Subject-verb Agreement (Tugas 1&2 Bahasa Inggris 2)

Ø Theory deals with subject-verb agreeement

Rule (conditions) of the most important in English is that between the subject verb must be in agreement. That is, if the subject of his singular so verb him must also be singular. Conversely, if the subject of his plural then its verb must be plural, too.

1. Singular subject – singular verb

Is the singular subject is the subject pronoun he, she and it, or nouns that can be replaced with he, she or it; Whereas the definition of singular verbs are verb1 es/s is/was, as well as the verb phrase such as: is/was verb-ing/verb3, verb3, has verb-ing has been and has been verb3.

Pattern of singular subject-singular verb is presented in the following table :

	Singular subject	Singular verb	Tenses
1	He/She/it	verb1 + es/s	simple present
2	He/She/it	is + verb-ing	present continuous
3	He/She/it	was + verb-ing	past continuous
4	He/She/it	has + verb3	present perfect
5	He/She/it	has + been + verb-ing	present perfect continuous
6	He/She/it	is going to + verb1	simple future
7	He/She/It	is going to + be verb-ing	future continuous
8	He/She/it	was going to + verb1	past future
9	He/She/It	was going to + be verb-ing	past future continuous

If the sentence does not use verb, we used to be :

	Singular subject	Singular verb	Tenses
10	He/She/it	Is	simple present
11	He/She/it	is + being	present continuous
12	He/She/it	Was	simple past
13	He/She/it	was + being	past continuous
14	He/She/It	has been	present perfect
10	He/She/it	has + been + being	present perfect continuous
16	He/She/it	is going to + be	simple future
17	He/She/it	is going to + be being	future continuous
18	He/She/it	was going to + be	past future
19	He/She/it	was going to + be being	past future continuous

2. Plural subject – plural verb

Is a plural subject is the subject pronouns such as I, we, you, they, and all plural nouns. Whereas the definition of plural verbs are verbs and verb phrase in addition to singular feminine verbs above.

Patterns of plural verb subject-plural presented in the following table :

	Plural subject	Plural verb	Tense
1	I/we/you/they	verb1	simple present
2	I/we/you/they	am/are + verb-ing	present continuous
3	I/we/you/they	was/were + verb-ing	past continuous
4	I/we/you/they	have+ verb3	present perfect
5	I/we/you/they	have + been + verb-ing	present perfect continuous
6	I/we/you/they	am/are going to + verb1	simple future
7	I/we/you/they	am/are going to + be verb-ing	future continuous
8	I/we/you/they	was/were going to + verb1	past future
9	I/we/you/they	was/were going to + be verb-ing	past future continuous

If the sentence does not use verb, we used to be :

	Plural subject	Plural verb	Tense
10	I/we/you/they	am/are	simple present
11	I/we/you/they	am/are + being	present continuous
12	I/we/you/they	was/were	simple past
13	I/we/you/they	was/were + being	past continuous
14	I/we/you/they	have been	present perfect
10	I/we/you/they	have + been + being	present perfect continuous
16	I/we/you/they	am/are going to + be	simple future
17	I/we/you/they	am/are going to + be being	future continuous
18	I/we/you/they	was/were going to + be	past future
19	I/we/you/they	was/were going to + be being	past future continuous

A. Subject – verb agreement whent it is separated by prepositional phrase

If between the subject with the verb are separated by a prepositional phrase (two or more words that are preceded by a preposition), phraseini has no effect against a prepositional verb. To note is what the subject line. If the subject of his singular verb then his should also be singular, whereas if its subject plural verb then his should also be plural.

Singular subject + (prepositional phrase) + singular verb

Plural subject + (prepositional phrase) + plural verb

B. Subject – verb agreement when it is separated together with, along with, as well as

Besides prepositional phrase above, such expressions together with, along with, accompanied by, and as well as, nor does it affect the verb.

together with

along with

accompanied by

as well as

Ø Examples of subject-verb agreement

	Singular subject-singular verb	Plural subject-plural verb
1	She dances	They dance
2	She is dancing	They are dancing
3	She was dancing	They were dancing
4	She has danced	They have danced
5	She has been dancing	They have been dancing
6	She is going to dance	They are going to dance
7	She is going to be dancing	They are going to be dancing
8	She was going to dance	They were going to dance
9	She was going to be dancing	They were going to be dancing
10	She is nice to me.	They are nice to me.
11	She is being nice to me.	They are being nice to me.
12	She was nice to me.	They were nice to me.
13	She was being nice to me.	They were being nice to me.
14	She has been nice to me.	They have been nice to me.
10	She has been being nice to me.	They have been being nice to me.
16	She is going to be nice to me.	They are going to be nice to me.
17	She is going to be being nice to me.	They are going to be being nice to me.
18	She was going to be nice to me.	They were going to be nice to me.
19	She was going to be being nice to me.	They were going to be being nice to me.

How does subject-verb agreement in simple tense is another not mentioned above?

Form of a verb or verb phrase in the simple tense-simple tense is not mentioned above is good when its subject nor singular plural is the same.

Example:

1. The elevator worked very well yesterday.
2. The elevators worked very well yesterday.

1. Andi had gone before Ani arrived.
2. Andi and Amir had gone before Ani arrived.

1. My mother will go to Bali tomorrow.
2. My mother and my father will go to Bali tomorrow.

1. Jenny would have passed the test if she had studied well.
2. Jenny and Julie would have passed the test if they had studied well.

In the examples above, we see that his subject is directly followed by the verb. Next, let's discuss subject-verb agreement when the subject separated by a prepositional phrase or by expressions (expression).

A. Subject – verb agreement whent it is separated by prepositional phrase

Example :

1. The study of languages is very interesting. (singular subject)
2. Several theories on this subject have been debated. (plural subject)
3. The view of these disciplines varies from time to time. (singular subject)
4. The danger of forest fires is not to be taken seriously. (singular subject)
5. The effects of that crime are likely to be devastating. (plural subject)
6. The fear of rape and robbery has caused many people to flee the cities. (singular subject).
7. The boys in the room are studying (plural subject).

B. Subject – verb agreement when it is separated together with, along with, as well as

Example :

1. The actress, along with her manager and some friends, is going to a party tonight.
2. Mr. Julianto, accompanied by his wife and children, is arriving tonight.
3. My wife as well as I is a volleyball player.

Use together with, along with, accompanied by, and as well as, in a pattern like this only add additional information. If expression is omitted, the core meaning of the sentence unchanged, namely:

1. The actress is going to a party tonight.
2. Mr. Julianto is arriving tonight.
3. My wife is a volleyball player.

Conversely, if the conjunction ‘and’ is used to replace the expressions above, then the verb him turned into a plural.

Example :

1. The actress and her manager are going to a party tonight.
2. Mr. Julinto and his wife and children are arriving tonight.
3. My wife and I are volleyball players.