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Subject-Verb Agreement

Very common mistake to make and easy to overlook.

Subject = The person or thing doing the action.

English Writing Verb = The action.

Remember: The ending of the verb must agree with

Common Writing the subject.
Mistakes Example: Is this sentence correct?
Subject-Verb I watches the television every day.
Agreement
WRONG – I watch the television everyday.

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Subject-Verb Agreement Subject-Verb Agreement

Rule: Present simple tense – add an ‘s’, ‘es’, or ‘ies’ to the 3rd Rule: When verb ends in -ch, -s, -sh, -x, -o or -z, add ‘es’
person singular (he/she/it/name).
3rd Person Singular – He/she/it watches
Example verb: play
1st Person Singular – I play Other Examples:
2nd Person Singular – You play He misses (miss), she does (do), it buzzes (buzz).
3rd Person Singular – He/she/it/John plays
1st Person Plural – We play Rule: When verb ends in consonant + ‘y’, add ‘ies’.
2nd Person Plural – You play
3rd Person Plural – They play 3rd Person Singular – He/she/it tries

Other examples: Other Examples:

He reads, she listens, it hurts. He cries (cry), she marries (marry), it flies (fly).

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Subject-Verb Agreement Subject-Verb Agreement

Question: When do we NOT add ‘s’ for 3rd person singular in Present Perfect Tense & Present Perfect Continuous: Change
present tense? the ‘have’ to ‘has’ for 3rd person singular.

Answer: When we add ‘modal’ verbs.
Example of modal verbs: Can, should, will, must, may, might
Example: He can plays the violin = INCORRECT
He can play the violin = CORRECT
Example 1: He has eaten all of his food already.
Example 2: Sarah has been doing her homework all evening.
Present Continuous (is eating): Use ‘is’ for 3rd person.
Example: The dog is eating his food at the moment.

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Challenge Answers 1

Challenge: Decide whether the following sentences are I eats salad every day = INCORRECT
correct. If they are incorrect, write the correct version. Correct: I eat salad every day.

1. I eats salad every day. She buys her clothes online = CORRECT
2. She buys her clothes online.
3. You has been writing your book for 2 years! You has been writing your book for 2 years! = INCORRECT
4. While Dan often watches television in the evening, he Correct: You have been writing your book for 2 years!
usually have time to play with his son.
While Dan often watches television in the evening, he usually
have time to play with his son = INCORRECT
Correct: he usually has time to play with his son.

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Thank You