Subjects, Verbs, and Object

Subject-verb Agreement (the foundation of grammar)

• Subjects and Verbs must agree in number.(subjek dan kata kerja jumlahnya harus sama)
• If the subject is plural, its verb is plural as well. Meaning that both must be singular or both
must be plural. Example : “The dog is friendly” because dog is singular so the verb also
needs to be singular.
• Collective nouns : committee, staff, family, crew, public. Talk about multiple people but
these nouns are grammatically singular in American English. Example : “My family is here”
• Country names, even if they end with an -S are usually singular. Example : “The Philippines
is beautiful country”
• A compound subject is two or more subject is two or more individual nouns connected into
a larger noun phrase.
• When you have two or more subjects connected by “and” use a plural verb.
• If singular subjects are connected with “or” then use a singular verb.
• What if the subject and verb are separated by an entire phrase. The verbs always agrees with
the subject not with the noun or pronoun in the phrase or clause. Examples : “One of the
doors is open” “The books that are on the table are mine” “The dog that has floppy ears is
the cute”
• Quantities amounts portions and mathematics. Examples : “half of the cake was eaten” “half
of the cakes were eaten”
• And, or, neither, nor.
Examples :
And
o The king and the queen are coming.
o The new CEO and majority shareholder is coming. (1 people)
o The new CEO and majority shareholder are coming. (2 people)
Or
o A pizza or a curry is being delivered
o A pizza or 3 curries are being delivered.
• Separated subjects and objects.
• Singular or plural verb in a cleft sentence. (kata kerja tunggal atau jamak berada dalam
kalimat yang bercelah.)