A lot of English learners struggle with something called "subject-verb agreement", which means adapting a verb to match with the subject noun correctly. This lesson will help you improve your speaking accuracy by learning a technique that can ensure that you are using subject-verb agreement correctly.
The Problem
A simple way to describe this problem is when to add "s" to the end of a verb and when not to. You can see examples of correct and incorrect subject-verb agreement below:
The computers have a virus (correct)
The computer have a virus (incorrect)
The computer has a virus (correct)
My brothers visit me every week (correct)
My brother visit me every week (incorrect)
My brother visits me every week (correct)
The bags are heavy (correct)
The luggage are heavy (incorrect)
The luggage is heavy (correct)
It can seem very challenging to English learners to get this correct while speaking, and while there is no fast and easy way to perfectly fix this problem, my goal in this lesson is to try and provide some way of making it a little easier.
The Technique
One way to remember whether to add "s" to the end of a verb or not for present tenses is to think about your subject noun and whether you are ending the subject noun with "s". Here is a quick guide:
Plural nouns end with an "s" because there is more than one (cars, trees, books, students)
Singular nouns do not end with an "s" because there is only one (car, tree, book, student)
Uncountable nouns do not end in "s" because they cannot be plural (furniture, water, nature)
The goal is to have only one word ending in "s", either your subject or your verb, but not both. Therefore, if your subject ends in "s", then your verb should not, and if your subject does not end in "s", then your verb should so that there is only one "s" being used. You can see in the table below that in each case, there is only one word ending with "s" and the other does not end in "s":
Subject | Verb | Example |
Ends with "s" (the chairs) | Does NOT end with "s" (have) | The chairs have wheels |
Does NOT end with "s" (the chair) | Ends with "S" (has) | The chair has wheels |
Here are some more correct examples, including various tenses. Note how there is only one word, either the subject or the verb, ending in "s":
The book is interesting
The books are interesting
The computers work well
The computer works well
The employee has been working hard
The employees have been working hard
The elevator was not available
The elevators were not available
Food gives people energy
Nutrients give people energy
The machines get checked every week
The machine gets checked every week
The equipment gets checked every week
The audience was standing during the show
The fans were standing during the show
Exceptions
This technique does not apply to past simple (except "be" verb), past perfect tense, and modals, because these forms always use the same verb for every subject. In the example below, "played" and "had" are the same:
The boy played a game
The boys played a game
The problem had been solved
The problems had been solved
The guest will leave soon
The guests will leave soon
There are a few nouns that are plural, which means more than one, that do not end in "s". These words break the rule because you will need to add an "s" to the end of it even though it does not end in "s" itself:
People (more than one person) = People live.... (not "people lives")
Men (more than one man) = Men have .... (not "men has")
Women (more than one woman) = Women like.... (not "women likes")
Children (more than one child) = Children need... (not "children needs")
Feet (more than one foot) = Feet are.... (not "feet is")
Teeth (more than one tooth) = Teeth get.... (not "teeth gets")
Unfortunately the pronouns I, you, he, she, it, we, and they are different. In this case, you'll have to remember which pronouns are always singular and third person (he, she, it). These singular third person subjects use "s" the same way as the singular nouns in the previous section use a verb with "s":
He is/has/makes/takes...
She is/has/makes/takes...
It is/has/makes/takes...
Practice
Say the following subject and nouns together in present simple tense and remember to only add "s" to the verb if the subject does not have "s" on the end or if it is a third person singular pronouns (he, she, it)
Kids + eat = The kids eat
Dog + wait = The dog waits
Car + move
Air + blow
Coffee + have
Books + contain
Water + flow
Child + play
Flowers + bloom
Bird + sing
Information + be
Computer + calculate
Cookies + smell
Students + learn
Music + relax
It + help
They + prefer
We + want
She + give
He + know
Fill in the blank with the appropriate verb to complete the tense:
The teacher _____ answered all the questions (present perfect)
The birds _______ migrating south for the winter (present continuous)
The stars _______ shining in the sky last night (past continuous)
The furniture ________ repaired (past simple passive)
The musicians ________ been practicing their performance (present perfect continuous)
Answers
Kids + eat = The kids eat
Dog + wait = The dog waits
Car + move = The car moves
Air + blow = The air blows
Coffee + have = The coffee has
Books + contain = The books contain
Water + flow = The water flows
Child + play = The child plays
Flowers + bloom = The flowers bloom
Bird + sing = The bird sings
Information + be = The information is
Computer + calculate = The computer calculates
Cookies + smell = The cookies smell
Students + learn = The students learn
Music + relax = The music relaxes
It + help = It helps (third person singular)
They + prefer = They prefer
We + want = We want
She + give = She gives (third person singular)
He + know = He knows (third person singular)
Fill in the blank with the appropriate verb to complete the tense:
The teacher has answered all the questions (present perfect)
The birds are migrating south for the winter (present continuous)
The stars were shining in the sky last night (past continuous)
The furniture was repaired (past simple passive)
The musicians have been practicing their performance (present perfect continuous)
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