Subject-verb agreement is an essential grammatical concept that every student needs to understand. It is the agreement between the subject and verb in a sentence, which means that both the subject and verb must match in number and person. A subject is the person or thing that the sentence is about, and the verb is the action or state of being of the subject.
In sixth grade, students learn about subject-verb agreement and the rules that govern it. The rules they learn are straightforward and will help them to write grammatically correct sentences.
Here are some of the essential rules of subject-verb agreement for sixth graders:
1. Singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs.
For example,
– The dog barks. (Singular subject and singular verb)
– The dogs bark. (Plural subject and plural verb)
2. Subjects that end in «s» are usually singular, but they take plural verbs.
For example,
– Math is my favorite subject. (Singular subject and singular verb)
– Politics are unavoidable. (Plural subject and plural verb)
3. Collective nouns refer to a group of people or things, but they are singular, and they take singular verbs.
For example,
– My family is going on vacation. (Collective noun as a singular subject and singular verb)
– The team wins the game. (Collective noun as a singular subject and singular verb)
4. Indefinite pronouns, such as everyone, anybody, and nobody, are singular, and they take singular verbs.
For example,
– Everyone is invited to the party. (Indefinite pronoun as a singular subject and singular verb)
– Nobody wants to go to school on a Monday morning. (Indefinite pronoun as a singular subject and singular verb)
5. Compound subjects joined by «and» are plural, and they take plural verbs.
For example,
– My sister and I are going to the park. (Compound subject as a plural subject and plural verb)
– The cat and the dog are playing in the yard. (Compound subject as a plural subject and plural verb)
6. When a subject and a verb are separated by a phrase, the verb agrees with the subject, not the phrase.
For example,
– The boy, along with his friends, runs in the park. (Singular subject and singular verb)
These are just some of the essential rules of subject-verb agreement that sixth graders learn. By understanding and applying these rules, students can write grammatically correct sentences and communicate their ideas effectively. Good luck, sixth graders!