
Subject and Verbs Chapter 1-3
Subject • The subject of a sentence is the person, place, thing, or idea that the sentence is about. • Who or what the sentence is about. • Who or what is doing something in the sentence • People applauded. • Gloria wrote the answers on the board.
Subject cont. • A subject will always be either a noun or pronoun.
Verbs • A verb is a word that expresses action or state of being.
Linking Verbs • Link (or join) a noun to something that is said about it. • The clouds are steel gray. • Links the noun (clouds) to the words that describe it (steel gray). • Common linking verbs • Am, appear, become, feel, is, look, seem, sound, was, were
Irregular Verbs • Most verbs are regular. They form their past tense by adding -ed or -d to the basic form: • Example Basic/Present Tense Past Tense ask asked raise raised
Subject-Verb Agreement • A verb must agree in number (singular/plural) with its subject. • The present tense of a regular verb has two forms: -singular subject -plural subject • Add s or es to the present tense of the verb when the subject is a singular noun.
Sing./Plur. subject • Singular subject -Sam’s puppy always cries for treats. • Plural subject: -Both puppies cry for treats.
Sing./Plur. Subject cont. • When the subject is a singular pronoun (he, she, it), add sor es to the verb. • Example: -Singular subject: She likes to write. -Plural subject: They like to write.
Subject and Verb • In the office everyone works hard. • Some people sort mail. • Mrs.. Davis prepares the payroll. • Her assistant enters the information into a computer. • The computer prints the checks.
Compound subject • These are made up of two nouns connected by a joining word. • Subjects joined by and generally take a plural verb. Examples • Running and lifting weights are good ways to keep in shape. • Fear and ignorancehave a lot to do with hatred.