GED 2002 Teachers’ Handbook of Lesson Plans

Area/Skill - LA, Writing Cognitive Skill Level - Application Correlation to Framework - 01.02 Lesson Number - 06
Materials/Texts/Realia/Handouts
Activity Title - Grammar– Subject-Verb Agreement
• Handout—Subject-Verb Agree-
Goal/Objective ment
• Handout—The 5-Step Subject-
To enable students to write sentences in which the subject and the verbs are either both plural or both singular. Verb Edit Process
Lesson Outline • Paper and pencils
Introduction • Boxes for sentence fragments
• Whiteboard or Chart Paper and
Subjects and verbs can be either singular or plural. When used in a sentence, the subject and verb must always Marker s
agree. Review the basics of subject and verb agreement, including the verbs to be and to have.

Activity
Extension Activity
Distribute and review the handout containing basic rules of subject-verb agreement. Write the following on the
board. See how many combinations the students can make from these examples. Have students review sample GED es-
Subject fragments: Verb Fragments: says and identify any instances of
The parrots and the squirrels are colorful. problems with subject-verb agree-
The luggage smells bad. ment. Have the students sentences
The box of envelopes listens to the radio. that contain errors in subject-verb
Not only the nurses but also the doctor was full of hot air. agreement. This will give students
A random sentence might be “The luggage listens to the radio” or “The box of envelopes are colorful”. opportunities to build their editing
Ask the students to write subject and verb sentence fragments on little slips of paper (both singular and plural). skills.
Put them into two boxes and ask the students to draw a fragment from each and read the sentence that is
formed.
ESE/ESOL Accommodations
Debriefing/Evaluation Activity
The sentences may be comical or may make no sense at all. Since the sentence makes no sense, the process is Pair students who need help with an-
free of student habit or other influences. Use the 5-step process to review the sentences and determine if the other student who will help them.
subject and verb are in agreement. Have students make corrections as needed.
Provide assistive technology such as a
Real-Life Connection word processor with spelling and
grammar checkers to help students
Have students review articles from the local paper to see if they can identify any errors in subject-verb agree- who have difficulty with the writing
ment. Ask students to identify common “slang” expressions that have errors in subject-verb agreement. For ex- process.
ample: “he don’t”, “we is”, etc. Explain that the way we speak can have a tremendous effect on the way others
will view us. Help students identify common errors with subject-verb agreement so they will not have problems
on job interviews, meetings, etc.

GED 2002
 GED 2002 Teachers’ Handbook of Lesson Plans
Area/Skill - LA, Writing Cognitive Skill Level - Application Correlation to Framework - 01.02 Lesson Number - 06

Activity Title— Grammar: Subject-Verb Agreement

Introduction

Say: Subject-verb agreement refers to the rule that a singular subject must be followed by a singular verb, and a plural subject must be followed by a
plural verb. That sounds pretty straight forward, but to write sentences that are in agreement, you must be able to identify the subject and the verb, and
whether they are singular or plural. Does a singular verb always end in “s”?

Main Activity

Distribute and review the handout containing basic rules of subject-verb agreement. Write the following on the board. See how many combinations the
students can make from these examples.
Subject fragments: Verb Fragments:
The parrots and the squirrels are colorful.
The luggage smells bad.
The box of envelopes listens to the radio.
Not only the nurses but also the doctor was full of hot air.

Say: I want each of you to write five subject and five verb sentence fragments on little slips of paper. We are going to put them in two boxes and then
each of you will select a subject and verb fragment and make a sentence with them. I know some of them may not make any sense or will be funny. After
we put the subjects and verbs together we will correct the sentences.

Debriefing/Evaluation Activity

Use the 5-step process to review the sentences and determine if the students have responded properly. Say: Using appropriate grammar goes further
than when we are writing – often when we talk with other people we don’t use proper subject-verb agreement in our conversation. Ask: Have you ever
said “he don’t know what he is doing” or “we is going down to the store”? If you use this type of language, people will judge you differently. If you use
this type of language on an interview you probably won’t get the job. Subject-verb agreement is just one way to improve your spoken and written com-
munication skills.

GED 2002
 Subject-Verb Agreement

RULE - The subject and verb of a sentence must agree. A singular subject must have a
singular verb and a plural subject must have a plural verb.

1. The indefinite pronouns listed below are singular and require a singular verb.
one no one anyone everyone someone
each no body anybody everybody somebody
anything everything something

No one is listening.
Everyone is listening.

2. The indefinite pronouns listed below are plural and require a plural verb.
both few many several

Many students understand the lesson. But a few are still confused.

3. Collective nouns, words that refer to a group of people or things, are treated as a
singular unit and require singular verbs.
audience company class group committee crowd team choir

The group goes together everywhere. The team is inseparable.

4. Indefinite pronouns can be treated as either singular or plural, depending upon

what they refer to within the context of the sentence.
most some none part any all

Most of the people are happy with the class.

Most of the corn is burned.

5. Watch out for words that appear to be plural because they end in “s”, but are really
singular and require a singular verb.
politics news athletics civics

The news is bad.

Politics makes strange bedfellows.

6. Some words are plural and require a plural verb even when used to refer to only one
object. Notice if used to refer to more than one, the plural form of the word stays the
same.
Jeans scissors pliers shears pants trousers

The scissors are in the other room.

His jeans are ill-fitting; they hang low on the hips and appear as if they will fall off at any moment.
7. Here and There
The words here and there are expletives and cannot be the subjects of sentences. Notice that they
often begin sentences and can look confusingly like subjects. The real subject lies elsewhere in the
sentence:

Here is the book you ordered.

There is no one at the office.

8. Compound Subjects joined by “And”

When a sentence contains more than one subject and those subjects are joined by “and”, the
subject is considered plural and the verb must also be plural:

Fruits and vegetables are both necessary to a well balanced diet.

The dog and the cat are unconcerned about the other’s presence.

9. Compound Subjects joined by “either,…or”, “neither,…nor”, and “not only,…but

also”
When compound subjects are joined by any of the above combinations of words, the verb must
agree with the subject that is closest to the verb:

Neither the candles nor the lamp creates the right amount of light.
Neither the lamp nor the candles create the right amount of light.
 SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
FIVE-STEP EDIT PROCESS

1. Identify the subject.

The subject is the person or thing the sentence is about.

2. Determine whether the subject is singular or plural.

3. Identify the verb.

The verb expresses a physical action, a mental action or a feeling about the subject.

4. Determine whether the verb is singular or plural.

5. If the subject and the verb are both singular or are both plural, they
agree. If they are not both the same, then you must change the verb so
that it agrees with the subject, or vice versa.

Usually the verb is changed rather than the subject, because the writer knows
whether he/she is referring to one or more than one thing. In other words, the
subject is the choice of the speaker and so the verb should be the word that is
changed.