
BEYOND GRAMMAR

Instructions: Compose an online post on the current situation in your respective locality.
Screenshot your post and send it to your class messenger/ google classroom depending on
your teacher. Observe subject-verb agreement rules and the different present tenses. See how
you will be graded based on the following criteria.

CRITERIA 10 8 5 3
The details in The details in Most details in The details in
ORGANIZATION the article are the article are the article are the article are
OF THOUGHTS clear and clear but need clear. Article neither clear
supportive of to be does not focus nor related to
the topic. developed on the topic the topic.
more. Some well.
details may
not fit in with
the topic.

GRAMMAR No No more than No more than Multiple

(Structure and grammatical two minor three grammatical
Tenses) errors. grammatical grammatical errors.
errors. errors.

SPELLING, No spelling, No more than No more than Multiple

PUNCTUATION punctuation or two minor three spelling, spelling,
AND capitalization spelling, punctuation or punctuation or
CAPITALIZATION errors. punctuation or capitalization capitalization
capitalization errors. errors.
errors.

TOTAL SCORE