Subject-verb Agreement Rules for Competitive Exams

You might have heard of several English grammar lessons in your school or college time, but today you are going to learn and new lesson subject verb agreement. You may probably have not heard of it.

In this article, you are going to learn some unprecedented grammar rules and have a precise exercise at the end continue reading the article.

What is subject-verb agreement?

When we learn the formation of sentences in English, we know the basic sentence structure it contains (Subject + Verb + Object)

This is a formation where the verb follows its subject.

The subject verb agreement meaning shows the relation of a verb with a noun or pronoun acting as the subject.

Read more: Verbs Definition with Examples

Subject-verb agreement is a chapter wherein you learn how a subject agrees with the verb in various situations. Let’s understand this concept with subject verb agreement examples;

I am reading a book.

He is watching a video.

They are sleeping.

In the above-mentioned sentences, there are different subjects following different verbs in the same tense.

There are several rules apart from tenses that we cover in the subject-verb agreement chapter. In this article, you are going to learn one of such subject verb agreement rules. After completion of examples, you will have an exercise based on several useful questions with a view to speaking differently and making an impression on the audience. These rules are also important in the competitive exam view.

1. When we connect two nouns or pronouns with these words, the verb always follows the first subject.

As well as (and)

This is how you can use ‘as well as’. But when we connect two subjects, the verb follows the first subject.

1 He as well as I is going to school.

2 I as well as my friends am not ready for the exams.

3 My best friend is intelligent as well as honest.

4 He plays Cricket as well as Football.

5 Students write and speak in English.

6 They answer wisely as well as precisely.

Unlike (not like)

1 Children unlike their parents waste money. (Children are not like their parents)

2 English unlike other languages is easy. (English is not like other languages)

3 He unlike his father is handsome. (He is not like father)

4 Teacher unlike his students likes studying. (Teacher likes studying)

5 Neha unlike her siblings is beautiful. (She is beautiful)

With

1 My friend with his parents is going to New York.

2 She with her classmates was celebrating Holi.

3 I with my best friends am not going to school.

4 Romeo with his wife and children plans for an outstation tour.

5 He with all the team members has finished his project.

Accompanied by, headed by, along with (together)

We use these connecting words when we have to use more than one subject or object. They show that the both subject and objects were doing the same thing.

Accompanied by

1 Raju accompanied by his colleagues has scored 5 ratings.

2 The principal accompanied by all the teachers is the winner of the competition.

Along with

1 The teacher along with his students is present in the class.

2 We along with the soldiers take an oath to protect the country.

3 She along with her community people is protesting for justice.

4 The captain along with the soldiers was awarded for bravery.

Headed by

1 Team Indian headed by Virat Kohli won the world cup.

2 The New York team headed by the manager will be working efficiently.

Together with

1 English together with other subjects is necessary to study.

2 Raju together with his parents is traveling to his village.

In addition to

We use this to show two similar things. We use it like ‘and’.

Note-we use (V+ing) after In addition to. (Going, studying, sleeping, learning)

1 He speaks Hindi in addition to English. (Speaks both languages)

2 They learn in addition to earning. (They learn and earn.)

3 In addition to teaching English, he can write articles.

4 He can play Football in addition to Cricket.

Let’s try this exercise out!