Subject-Predicate Agreement (Noun–Verb)

Verb agreement for he, she, it is marked with a final -s in present tense. See irregular forms below.

Simon wakes up early.

She wakes up early.

It wakes up early. (A dog; gender unknown)

Simon has a business. HAVE

Simon goes to work. GO

Simon does a lot of work. DO

Simon is a software designer. BE

Verb agreement for — I, You, They, We — is not marked in the present nonprogressive tense. The base form of the verb is used.

I / We wake up early.

You wake up early.

They wake up early.

I / You / They have a business.

I / You / They go to work.

I / You / They do a lot of work.

I am an architect. We / You / They are architects.

The terms noun and verb are word categories (forms) or "parts of speech".

The terms subject and predicate are the uses (functions) of the words in a particular clause. Word Functions

Third Person Singular Suffix Spellings

Final S

Third Person — Suffixes

forgo (V) — abstain, do without; forego (V) — go before, precede

sibilant – A sibilant is a type of fricative consonant that is made by directing air between the tip of the tongue and the back edge of the upper-two front teeth: s /s/, z /z/, sh /ʃ/ , zh /ʒ/ (liege)

Third person is a different word form

be ⇒ is (3rd sing.), am (1st sing.), are (others)

Simon is tall, and I am too. They are not tall.

do ⇒ does; go ⇒ goes

Simon goes to work and does his job well.

He has an important job.

Multiple Noun Agreement

Personal nouns in a series

Subject – predicate agreement with a series of nouns

Sam dances on stage every weekend.

Sam or Ted dances on stage . (I can't remember which.)

Sam, Mary, Ted and Sarah dance on stage.

Sam, Mary, Ted and a Sarah are on stage .

series (N) – one item occurs after the other, in line
stage (N) – the raised area in a theatre which actors or singers stand on when they perform

There agreement with a series of nouns

There does not have a particular subject-predicate agreement. The agreement is with the closest noun.

There is a man , a woman, and some children. (En-US)

There are a man , a woman and some children . (En-Br)

There agreement differs with dialectal usage. In Br-English, plural agreement is used if the closest noun is plural or if there are multiple items in a series. In US English, plural agreement is with the closest noun.

There are some children , a man, and a woman on stage. (En-US)

There are some children, a man, and a woman on stage.

Practice 1

Simon's Doughnut Habit

Read the Context

Simon [eat] a little breakfast at 6 a.m. every morning. Afterwards, he [pass] by a doughnut shop on the way to work. Walking [tax] his energy, so he [ stop] for a doughnut.

He [talk] for a while with the woman who sells doughnuts. The young woman [blush] when he compliments her. Everyday, Simon [discover] new things to talk about with her. Perhaps, Simon [buys] a doughnut for more than one reason. Simon [put] a couple napkins in his bag and then [leave] . Often, he [imagine] asking her out. But then his courage [fail] , and he [continue] walking to work.

Simon is a graphic artist, and he [sketch] designs on his computer. He often [touch] his computer screen and [get] it sticky. Sometimes, he [press] a key on the keyboard and it [stick] and repeats the letter. He often [push] too hard on the keys.

Simon is a bit messy, especially when he [mix] sugar into his coffee cup on his desk and [ spill] . He [try] not to get sugar onto his keyboard. He frequently [destroy] equipment by getting food on or in it. Sometimes, he [carry] a bag of apples into his office, and he [munch] on them while working.

Fortunately, Simon [employ] a service to clean his office every week. Simon accidentally [bury] things under papers, magazines and books, which need organizing. The office is so messy that sometimes the cleaner [ pry] open the door to get inside .

Simon [do] a few things to keep in shape . Simon [have] a membership to a gym. He also [play] tennis at a sports club.

Simon has modest desires. He [pray] for good health, an endless supply of doughnuts and a date with the pretty, young woman in the doughnut shop.

blush (V) — become red in the face, embarrassed

bury (V) — puts under other things; puts underground

compliment (V) — say something nice or flattering to someone; admire

discover (V) — to find something that you did not know about before

employ (V) — hire, arrange for a service

energy (N) — having the ability to do an activity, having power

fail (V) — not do what someone expects to do

graphic (Adj) — related to drawing, printing, and designing images

imagine (V) — think about with images in the mind

keyboard (N) — the part of the computer with letter, number and symbol keys

keep in shape (expression) — stay in strong physical condition

modest (Adj) — not very great, big, or expensive

munch (V) — eat noisily; He munched on an apple.

napkin (N) — small soft paper cloth for hands; serviette

organize (V) — put in order, make neat

pry (V) — force open with a tool, a lever

screen (N) — the monitor (face) of the computer.

sketch (N) — draw something quickly without a lot of detail; basic lines

sticky (Adj) — have a feeling like glue; He had sticky fingers after eating honey.

supply (N) — an amount of something available for use

tax (V) — to tire someone, make a person feel tired; or to charge someone for government services, demand tax

weekly (adv.) — happens once a week; every week,

Change the verb form to third person singular.

  1. Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
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