“Non-inverted” You can choose the following sentences, so that the verb follows the subject, and then select the correct verb form. Normally, the subject comes before the verb, but inverted sentences have the subject according to the verb. For example, sentences that begin There is . or there are. Are reversed. To check the subject-verb agreement in these sentences, “do not revert them” first. In the following sentences, label each verb with a “V” and each subject with an “S.” If the verbs are wrong, delete them and write the correct shape in space. Each verb must correspond to its subject in number (singular or plural). Subject-verb disagreement is one of the most frequently tested errors on the SAT. If you are a native English speaker, the best way to look for disagreements between subject and verb is to find the subject and verb (ignore all intermediate words) and say them together. The verb is the most important part of a sentence, but verbs are not always easy to detect. Look at the word swim in the sentences Ducks swim in the pond and ducks love to swim. In the first sentence, swimming is the verb.
In the second sentence, swimming is part of a substantive sentence. (Swimming is what ducks love.) So how do you recognize verbs? A verb is what gives the essential meaning of a clause (a number of words that convey an idea). Every idea needs a verb. The phrase Ducks swim in the pond says that there is something swimming somewhere, so the verb is swimming. The phrase Ducks love to swim says that something loves something, so the verb is love. Each verb requires a subject, that is, what the verb does. In both sentences, the theme is the duck. A verb can also require an object, that is, what the verb receives. In Ducks Love to Swim, the goal is to swim, because that`s what is loved. The subject of the verb is man. But spending people sounds wrong because spending is the “third person” form – as there are – but people are plural, so the phrase should spend people.
These rules will help you check if a verb in “number” fits its subject: sentences like Sam and Bob are plural, but sentences like Sam, in addition to Bob, are singular. Sentences that are both …, with . start with …, or in addition to . are breakers who are not part of the main theme….