00:00Subject-verb agreement is an essential part of learning English, and mastering it will help you speak and write English
00:08better.
00:09Some of the most common mistakes in English are with subject-verb agreement.
00:16So what is subject-verb agreement?
00:19Subject-verb agreement means that the subject, and remember, the subject is the person or thing that is doing an
00:27action,
00:28and the verb, which is the action word, in a sentence must both be singular or both be plural.
00:38That sounds complicated, so let's look at an example sentence.
00:43The boy plays.
00:45Here we have a singular subject.
00:49The boy, one boy, and we have a singular verb, plays.
00:54I know that play ends in S, but this is a singular verb.
01:01Most verbs that end in S go along with single subjects, he, she, or it.
01:10Compare it with this sentence, the boy's play.
01:14Here we have a plural subject, boys.
01:19We have the S at the end.
01:22And this has to go along with a plural verb, play.
01:28We cannot say, the boy's plays.
01:32It has to be, the boy's play, or the boy plays.
01:38Let's look at another example.
01:40The cat drinks milk.
01:43Here we have a singular subject, one cat.
01:47So the verb is also singular, drinks.
01:52I know it seems strange that a singular verb ends in S, but that's how it is in English.
02:01And if the subject is plural, the cats, we have a plural verb, which doesn't have an S.
02:09The cats drink milk.
02:11So let's look at some more examples.
02:15So essentially, singular subjects need singular verbs.
02:24A lot of this lesson is talking about verbs in the present simple or the present continuous.
02:32I've linked you to my two videos on these topics in the description below, and they may help you understand
02:41this lesson.
02:43So let's look at this chart.
02:47So let's look at this chart.
03:30So you can see that the singular subjects have a singular verb, and the plural subjects have a plural verb.
03:40The girl would be she, that's the pronoun for the girl, and the girls would be they, because it's plural.
03:51Just like the dog is it, and the dogs would be they, it's a plural pronoun.
04:00Now, it barks, they bark, she walks, they walk.
04:07Now, what about compound subjects with and, this can be confusing for people.
04:14For example, when two singular subjects are joined by the coordinating conjunction and, the verb should be in the plural
04:24form.
04:25For example, Jessica and Michael love pizza.
04:31We don't say, Jessica and Michael loves pizza, because we need a plural verb.
04:40Jessica and Michael.
04:43Now, it's plural.
04:45This is a compound subject.
04:47We have two singular subjects together.
04:51So now, it's not she loves pizza, it's they love pizza.
04:59So we have to put the verb in the plural form.
05:03Another example, Bethany and David live abroad, not lives abroad.
05:11If we only had David, it would be David lives abroad, or Bethany lives abroad.
05:21But when we add the coordinating conjunction and to connect the singular subjects, we have to put the verb in
05:31the plural form.
05:33And also, when a singular subject is joined with a plural subject by and, the verb is still in the
05:42plural form to match the plural subject.
05:45For example, the dog and the kids swim in the pool every morning.
05:52We have the singular subject, the dog, and plural subject, the kids, but the verb is still plural.
06:02And this doesn't change if you switch the order of the singular subject and the plural subject.
06:10For example, the students and the teacher work together to organize a charity event.
06:18In this example, we have the plural subject first, the students, and the singular subject before the verb.
06:27But even though the singular subject is before the verb, it doesn't matter.
06:34We still have to say work and not works, because this singular subject is joined by and with the plural
06:46subject.
06:47The students and the teacher work.
06:50They work together.
06:54Now, be careful with irregular plural words and exceptions.
07:01So, in English, we have some irregular plural words.
07:06Before, for example, we had the boy plays, the boys play.
07:12But we have some words that are irregular.
07:16For example, the man.
07:18The man talks.
07:20However, the plural form of man is not man's.
07:26It's men.
07:27So, we don't say the man's talk.
07:32We say the men talk.
07:34And this can sometimes confuse people, because usually we use the plural verb after a subject that ends in S.
07:45So, remember to be careful with irregular plural words.
07:50Even though this is a plural subject, it doesn't end in S because it's irregular.
07:56But the verb is still plural because it is a plural subject.
08:02The woman works.
08:04The women work.
08:07They work.
08:09The child studies.
08:12The children study.
08:15The person dreams.
08:17The people dream.
08:21People is the plural form of person.
08:25The tooth hurts.
08:27The teeth hurt.
08:31Now, a big question I get is what about the pronouns I and you?
08:40And this is where English can be so confusing.
08:44English has some special rules when it comes to the pronouns I and you.
08:52Even though I refers to one person, so it is singular, we always use it with plural forms of verbs.
09:01I know this is complicated.
09:05English is not an easy language.
09:07English is not an easy language.
09:08So, for example, we say, I run or I play.
09:15We don't say, I runs or I plays.
09:20Even though I is singular, we use the plural form, run, I run, I play.
09:29You can be a little tricky because it can refer to one person or more than one person.
09:36I'm talking to you, Stacy.
09:40Or, I'm talking to you, Stacy and Doug.
09:44But, regardless of whether it's singular or plural, you always takes a plural verb.
09:52For example, we say, you think, whether we're talking to one person or many people.
10:00We never say, you thinks or you plays or you talks.
10:05No.
10:06You think, you play, you talk.
10:09So, this is something to try to remember.
10:13It is an exception.
10:15And before we have our quiz, I do have one more exception for you.
10:21You must also be careful with irregular verbs and exceptions.
10:26So, the pronouns I and you take plural verbs, as I just showed you.
10:35However, there is one verb exception and that is the verb to be.
10:42With the verb to be, in the present tense, we always say, I am.
10:50Not, I are.
10:53Or, I is.
10:56Always, I am.
10:59We are.
11:02You are.
11:03He, she, or it.
11:06Is.
11:07And they are.
11:09So, with the verb to be, the plural form is always are.
11:16But, there are three singular forms of the verb to be.
11:21Am, are, and is.
11:24So, this is something you have to memorize.
11:26And you also have to memorize the forms in the past.
11:31In the past, am becomes was.
11:35I was.
11:37You were.
11:39He, she, it, was.
11:42And are becomes were.
11:45We were.
11:46You were.
11:47They were.
11:48So, this is something you have to memorize.
11:51Aside from this, the pronoun I takes the plural form of the verb with all the other verbs.
12:01Okay, it is time for our subject verb agreement part one quiz.
12:06There are ten sentences in total.
12:09Some of them need to be corrected.
12:11And others are okay.
12:13You have to correct them.
12:15First, I will read all ten sentences.
12:18And then you'll have some time to correct them.
12:21Before we answer them together.
12:24Number one.
12:25The cat sits on the windowsill.
12:29Number two.
12:30The students listens eagerly in the classroom.
12:34Number three.
12:35She is a talented singer.
12:38Number four.
12:39The birds flies in the sky.
12:42Number five.
12:44The dog and the cat is best friends.
12:47Number six.
12:49The train arrives on time every day.
12:52Number seven.
12:53The apples look delicious.
12:57Number eight.
12:58The man eats steak for dinner every night.
13:02Number nine.
13:04My sister plays the guitar beautifully.
13:07And finally, number ten.
13:09The keys to the car is on the table.
13:21Let's correct these together.
13:23Number one is correct.
13:26We have a singular subject and a singular verb.
13:30Number two is incorrect.
13:33The correct answer is the students listen.
13:37We have a plural subject, so we need a plural verb.
13:42Number three is correct.
13:44Number four is incorrect.
13:47We have a plural subject, the birds, so we need a plural verb.
13:53Number five.
13:54Number five is also incorrect.
13:56We have a compound subject, the dog and the cat.
14:01Remember, when we join two subjects together with the coordinating conjunction and, we must have a plural form of the
14:10verb.
14:11In this case, are.
14:13The dog and the cat are best friends.
14:17Number six is correct.
14:19Number seven is also correct.
14:23Number eight is incorrect.
14:26We have a plural subject, the men.
14:31Remember, this is an irregular plural word.
14:34Man is singular.
14:37Men is plural.
14:39And we need a plural verb.
14:41Eat.
14:42The men eat steak for dinner.
14:45Number nine is correct.
14:47And number ten is incorrect.
14:50This is a tricky one.
14:53The keys to the car are on the table.
14:57And that's because the subject of the sentence is the word keys.
15:04The keys.
15:05The car is not the subject.
15:08The car is not on the table.
15:10The keys are on the table.
15:13So keys must have a plural subject, which is R.
15:20Okay, let me know in the comment section how many you got correct out of ten.
15:26Do you want to do?
15:26Actually, give me another fact into a enclosed sebsan.
15:26I'm not moral.
15:26I'm sorry, did you want the proverb then.
15:26I still have no URL.
15:26It's obvious to you.
15:26Your 엄마.
15:27You really can't give you an idea.
15:27Let me give you an idea like a camp.
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