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Subject -Verb
Agreement Problems
Problems:
You and I:
 | Some subject verb agreement problems occur when the subject is you or I. Always use a plural verb when the pronoun you is the subject - whether it means one person or more than one person |
| I refers to one person but it takes a plural verb. The only exceptions to this are the be verb forms am and was. |
| Examples: I am and I was. You are and you were. So remember I was but you were. |
Verb Phrases:
| If the sentence has a verb phrase, the helping verb must agree in number with the verb. |
| Examples: I am going to the zoo. You were going to the zoo. |
Interrupting Words:
| Words, such as adverbs and prepositional phrases, can appear in the sentence between the subject and its verb. |
| Remember the verb must agree in number with the subject and not the word/words closest to the verb. |
| Remember get rid of the prepositional phrases before picking out the subject. Neither the subject nor the verb will ever be found in a prepositional phrase. |
| Example: The juice from these oranges is sour. Take out the prepositional phrase "from these oranges." Juice is sour. Juice is singular so you need the singular verb is. |
Inverted Order:
| Remember to change the sentence into natural order before trying to find the subject. When the sentence is in natural order, the subject will always come before the verb. |
| Remember the verb will always agree with the subject no matter where the subject appears in the sentence. |
When you click on the link below, do the following:
When you get confused, you can toggle back to this page to review the rules by clicking on its box on the task bar at the bottom of your computer screen .
Now practice picking out the correct verb form for each sentence.
Some of the sentences will be different each time you play. When you have played the game at least 3 times, read the information below.
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