Subject-verb agreement is an essential aspect of writing, and it’s crucial to get it right to ensure that your message is clear and accurate. In English, subject-verb agreement means that the subject and verb in a sentence must agree in number. This means that if the subject is singular, the verb must also be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural.
For example, consider the sentence “The cat chases the mouse.” In this sentence, the subject is “cat,” which is singular. The verb is “chases,” which is also singular. They agree in number, so the sentence is correct.
However, if we say, “The cats chases the mouse,” it is incorrect because “cats” is plural, but the verb “chases” is singular.
Let’s take another example, “The group of students is heading to the library.” In this sentence, “group” is the subject, and it is singular. Therefore, the verb “is” is also singular.
Similarly, in the sentence, “The students are heading to the library,” the subject “students” is plural, and the verb “are” is also plural.
In some cases, sentences can be tricky to determine which verb is appropriate. For example, the sentence “One of the basketball players is late.” The subject “one” is singular, but “basketball players” is plural. In this case, we must use the singular verb, “is,” which agrees with the subject “one.”
Another example of such a sentence is “The number of people attending the seminar is high.” Here, “number” is singular, and the verb “is” is also singular.
In contrast, if we say “A number of people are attending the seminar,” it means that “number” is plural and needs a plural verb “are.”
In conclusion, subject-verb agreement is essential to ensure that your writing is clear and grammatically correct. The examples given above show the importance of matching the subject with a suitable verb in number. When you maintain the subject-verb agreement, your readers can understand your message correctly, and your writing will be more effective.