Subject/Verb Agreement and Specificity Review

Subject/Verb Agreement and Specificity Review

By THOMAS MARR

The subject of a sentence is the main noun or pronoun that the sentence is about. They (and all other nouns that have verbs) need to agree.

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Subjects should agree with their verbs

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• Writes / Write

• Discusses / Discuss

• ​Says / Say

• ​Portrays / Portray

For example

**Add an "s" or "es" to the verb if the noun is singular, or if the pronoun is she, he, or it. A good way to remember is that "Singular" begins with an "s."

**If it's plural, just keep it in the infinitive form. ​

​Regular verbs (affirmative)

Luckily, when writing about literature we use the simple present tense, and most of the verbs are regular.

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• Does not write / do not write

• Does not discuss / do not discuss

• ​Does not say / do not say.

• Does not portray / do portray ​

For example

**When you're speaking in the negative (to do + "not" + verb), change only the form of "to do".

For singular subjects, use "does"

For plural subjects, use "do"​

​Regular verbs (Negative)

Negative forms are slightly different

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​For singular subjects (including he, she, it), use "has."

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For "I," use "have."

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For plurals (plus you and they), use "have."​

To Have

For singular subjects (including he, she, it), use "is."

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For "I," use "am."

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For plurals (plus you and they) use "are."​

To be

The only irregulars in the simple present are:

To be and to have​

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Fill in the blank with the correct form of the verb

​THE INFINITIVE VERB WILL BE PROVIDED FOR YOU AT THE BEGINNING. WRITE IN lowercase.

when introducing a quotation with a phrase that ends in a verb, use a comma.

You should have a verb at the end of your phrase.

For example, in "There Will Come Soft Rains," Teasdale writes,

For example, in "There Will Come Soft Rains," Teasdale illustrates,

Similarly, in "Spring in Wartime," Teasdale ​shows,

In contrast, in "Spring In Wartime," Teasdale says, ​

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...and use the appropriate verb before a quote.

Not all verbs will make sense.

"To write" is the most appropriate verb, as it covers everything, but don't overuse it.

"To illustrate" is great if there's a lot of imagery​.

"To show" is a more generic form of illustrate.

"To say" sometimes works if you've used "to write" too many times.​

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BE as specific as possible when you're writing.

Look at this sentence: In "There Will Come Soft Rains" Sara Teasdale writes about nature. In contrast, she doesn't do the same thing in "Spring in Wartime."

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My questions are: What about nature specifically does she write​; How does she write about nature; and if she "doesn't do the same thing" in the other poem, what does she do, exactly?

Subject | Subject

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Open Ended

Rewrite this sentence so the reader (me) knows exactly what you're referencing.

In "There Will Come Soft Rains" Sara Teasdale writes about nature. In contrast, she doesn't do the same thing in "Spring in Wartime."