0
Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Subject verb agreement
Hello everyone
As a rule of thumb, I have learned that a singular verb will be followed by singular pronoun or subject.
For example: She is a good girl or They are good students. I'm aware of the singular and plural usage here.
But what I find rather difficult to understand is why do we say, for example, they write beautifully and she writes beautifully? 'They' is a plural pronoun and, in my knowledge, 'write' is a singular verb.
Aren't we making a verb plural by adding 's' (or 'ies' like in applies etc...) its end? If not, how can we make verbs plural?
Could somebody clarify my doubts, please?
As a rule of thumb, I have learned that a singular verb will be followed by singular pronoun or subject.
For example: She is a good girl or They are good students. I'm aware of the singular and plural usage here.
But what I find rather difficult to understand is why do we say, for example, they write beautifully and she writes beautifully? 'They' is a plural pronoun and, in my knowledge, 'write' is a singular verb.
Aren't we making a verb plural by adding 's' (or 'ies' like in applies etc...) its end? If not, how can we make verbs plural?
Could somebody clarify my doubts, please?
Top answer
Aren't you confusing verbs and nouns? The plural form of nouns usually takes -s: apples, trees, dogs, ... The plural of verbs is very easy: it's the verb in its plain form (expect for 'to be').
- Aren't you confusing verbs and nouns?
- The plural form of nouns usually takes -s: apples, trees, dogs, ...
- The plural of verbs is very easy: it's the verb in its plain form (expect for 'to be').
- ) So: plural of nouns -> +s plural of verbs -> plain form (3rd person singular of verbs -> +s)
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
1 Answers
0
Aren't you confusing verbs and nouns? The plural form of nouns usually takes -s: apples, trees, dogs, ...
The plural of verbs is very easy: it's the verb in its plain form (expect for 'to be').
I write
you write
he/she/it writes (3rd person singular: verb + s)
we write (plural!)
you write (plural!)
they write (plural!)
So: plural of nouns -> +s
The plural of verbs is very easy: it's the verb in its plain form (expect for 'to be').
I write
you write
he/she/it writes (3rd person singular: verb + s)
we write (plural!)
you write (plural!)
they write (plural!)
So: plural of nouns -> +s
0
Related Questions