Download Subject-verb agreement

VERB
ERRORS
THE TWO MAIN
ERRORS:
Subject-verb agreement
• When the subjects and verbs do not match up correctly
Verb form
• When the verb is not formed correctly for the tense (the time
the action happens)
KNOW HOW TO IDENTIFY
SUBJECTS AND VERBS
IN A SENTENCE
Be able to identify actor and action (s+v)
• Who does what?
• Find the one that is easiest for you first and work to the other
one
• The boy cried.
• Who or what is the sentence about? (the boy - s) What
did the boy do (cried - v)
• What action takes place? crying (cried – v) Who or what
did it? (boy – s)
It’s more complicated when the subjects and verbs are made
up of more than word. Practice, practice, practice!!!
PRONOUNS AND HOW
THEY ARE USED
Singular
Plural
1st
I
We
2nd
You
You
3rd
He, She, It
They
Every subject can be replaced by one of these six words.
KNOW HOW TO REPLACE
A SUBJECT WITH THE
CORRECT PRONOUN
The pronoun to use is determined by point of view.
Is it you or you and someone else? (I, We)
• The pronoun is the word you would be using already.
Is it someone or a group you are talking to? (You, You)
• The pronoun is the word you would be using already.
Is it someone or a group you are talking about? (He, she, it;
They)
• This could be any noun you can think of and some you never
heard of before.
EVERY SUBJECT CAN BE
REPLACED BY ONE OF
THESE SIX WORDS!!!
Tammy – that’s me, the one and only = I
Tammy and her people = WE
Hey you, I am talking to YOU
Hey you people, I am talking to YOU
I am talking about Jack(or any other subject) = HE(SHE or IT)
I am talking about people or any other subjects = THEY
Know how the six pronouns match up with verbs
Subject-verb agreement errors happen when the verbs don’t
match up in person(1st, 2nd, 3rd ) or number (singular and
plural).
Verb form errors happen when verbs are not in the right
tense or the tense is not formed correctly.
SUBJECT-VERB
AGREEMENT
If you know what matches up to the pronoun, you can work back to the
noun you are using if you ever get confused about s-v agr.
I play
We play
I am
We are
You play
You play
You are
You are
He plays
They play
He is
They are
Regular verbs have an –s with 3rd person singular(he, she, it).
Irregular verbs must be memorized.
The problem is the irregular verbs and 3rd person.
Find the subject and then use the pronouns to get the right match.
Subject boy, then he plays = boy plays.
Subject players, then they play = players play.
Subject I, then I am.
Subject carrots, then they are = carrots are
VERB FORM
Know the tense(time) of the sentence, and form the verb
according to the rules for the tense.
Present – errors will be s-v errors, usually
Past – errors will be leaving off the –ed or using the wrong
irregular past tense (growed instead of grew)
Future – will plus present tense with no –s in 3rd person (He
will play)
ERRORS HAPPEN BY
MESSING UP THE EASY
FORMS
Forgetting to use –ed on a regular past tense verb
Incorrect past tense form (grew, not growed)
Incorrect past participle forms (I have become, not have
became)
VERB FORM
CONTINUED
Perfect tenses use have, has or had plus the past participle
• Using have or has incorrectly is a s-v agreement error
• Using had instead of has or have or using the wrong word for
the past participle is a verb form error
He have run the race. = s-v agreement
He has ran the race. = verb form (run is the pp)
Regular past participles end in –ed just like the past tense,
but irregular ones must be memorized.
VERB FORM YET
AGAIN
There are other verb forms that can be messed up, but
things start to get complicated. Ironically, when people use
these forms, they tend not to mess them up. Just a few
examples:
He is running the race. present progressive = correct be
form(or sv agr) and –ing verb form (called the present
participle)
He will have been running. future perfect progressive =
future(will), perfect (have + irregular past participle been)
progressive (be form plus -ing verb)