The verb must always agree with its subject in person and in number.
Rule 1:
The subject is the third person singular personal pronoun. The verb must take ‘s’ with it in ‘present’ when the subject is third person singular.
1. He go to school daily (Incorrect)
He goes to school daily. (Correct)
2. She run fast. (Incorrect)
She runs fast. (Correct)
3. The baby (It) cry all night. (Incorrect)
The baby cries all night. (Correct)
Rule 2:
When two singular subjects are joined by the conjunction ‘and’ the subject becomes plural so it takes the plural verb.
1. The mother and her children goes to church. (Incorrect)
The mother and her children go to church every Sunday. (Correct)
2. My brother and I plays cricket every morning. (Incorrect)
My brother and I play cricket every morning. (Correct)
3. John and his sister goes to the market. (Incorrect)
John and his sister go to the market. (Correct)
Rule 3:
When two or more such subjects are joined by ‘or’ or ‘nor’, the verb agrees with the subject nearest to it.
- Either James or I are at the top of the class. (Incorrect)
Either James or I am at the top of the class. (Correct)
2. My brother or my sister attend the party. (Incorrect)
My brother or my sister attends the party. (Correct)
Rule 4:
‘Am’ is the only ‘be verb’ used with first person singular pronoun ‘I’. The first person plural ‘We’, the second person singular and plural ‘you’ and the third person plural ‘they’ – always take plural verbs.
Exceptional Rule: Though ‘I’ is singular, it takes the plural verb other than ‘be’ verb.
1. I is fine. (Incorrect)
I am fine. (Correct)
2. I studies hard. (Incorrect)
I study hard. (Correct)
3. They goes to the park. (Incorrect)
They go to the park. (Correct)
4. You speaks well. (Incorrect)
You speak well. (Correct)
5. We comes to the gym daily. (Incorrect)
We come to the gym daily. (Correct)
Rule 5:
When ‘s’ is added to the noun, the noun becomes plural. When ‘s’ is added to the verb, the verb becomes singular.
Singular verb | Plural verb |
runs | runs |
speaks | speak |
comes | come |
cries | cry |
goes | go |
walks | walk |
Talk | talks |
Singular noun + singular verb and plural noun + plural verb
Singular noun + singular verb | plural noun + plural verb |
He runs | They run |
She speaks | We speak |
He comes | You come |
It cries | You cry |
He goes | They go |
Sheela walks | Sheela and Rupa walk |
Rupa talks | They talk |
Subject-verb agreement examples
Singular subject + singular verb:
1. The boy runs fast
2. She shouts loudly.
3. The baby looks pretty.
4. He speaks in a pleasant manner.
5. The bottle breaks easily
Plural subject + plural verb:
1. Kala and Mala go to school.
2. Chennai and Mumbai are big cities in India.
3. They watch television daily.
4. We listen to the radio everyday.
5. You speak politely.
FAQ's
The cat sleeps on the couch.
The student studies hard everyday.
The team is winning the game.
The family is going on vacation.
Everyone is invited to the party.
The child goes to the school.
The teacher teaches math.
The book costs 20$.
John, Mary and David are attending the party.
Someone is at the door.
The Important of Subject-verb agreement in English Writing