Subject-Verb
Agreement and Common Errors - I
Dear
readers, in the previous post we discussed some of the common errors associated
with framing questions that English as non-native speakers encounter in their
daily conversation. This present post highlights the common errors that people
tend to commit in terms of Subject-Verb Agreement.
Mostly, we commit mistakes based on subject-verb agreement in our English. We should
learn that the verb agrees with the subject. If a subject is singular, it takes a singular
verb; if a subject is plural, it takes a plural verb. Let us look at some
of the common errors that we might encounter in our daily conversations.
1.
Naren play kabaddi. (Incorrect)
Naren plays kabaddi.
(Correct)
If the subject is singular, the verb takes ‘s’ though
the verb is singular. Here the subject is third person singular and hence, we
should add ‘s’ with main verb.
2.
John and Henry works together. (Incorrect)
John and Henry work together. (Correct)
Here we use two subjects,
so the verb should be plural. If the subject is plural, the verb is also
plural.
3.
Students prepares for the exam. (Incorrect)
Students prepare
for the exam. (Correct)
Here the
subject ‘students’ is a plural word, and therefore we should not add ‘s’ with
the verb.
4.
Children likes ice cream. (Incorrect)
Children like ice
cream. (Correct)
The word ‘children’ is a plural subject, though it does
not take the
suffix ‘s’. Therefore, we should not add ‘s’ with the
verb.
5.
I and you are good friends. (Incorrect)
You and
I are good friends. (Correct)
When we use personal pronouns in the same sentence,
first preference should be given to the second person, who is our listener. The
third and first person will take secondary preference only in a sentence.
Let us discuss some more ideas on the same topic
in the next post.
Author:
Dr. K. Nandhakumar
Assistant Professor of English
Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Arts and Science
(Autonomous)
Coimbatore- 641 020
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