Understanding Subject-Verb Agreement for 12-Year-Olds

What is Subject-Verb Agreement?

Subject-verb agreement refers to the rule that the verb must agree with its subject in number. This means that if the subject is singular, the verb must also be singular, and if the subject is plural, the verb must be plural.

Correcting the Sentences

1. Original Sentence: The dogs runs quickly.
2. Error: The subject 'dogs' is plural, while the verb 'runs' is singular.
3. Correction: The dogs run quickly.

1. Original Sentence: Neither the teacher nor the students was happy with the result.
2. Error: When using 'neither...nor', the verb should agree with the subject closer to the verb. Here, 'students' is plural while 'was' is singular.
3. Correction: Neither the teacher nor the students were happy with the result.

Summary

So, remember: always make sure the verb matches the subject in number. If it’s a singluar subject, use a singular verb; if it’s plural, use a plural verb.