Simulated Demo for English Grammar-Subject Verb Agreement

(Detailed Lesson Plan-Secondary Level)

Prepared by: Prof. J. Manglib

I. OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the discussion, the students should be able to:

 explain the rules of Subject – Verb Agreement;

 construct their own sentences using correct Subject – Verb Agreement
 participate in the class discussion actively

II. SUBJECT MATTER:

Topic: English Grammar -Subject Verb Agreement

Outline:
a. What is Subject Verb Agreement?
b. Different SVA rules and examples

References:

Books/Instructional Materials:
1. Grammar Made Easy by Nerissa Mendoza
2. Morenberg, Max (2016). Doing Grammar (Third ed.). Oxford University
Press. ISBN 978-0-1997-3288-3.
3. Gideon Goldenberg, "On Verbal Structure and the Hebrew Verb", in: idem, Studies in
Semitic Linguistics, Jerusalem: Magnes Press 2014, pp. 148–196 [English translation;
originally published in Hebrew in 2013.
4. Klaiman, M. H., Grammatical Voice (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics), Cambridge
Univ. Press, 2015.

Materials Needed:

 Chalk /white board, projector

 book, pictures and papers
 visual aids (PowerPoint Presentation- Slideshow)
III. PROCEDURES

A. Motivation:

Teacher’s activity Student’s activity

reparatory Activity
The students stand up for a prayer
“Class may we all stand for a short prayer?”
“Anyone can lead us a short prayer?

(The teacher calls a student to give a short

prayer. Then after the short prayer, the teacher
greet the students)

Greetings
“Start your day with a good smile?

“How‟s your day?” We are fine

“Good morning Class?” Good morning ma‟am?

Checking of Attendance
“May I ask the class secretary to check the (The class secretary check the
attendance for today?
attendance) None, Ma‟am
“How many are absent today?”

“Very good”
Yes Ma‟am!
“Before we start our discussion, make sure that
your chairs are properly aligned according to your
row. Everybody sit down and minimize
unnecessary noise so that we can have a better
interaction, ok?”

Motivation:

Really ma‟am, we loved to play that

ma‟am
 Wait ma‟am,
“What is the 7 letter word being portrayed in this (The students trying to guess the
picture?” picture)

(Students Raising their hands)

“Yes anyone who can give the word being
portrayed by the flashed picture?”
SUBJECT ma‟am
“Yes Cathy? “
I guessed that it is the word SUBJECT
“Very Good! You got the correct answer. because all of the given pictures are
But how did you guessed that word?” related to our subject areas like Math,
English, Filipino and Science.
“That‟s very good observation”

second set of Pictures…

The word is VERB

Now can you guess the picture Anne? ma‟am Thank you ma‟am

Excellent, You‟re right Anne?

Here is the third set of pictures…

AGREEMENT ma‟am?
Yes Samantha, can you give me the answer.
Yes Ma‟am
What‟s the word portrayed by this picture?

Brilliant Samantha. Correct! Did you enjoy?

PRESENTATION:
Today , we will be discussing about English
grammar specifically the Subject Verb Agreement
Rules

“Are you ready Class?” Yes, we are ready ma‟am?

“Alright! Let‟s begin…..”

LESSON PROPER:

(The students listen )

Subject-verb agreement is a grammatical rule,
which states that the subject and the verb must
agree in a sentence. The subject normally refers to
the noun or pronoun that tells us whom or what
the sentence is about. A verb normally has a
singular and plural form in the present tense. The
third person singular of the verb usually ends in
„s‟. some auxiliary verbs also have singular and
plural forms in the present tense. „Be‟ has
singular and plural forms in the past tense as well
as the present tense. Other verbs that also change
their forms in both the singular and plural. Below
is a table showing some examples:

AUXILIARY VERB SINGULAR PLURAL

Be(present) is are
Be(past ) was were
Do does do
Have has have

The verbs „be‟, „do‟ and „have‟ can also be used

as main verbs as in the following:

MAIN VERB AUXILIARY VERB

I am happy. I am going to town.
I have a new pair of I have finished my
shoes. work.
I did my work in the
I did try my best
morning.

“Do you understand class?” Yes ma‟am!

Now Class, the subject must agree in number. Students react

“Anyone of you here knows at least 15 SVA

rules?”

“Nobody knows?”
“Ok, no problem!
“
“ I will discuss thoroughly”
“Please listen carefully”
Class in order to choose the correct verb form;
you must first locate the subject. All you have to
do is to find the subject of the verb, work out its The students Listen carefully
pronoun substitute, and then apply the present
tense verb rule. In some sentences, a phrase
comes between the subject and the verb. In others
it comes after the verb.

PHRASE BETWEEN THE SUBJECT AND

VERB – A prepositional phrase that modifies a
subject usually comes between the subject and
predicate.
Examples:
1. The list of candidates is posted on the
notice board.
2. The morale of the workers is high.
3. Acres of farm land were destroyed by the
fire.
The verb agrees with the subject of the sentence,
not with the object of the preposition in the above
sentences

SUBJECT AFTER THE VERB– In questions

and in sentences that begin with „here‟ or
„there‟, a subject comes after the verb.
Examples:
1. Where is my pen?
2. Have you seen them?
3. Here are your bags.
4. There are three letters in your box.

COMPOUND SUBJECTS - These refer to two or

more subjects connected by a coordinating
conjunction. In most cases, both subjects have the
same verb. Use plural verbs with most compound
subjects connected by „and‟.
Example: The students Listen carefully
1. My mother and my aunt prefer Filipino
dishes.
2. The teacher and Jenny were busy
yesterday.
Use a singular verb with a compound subject that
refers to one person or thing or to something that
is general considered a unit.

Examples:
1. My team mate and friend is coming.
2. Rice and beans is a popular dish in Sierra
Madre.
3. Crying and weeping does not help to solve
the problem.
With compound subject joined by „or‟ or „nor‟
(or by either… or, or neither… nor) the verb
always agrees with the subject near the verb.

Singular
1. Either the adults or the child is listening.
2. Neither the students nor the teacher is
present.
Plural
1. Neither the teacher nor students are
listening.
2. Either the adult or the children are present.
COLLECTIVE NOUNS AS SUBJECT A
collective noun names a group of people or
objects; for example team, class, congregation,
audience, band, club, etc. If a collective noun
refers to a group as a single unit, use a singular
verb. If on the other hand a collective noun refers
to individual members of a group use a plural
verb.
Examples:
Singular
1. The team plays well.(in the act of play,
they all coordinate as a single group.)
2. The family loves to travel.(everybody
loves it-one unit)

Plural
1. The team lodge at different hotels.
 2. The family takes turn choosing places to
visit.
SPECIAL NOUNS Most nouns that end in „s‟ are
plural. However there are some nouns that end in
„s‟ that plural in form but singular in meaning
because they refer to a single thing.
For example news, mathematics, measles,
mumps.
Example:
1. Measles is now an epidemic in our area.
2. Mathematics is the study of figures.
3. The news was interesting.
Certain other nouns that end in „s‟ such as
scissors, pants, binoculars, and eye glasses take
plural verbs.
Examples:
1. These binoculars are new.
2. The scissors were made in the Philippines

NOUNS OF AMOUNT When a noun refers to an

amount that is considered one unit, it is singular.
When it refers to a number of individual units, it
is plural

Singular
Five Thousand Leones is the cost. (one unit)
Plural
Seven Thousand Pesos are in her pocket.
(Individual Peso bills)

Please take note class;

Whenever you want to construct a grammatical
sentence in English, you first of all have to
identify the subject and see whether it agrees
with the verb. This is because in every
grammatical sentence, the subject must agree
with its verb.

Always remember this class…

Subjects and verbs must agree in number.
• Singular subject = singular verb
• Plural subject = plural verb

Example;
 • Cow= singular, eats= singular
• Ducks= plural, quack= plural

Don’t get confused by the words that come

between the subject and verb.
Example:
The detective who was called to the case is
usually very good

Prepositional phrases between the subject and

verb usually do not affect the agreement.
Example:
The biker in this race is very competitive.
The bikers in this race are very competitive

If a sentence starts with “there” or “ here”, the

subject will always be placed after the verb.
Example:
There is a meeting today.
Here are the results from this past month.

Subjects can come after the verb in questions.

Example:
Does Letty always play with dolls?
How are the ice cream sticks today?

If two subjects are joined by “and”,

they typically require a plural verb.
Example:
The puppy and the lady are friends.

If two subjects are separated by “and” refer to

the same thing, the verb is singular.
Example:
Spaghetti and meatballs is my favorite pasta dish

If both subjects are singular and connected by

or, nor, neither/nor, either/or and not only/but
also, the verb is singular.
Examples:
• Sally or Bubba has stolen the scarecrow.
• Not only the guitar player but also the
drummer was soaked with sweat.
If both subjects are plural and connected by
the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and
not only/but also, the verb is plural.
Example:
Cookies or brownies are nice treats for your
teacher

If one subject is singular and one plural and

are connected by the words or, nor,
neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also,
use the subject that is nearest the verb.
• Either my sisters or my mom has sent me
a flower.
• Not only Bob but also the Smiths want
some hamburgers for supper.

Units of measurement usually use a singular

verb
Example:
• Six gallons of paint was used on the
house.
• Five dollars is too much for a cup of
coffee.

Collective nouns usually take a singular verb

The person is hurrying.
The class was ready for the test.

Titles of books, movies, novels, etc. are treated

as singular
• Titanic was one of my favorite books.

Two infinitives separated by and take a plural

verb
• To run and to read are my two favorite
“Free-time” activities.

Gerunds alone take a singular verb. Gerunds

linked by and take a plural verb
Example
• Dancing is not something everyone can do
as well as I can!

If the words each, every or no come before the

subject, the verb is singular
Examples:
• Each boy and girl has to take the test.
• Every frog and toad turns into a prince.
 • No paper and pen is required.
(But an apple would be nice!:)
• Dancing and singing come naturally to
me!

Most indefinite pronouns take singular verbs

Little One * Everybody is happy.
Another Neither * No one has a dime.
Much Either * Nothing was going to help.
Each

Both, few, many, others, and several take a

plural verb
 Several need to finish the race.
 A few have the right answer

When the subject is all, any, more, most, none,

or some, this is the ONLY time you must look
at the object of the prepositional phrase to
determine whether it is singular or plural.
Examples:
 All of the chickens have laid eggs.
 Some of the milk has spilled

Remember class, only the SUBJECT affects

the verb!
Therefore in general:
If the Subject is Singular ,
the Verb should be Singular

“Now, Did you understand the basic of Subject Yes ma‟am!

Verb Agreement?”

“Do you have any questions or clarifications

regarding our topic for today?

No student asking questions seems they

understand the topic
Yes ma‟am
 “class, be ready for a short quiz about our topic
today”
Yes

“bring out your black or blue pen and answer

the questions correctly” ma‟am

(The teacher give the questionnaires to the

students) Yes ma‟am

“Class, get one and pass it on ”

“You are only given 3-5 minutes to answer the 10

items correctly”

(After 5 minutes, the students already done)

“Ok class; please pass your paper without making

noise?

“I‟ll give it back to you your paper next meeting

so you will know your scores”

“Class for your Assignment ;

Assignment

Correct the mistakes in the following

sentences in relation to subject-verb
agreement.

1. Our teacher comes and teach every day.

2. They was in class when I called.
3. Their father are a doctor.
4. Neither the student, nor the teacher are
ready.
5. Chicken and chips are a common dish in
Ghana.
6. The jury was not able to agree.
7. The team wears their kit.
8. Many a cook and waiter work very late.
 9. My shoes is under the table.
10. Only not only the students, but also the
teacher were late.

“That‟s all for today and see you again next

meeting. Good bye class?” Good bye ma‟am?

IV. EVALUATION: Short follow up quiz

Answer in Ten Minutes
A. Write the subject and the correct form of the verb in the following sentences

1. He (listen, listens) to the still air.

2. Clouds (float, floats) lazily in the sky.
3. One bird (begin, begins) to sing a song.
4. It (inspire, inspires) other birds to sing.
5. The flock (continue, continues) to sing.
6. Both (notice, notices) Paz‟s arrival.
7. The distant mountains (appear, appears) blue.
8. There (is, are) a few clouds hanging overhead.
9. Paz (wants, want) to talk with Frost.
10. There (is, are )the sound of water running.
11. (Do, Does) Paz enjoy the sound of the water?
12. Here (is, are) Frost‟s cabin at the top of the hill.
13. (Do, Does) Frost‟s cabin seem remote?
14. Where (is, are) the wooly dog and his master?
15. Both the work of young poets and the work of philosophers (interests, interest) him.

B. Give at least 5 verbs and use it in a sentence using the Subject-Verb Agreement Rules
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

V. ASSIGNMENT

Read our next lesson about tenses of the verb on pp.143 by Morenberg, Max
(2016). Doing Grammar (Third ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-1997-3288-3.

Comments and Evaluation:

Prepared by:

Prof. J. Manglib
Presentor