Page 616 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

In grammatical relations,
Achieve tranquility

By using combinations

That never disagree.

Learning Objectives

In this chapter, you will learn how to

1 Use the basic pattern of present-tense subject-verb agreement.

2 Identify common problems in subject-verb agreement and

make subjects and verbs agree.

In Standard English, subjects and verbs must

always agree. This does not necessarily mean

that they shake hands, as in the drawing above. In
grammatical terminology, agreement always

means that singular is paired with singular and

plural with plural. All of the rules for subject-verb

agreement presented in this chapter have the

same idea behind them: A singular subject

requires a singular verb, and a plural subject
requires a plural verb.