No Mistakes Grammar Bites, Volume XXVII, “Subject and Verb Agreement” and “Capitalization Rules”

By Giacomo Giammatteo

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Don't Ever Be Confused by Grammar Again. Take a "bite" out of Grammar with No Mistakes Grammar Bites.

It seems as if many dictionaries and books on grammar do their best to confuse people. Words and explanations are defined using grammatical terminology that is difficult to understand; in fact, if you knew that terminology, you probably wouldn't have to look up the words to begin with.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Giacomo Giammatteo
• Release date: Apr 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781949074505

Giacomo Giammatteo

Giacomo Giammatteo lives in Texas, where he and his wife run an animal sanctuary and take care of 41 loving rescues. By day, he works as a headhunter in the medical device industry, and at night, he writes.

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No Mistakes Grammar Bites, XXVII

© 2017 Giacomo Giammatteo. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Inferno Publishing Company

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No Mistakes Grammar Bites, XXVII

Subject and Verb Agreement and Capitalization Rules

Giacomo Giammatteo

Inferno Publishing Company

Contents

1. Subject-Verb Agreement

2. General Capitalization

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also by Giacomo Giammatteo

Chapter One

Subject-Verb Agreement

A frequently seen error, especially found in books or pieces of writing that haven’t been professionally edited, is the misuse of subject-verb agreement. It doesn’t seem to be such a grievous error, but it is one of the cornerstones of good grammar and should be adhered to.

On the surface, the rule appears easy to follow.

The subject and verb must agree with each other in number. In other words, if you use a singular subject, you need to use a singular verb. A plural subject requires a plural verb.

A greyhound runs fast.

Greyhounds run fast.

Mary and Tom have coffee every morning.

Mary has coffee every morning.

Coffee is necessary in the morning.

Many cups of coffee are necessary in the morning.

Two things to note: First, in case you weren’t aware, a singular subject takes (what appears) to be a plural verb because it ends in s. The reverse is true for plural subjects. (Remember that with plural nouns as well as I and you, you don’t add an s to the verb.)

Examples follow.

The greyhound (he or she) runs fast.

The greyhounds (they) run fast

Mary and Tom have coffee every morning.

Mary has coffee every morning.

I skate faster than she does.

She skates faster than I do.

They skate faster than both of us.

You skate better than I thought.

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As you can see, the pronoun I takes a plural verb, as does you, as well as they.

You use the singular verb (the one with the s) when the subject is in the third person present tense.

He