Speak good English: Subject/verb agreement
We have learnt that as a principle in subject/verb agreement, a singular subject must agree with a singular verb, while a plural subject must agree with a plural verb.
We have also said that a singular verb has the letter -s or the letters - es at the end, while a plural verb has no such -s or -es ending.
Advertisement
We also learnt that the verb has is singular and must agree with a singular subject, while have is plural and must agree with a plural subject.
Note that the past tense of both has and have is HAD, as in:
The boy had lunch in the afternoon.
We had a surprise for them yesterday.
Now, we have to find out how the verb TO BE behaves under subject/verb agreement. First, note that the verb TO BE is the root of the verbs AM, ARE and IS.
The verbs AM, ARE and IS are used depending on the number of the subject (singular or plural) and the person of the subject (1st person, 2nd person or 3rd person).
In other words, instead of saying or writing:
I TO BE a man.
You TO BE a boy.
She TO BE a girl.
We rather say or write:
I AM a man.
You ARE a boy.
She IS a girl.
Bear in mind the fact that anytime the first person pronoun I has to agree with the verb TO BE, it must be in the form AM, as in:
Neither the teacher nor I am to blame.
Either you or I am telling a lie.
The second person YOU agrees with the verb ARE, as in:
Either the girl or you are to blame.
Neither he nor you are responsible for the accident.
The third person HE/SHE/IT agrees with the verb IS, as in:
He is your personal trainer.
(To be continued.)
