Subject and verb
The verb in a sentence is the word that shows action or being.
The subject of a sentence is the person or thing that's doing the action, or being something.
For example:
Maya kicks the ball.
In this sentence, the subject is Maya and the verb is kicks.
Watch: Subject - verb agreement
[THEME MUSIC][SCHOOL BELL RINGS]
Hello. I'm Mrs Shaukat and we're going to find out about subject-verb agreement.
I don't always agree with my friends, but that's okay.
However, the subject of a sentence and its verb must agree.
What do I mean by that? Let's take a look.
The verb is the word in the sentence that shows action - words like "kick", "jump", "laugh" - or being, like "am", "is", or "are".
The subject of a sentence is the person or thing that's doing the action or being something.
So, in this sentence,"Lucy kicks the ball", the subject is "Lucy" and she's doing the kicking.
You have to match the verb to whoever or whatever is doing or being something in the sentence.
You wouldn't say, "I is here" or "I are here".
But you would say, "I am here".
And you wouldn't say, "He kick the ball".
But you would say, "He kicks the ball".
You pick the right verb to go with the subject of the sentence.They fit, they suit each other, they go together, they agree.
Spot the subject in this sentence and say A or B when you think you know the answer.
The donkey is in the field.
Is the subject A, donkey,
or B, field?
If you said A, donkey, you were right. The donkey is doing the being. So the sentence's subject is "donkey".
Next sentence.
At the bus stop, Anwar sings loudly.
Is the subject A, bus stop,
B, Anwar,
C, loudly?
The subject of the sentence is B. Anwar, the person doing the singing.
Some sentenceshave more than one subject, but each subject must still agree with its verb.
Here comes a sentence with two subjects. The bus and the children.
And it has two verbs, one for each subject.
A, the bus stop and the children gets on.
And B, the bus stopsand the children get on.
Which version of this sentence is right? A or B?
The answer is B: The bus stops and the children get on.
Phew! The subjects and their verbs agree.
Now you practise spotting the subject of a sentence.
Now it's time to choose the right verb to fit that subject. Which verb should fill the gap here?
Is it A, "eat",
or B, "eats"?
The answer is B: Jenni eats an apple.
Next, what about this one?
Is it A, "are",
B, "is",
C, "am"?
The answer is B, "Anwar is asleep".
Now you're getting the idea.
If the subject is singular - there's just one person or thing - its verb shows that too.
And if the subject is plural - there's more than one person or thing - its verb will show that too.
It's the same with "was" and "were".
Try this last sentence.
Should it be A, "The two donkeys was happy and Jenni were happy too"?
Or is the correct sentence B, "The two donkeys were happy and Jenni was happy too"?
Yes, it should be sentence B.
The two donkeys were happy and Jenni was happy too.
Two subjects and two verbs that agree with them.
So, remember…
The subject of a sentence and its verb must agree.
Spot the subject. See if it is singular or plural. Then check the verb fits and the subject and verb suit each other.
Check they agree.
Agreed?
Agreed.
For more help, challenges and games on this subject, visit bbc.co.uk/bitesize
Top tip
When the subject and the verb match, we say they agree.
Singular verbs
When the subject of a sentence is singular, that means there is only one person or thing doing the action or being something.
You need to choose a singular form of the verb to match the singular subject.
Look at the table below to see how play is used with different subjects. Most verbs follow the same pattern as this verb.
| Singular (one person or thing) | Plural (more than one person or thing) |
|---|---|
| I play | we play |
| you play | you play |
| she, he, it plays | they play |
Look at the verb next to ‘she, he, it’ in the table: plays. This has the letter 's' at the end.
When you are writing about one person or thing doing an action, (to talk about 'she', 'he' or 'it' only) your verb should end with the letter 's'.
For example:
The girl plays basketball every weekend.
This radio station plays great music!
Plural verbs
When the subject of a sentence is plural, that means more than one person or thing is doing the action or being something.
In this case, you need to choose a plural form of the verb to match the plural subject.
For example:
The boys play hockey every weekend.
Activity 1
Have a go at this fun quiz to test your understanding so far.
Click on the correct word each time to identify the subject or the verb.
Activity 2
Think back to what Mrs Shaukat explained in the Teacher Talk video about using 'am', 'is' and 'are'. These are all from the verb 'be'.
Watch again from the beginning up to 1:30 if you need a quick recap.
Look at the table below that shows the verb 'be' being used with the subjects you met earlier in the lesson.
| Singular (one person or thing) | Plural (more than one person or thing) |
|---|---|
| I am | we are |
| you are | you are |
| she, he, it is | they are |
Sometimes we use 'am', 'is' or 'are' with another word that ends in '–ing'.
For example:
I am working on the tower.
The crane is working on the tower.
They are working on the tower.
Copy out each of the sentences below and choose 'am', 'is' or 'are' to fill the gaps.
Make the verb agree with the subject by adding the right word. One has been done for you.
1. The gorilla-monster is climbing higher and higher.
2. Down in the street, the people ___ pointing up at the gorilla-monster.
3. I ___ pointing up at the gorilla-monster too!
4. The builders ___ yelling at each other.
5. The plane ___ flying around the tower.
6. 'I ___ roaring!' roars the gorilla-monster.
You can check your answer in this answers sheet.
Activity 3
So far, you have looked at verbs in the present tense – this is when something is happening now, or regularly.
When you're using the past tense, for things that have already happened, the verbs 'was' and 'were' can be used. These are also from the verb 'be' and are matched to a subject, like 'am', 'is' and 'are'.
| Singular (one person or thing) | Plural (more than one person or thing) |
|---|---|
| I was | we were |
| you were | you were |
| she, he, it was | they were |
Test your understanding of using 'was' and 'were' correctly with this next quiz!
Choose the right option each time to fill in the gaps in the sentences.
Activity 4
A TV news reporter sees the gorilla-monster but he’s so scared, he gets his verbs mixed up!
Look at his report below. You need to find all the incorrect verbs and re-write them, so that they agree with their subjects.
For example:
It were an ordinary day on the building site.
This sentence contains an incorrect verb.This should be:
It was an ordinary day on the building site.
There are 17 other verb mistakes to find!
News report
It were an ordinary day on the building site. The builders was working hard on a new tower. Suddenly, a huge gorilla-monster were climbing up it!
I are standing in the street right now. And all around me, people is pointing up at the gorilla-monster.
The gorilla-monster are nearly at the top. One of the builders yell at us to stay back. The other builders hides.
Cars, buses and trucks all stands still in the street. We all waits, silent and afraid.
The gorilla-monster sit on top of the tower. It wave its hairy arms. It eat the bricks.
The tower shake and shudder.
No one know what will happen next. But I can hears the gorilla-monster roaring and I are terrified!
You can check your answer in this answers sheet.
Top tip!
Once you’ve finished spotting the verb mistakes, read the sentences out loud with your corrections – do they sound right and make sense?
Play our fun English game Crystal Explorers! game
Use grammar, punctuation and spelling skills to explore jungles, caves and tombs on your mission.
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