Subjects and verbs should agree: if the subject is in the third-person singular, the verb should be in the third-person singular — “Dinner is on the table.” Yet sometimes context affects subject-verb agreement, as when we say that “macaroni and cheese make a great combination” but that “macaroni and cheese is our family’s favorite comfort food.” This chapter focuses on subject-verb agreement (Subjects are shown in brown; verbs in yellow).
S-5a Agreement in Number and Person
Subjects and verbs should agree with each other in number (singular or plural) and person (first, second, or third). To make a present-tense verb agree with a third-person singular subject, add - s or - es to the base form.
▸ A 1922 ad for Resinol soap urges women to “make that dream come true” by using Resinol.— Doug Lantry, “’Stay Sweet as You Are’”
To make a present-tense verb agree with any other subject, simply use the base form without any ending.
▸ I listen to NPR every morning while I brush my teeth.
▸ Drunk drivers cause thousands of preventable deaths each year.
Be and have have irregular forms (shown on p. 263) and so do not follow the - s / - es rule.
▸ The test of all knowledge is experiment.
— Richard Feynman, “Atoms in Motion”
▸ The scientist has a lot of experience with ignorance and doubt and uncertainty, and this experience is of great importance.
— Richard Feynman, “The Value of Science”