When we talk about one thing, the verb often ends in -s: “The dog runs.” When we talk about more than one, it does not: “The dogs run.”
Some words change completely. We say “I am”, “he is” and “they are”. We say “she has” but “we have”. Matching the verb to the naming word makes your sentence sound right.
This is called agreement: the words agree with each other.
Worked example
Choose the right word: “The birds ___ in the tree.” (sing / sings)
- Is it one bird or many? Birds means many.
- Many things do not take -s on the verb.
Answer:The birds sing in the tree.
Key words
- one
- a single thing
- more than one
- two or more things (plural)
- match
- go together correctly
Practise this
New questions every time.
Common Core-referenced: L.1.1c