Subject Verb Agreement

There are many grammatical errors in English. One of the grammatical errors frequently found in students’ writing sentences was subject and verb agreement (Zhan, 2015; Signh et al., 2017; Sermsook et al., 2017). It is a common error made by other EFL students from different countries (Sermsook et al., 2017). Further, Kurniawan & Seprizanna (2016) stated that subject-verb agreement means choosing the correct singular or plural verb after the subject. It means that if the subject is singular, so the verb is singular, and conversely.

According to Eastwood (2002), in English grammar, subject-verb agreement is the correspondence of a verb with its subject in person (first, second, or third) and number (singular or plural) which is also called subject-verb concord. In other words, they both must be singular or they both must be plural. For instance, subjects and verbs must agree with one another in number (singular or plural). Thus, if a subject is singular, its verb must also be singular; vice versa.

In the present tense, verbs agree with their subjects in number (singular or plural) and in person (first, second, or third). The present tense ending –s (or –es) is used on a verb if the subject is third person singular.

	Singular		Plural
First person	I	love	We	love
Second person	You	love	You	love
Third person	He/She/It	loves	They	love

Example:

The boy [singular subject] reads [singular verb] mystery stories.

The boys [plural subject] read [plural verb] mystery stories.

Sonya [singular subject] is [singular verb] asleep.

Sonya and her friends [plural subject] are [plural verb] asleep.

Rules of Subject Verb Agreement

1.      Subjects and verbs must agree in number.

Ex:

-         The cat meows when he is hungry.

-         The cats meow when they are hungry.

2.      The words between the subject and verb do not affect agreement.

Ex: - The little girl, who is wearing gloves, is well-dressed.

3.      The verb is plural if two subjects are joined by “and”.

Ex: - The man and the woman were late for the appointment.

4.      The verb is singular if two subjects refer to the same person or thing and are joined by “and”.

Ex: Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite sandwich.

5.      The verb is singular if “each”, “every” or “no” come before the subject.

Ex: No yelling is allowed. Every man and woman is coming.

6.      The verb is singular for units of measurement or time.

Ex: Five minutes is enough time.

7.      The verb is plural for pronouns.

Ex: All of them were going to the parade.

8.      The verb is singular for indefinite pronouns.

Ex: Everyone is waiting for the movie to start.

9.      The verb is singular for collective nouns.

Ex: The crowd is yelling.

10.  The verb is singular for titles of books and movies.

Ex: The birds is a scary movie.

Multiple choice

1.      The teachers in the classroom _____ very experienced.

a.      is

b.      was

c.       are

d.      were

Pembahasan: teachers adalah subjek jamak, jadi harus menggunakan kata kerja jamak are.

2.      The doctor, as well as the nurses, _____ hard.

a.      work

b.      works

c.       worked

d.      working

Pembahasan:  karena “as well as” adalah kumpulan kata dalam koma, abaikan “as well as the nurses”. Oleh karena itu doctor adalah subjek tunggal, yang sangat cocok dengan kata kerja tunggal works. Berikut adalah beberapa contoh kumpulan kata dalam koma: as well as, with, along with, in addition to dan including.

3.      The boxes of cake mix _____ on the shelf.

a.      are

b.      were

c.       is

d.      was

Pembahasan: karena “of” adalah preposisi, abaikan kalimat preposisi “of cake mix”. Oleh karena itu boxes adalah subjek jamak, yang sangat cocok dengan kata kerja jamak are. Berikut adalah beberapa contoh frasa preposisi: above, among, at, below, beneath, under, in, of, on, over dan to.

4.      Everyone in the class _____ the teacher.

a.      support

b.      supports

c.       supported

d.      had supported

Pembahasan: supports adalah bentuk kata kerja yang benar untuk subjek tunggal everyone. Berikut adalah beberapa contoh kata ganti tak tentu tunggal: anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, every, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, somebody, someone dan something.

5.      My cat _____ to run around chasing squirrels.

a.      like

b.      liked

c.       had liked

d.      likes

Pembahasan: cat adalah subjek tunggal, likes adalah kata kerja tunggal. Kata kerja tunggal diakhiri dengan “s” (Misal: My cat likes), sedangkan kata kerja jamak tidak diakhiri dengan “s”, tetapi menggunakan subjek jamak (Misal: My cats like).

Error analysis

1.      The singers performs bad cover songs.

 A         B            C                               D

Pembahasan:  C (perform), the singers adalah subjek jamak, jadi harus menggunakan kata kerja jamak perform.

2.      Mika and Natasya is going to find the new book.

A                 B    C                                    D
Pembahasan: B (are), dua atau lebih subjek yang dihubungkan oleh “and” menggunakan 

3.      The book in the library of Gunadarma University are interesting.

A                          B                                            C          D

Pembahasan: C (is), karena “of” adalah preposisi, abaikan kalimat preposisi “of Gunadarma University”. Oleh karena itu the book adalah subjek tunggal, yang sangat cocok dengan kata kerja tunggal is.

4.      Everyone have done his or her homework.

      A            B       C                              D

Pembahasan: B (has), everyone adalah subjek tunggal yang termasuk kata ganti tak tentu tunggal, jadi menggunakan kata kerja tunggal has.

5.      Each of the students are responsible for doing his or her work.

   A                   B            C                                 D

Pembahasan: C (is), karena “every” dan “each” adalah kata ganti tak tentu, keduanya menggunakan kata kerja tunggal.

6.      Either my father or my brothers is going to sell the car.

    A                           B                      C    D

Pembahasan: C (are), jika sebuah kalimat memiliki dua subjek yang terhubung dengan “or/nor”, “either/or” atau “neither/nor” kata kerja harus melihat subjek kedua (subjek yang lebih dekat dengan kata kerja).

7.      The samples on the tray in the lab needs testing.

         A             B                                      C          D
Pembahasan: C (need), the samples adalah subjek jamak, need adalah kata kerja jamak. Kata kerja jamak tidak diakhiri dengan “s”, tetapi menggunakan subjek jamak (Misal: My cats like).

8.      Both of my roommates has decided to live in the dorms.

  A                    B                 C      D

Pembahasan: C (have), karena “both” dan “several” adalah kata ganti tak tentu, keduanya menggunakan kata kerja jamak.

9.      The student, as well as his teacher, were going on the field trip.

         A                         B                          C          D

Pembahasan: C (was), karena “as well as” adalah kumpulan kata dalam koma, abaikan “as well as his teacher”. Oleh karena itu the student adalah subjek tunggal, yang sangat cocok dengan kata kerja tunggal was.

10.  Several of my friends are sick.

    A                  B              C    D

Pembahasan: benar, karena “both” dan “several” adalah kata ganti tak tentu, keduanya menggunakan kata kerja jamak. Beberapa contoh kata ganti tak tentu jamak: both, few, many dan several.

Source:

[1] Suryo, Anisa Kurniadhani & Karlina Karadila Yustisia. (2017). The students’ ability in using subject-verb agreement in Senior High School. English Journal of Merdeka, 2(2), 105-106.

[2] menlo.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/SUBJECT-VERB_AGREEMENT.pdf

[3] nova.edu/tutoring-testing/study-resources/forms/subject-verb-agreement.pdf

[4] sfponline.org/Uploads/66/Packet6-subject-verb-agreement.pdf

[5] yourdictionary.com/index.php/pdf/articles/75.subject-verb-agreement.pdf