Subject-Verb Agreement
What does it mean?
Subjects can be singular or plural, as can verbs. If you have a singular subject, you must then use a singular verb; similarly, if you have a plural subject, you must use a plural verb.
What does it look like?
RIGHT: "The couple, who have been together since their college years, have an interesting connection."
WRONG: "The couple, who has been together since their college years, has an interesting connection."
RIGHT: Dogs walk in parks.
WRONG: Dogs walks in parks.
WRONG: "The couple, who has been together since their college years, has an interesting connection."
RIGHT: Dogs walk in parks.
WRONG: Dogs walks in parks.
What's the difference?
Has is singular, but couple is plural. Sometimes a couple can act as one solid unit, but in this case, we are discussing how the two people in the couple relate to each other, so we need to use the plural verb "have."
But, that's so easy! How could I possibly screw that up?
Actually, there are plenty of ways to screw up your subject-verb agreement.
The first, sloppy writing, is the easiest: When you are drafting, you just did it wrong. You proofread later and fix the mistake, because you knew better—you just missed it in the heat of getting the idea on the page.
The more insidious culprit is the prepositional phrase, or really any other kind of interruptor. This is the one that people don't always catch because there are a lot of words between the subject and the verb. Let's look at how this works.
"The Sega Genesis, which came out in 1989 and ushered in a new world of 16-bit video games, seem old-fashioned now."
Does that seem right to you? If you think the subject of the sentence is "video games", then the verb "seem" would be right. But "video games" is not the subject—"Sega Genesis" is. If you simplify the sentence to the basics, it's obvious that the verb should be "seems." "The Sega Genesis seems old-fashioned now." It's that extra information about the Genesis, that information that comes between the subject and the verb that might throw you off.
The first, sloppy writing, is the easiest: When you are drafting, you just did it wrong. You proofread later and fix the mistake, because you knew better—you just missed it in the heat of getting the idea on the page.
The more insidious culprit is the prepositional phrase, or really any other kind of interruptor. This is the one that people don't always catch because there are a lot of words between the subject and the verb. Let's look at how this works.
"The Sega Genesis, which came out in 1989 and ushered in a new world of 16-bit video games, seem old-fashioned now."
Does that seem right to you? If you think the subject of the sentence is "video games", then the verb "seem" would be right. But "video games" is not the subject—"Sega Genesis" is. If you simplify the sentence to the basics, it's obvious that the verb should be "seems." "The Sega Genesis seems old-fashioned now." It's that extra information about the Genesis, that information that comes between the subject and the verb that might throw you off.
How do I get better at this?
Always ask yourself: who is doing something or being something in this sentence? That's your subject. Next, ask yourself: what is my subject doing or being? That's your verb. If your subject is singular, it needs a singular verb. If it is plural, it needs a plural verb.