Lesson 3

Lesson 3 - Subject/Verb Agreement - Singular Nouns and Pronouns He, She, It

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Assessed Skills from Tennessee Blueprint - 6th Grade

Identify sentences with correct subject-verb agreement (person/number) within context.

Identify the correct spelling of plurals and possessives. (plural spelling of verbs)

Identify the correct use of the following within context:

·1 nouns (i.e., common/proper, singular/plural, possessives);

·2 pronouns (i.e., agreement, subject, object);

·3 verbs (i.e., action/linking, regular/irregular, agreement);

·1 adjectives (i.e., common/proper, comparative forms);

·2 adverbs (i.e., comparative forms).

Developing Skills from Tennessee Blueprint - 6th Grade

Use verbs appropriately (e.g., agree with the subject in person and number, action verbs that take objects, linking verbs, helping verbs, verb phrases, verb tenses, and regular and irregular verb forms).

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In Lesson 3 you will learn to correctly make subjects and verbs agree when the subjects are singular.

Subjects and verbs must work together. They must agree. A verb that ends in a single -s, -es, or -ies is used with a singular noun or with the pronoun subject - he, she, or it.

NOTE: Here are the rules for writing singular verbs.

Add s for most verbs.
An es is added to verbs that end with ss, ch, sh, x, or z so that they can be used with singular nouns or with the pronouns he, she or it.
     guess » guesses
     crunch » crunches
     brush » brushes
     fix » fixes
     buzz » buzzes

When a verb ends with a consonant and y, the y is changed to i and es is added so that the verb can be used with a singular noun or with the pronouns he, she or it.
     fly » flies
     study » studies
     copy » copies
Do not change the –y when the base form ends in a vowel +y. Add –s
      play » plays
     enjoy » enjoys

Examples:

apricot	ripens	The apricot ripens on the tree.
caravan	travels	The caravan with supplies for the Emberites travels to the Pioneer Hotel.
chicken	searches	The chicken searches for worms between the rows of cabbage plants.
Doon	carries	Doon carries all his belongings to the hotel.
he	takes	He takes the room with a chair.
she	cries	She cries when she wakes up feeling sick.
it	says	It says that trucks use to run on gasoline.

Special Rules

Two singular subjects connected by or or nor require a singular verb.

Doon's father or Edward sleeps on the closet floor of the hotel.
Two singular subjects connected by either/or or neither/nor require a singular verb.

Neither Sadge nor Edwards complains of the hard floor.
The pronouns each, everyone (meaning everybody), everybody, anyone, anybody, someone, many a, and somebody are singular. Do not be misled by what follows of.

Each of the men sleeps well.

Use a singular verb with sums of money or periods of time.

Forty dollars buys very little.
Two hundred years totals a long time for the people of Ember to live underground.

A few subjects look plural but are really singular or vice versa.

The news of the Emberites spreads through the town.
Mumps makes one's cheeks hurt and causes swelling and fever.

When the Subject is a Title use a singular verb.

Even when a title is plural (like The Dragonslayers, How to Eat Fried Worms, or Holes), it
functions like a singular subject, and it needs an -s ending on its verb.

     The People of Sparks tells the story of the Emberites after they come out of the caves.

Practice Part A  -  Circle the correct verb that agrees with each singular noun subject.

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Poppy (sleep, sleeps) all day long.
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The doctor (stand, stands) by the table in her nightgown.

Each of the leaders (agree, agrees) that the Emberites may stay in Sparks for six months.

The doctor's kitchen (look, looks) like a complete mess to Lina.

The news that the people of Ember will sleep in a hotel (spread, spreads) quickly.

Lina (throw, throws) the egg at Torren. It (crash, crashes) on his shirt.

A tomato vine (grow, grows) on a wooden tower. It (climb, climbs) over three feet tall.

Torren (push, pushes) Lina. She (stumble, stumbles) backward and (catch, catches) herself just in time to keep from falling into the cabbage bed.

Dr. Hester (seem, seems) flummoxed by these questions.

Torren (go, goes) up to the loft. He (come, comes) back down with a bulging bag.

Part B  -  Use a form of the work in parentheses to fill in each blank.

Lina ________________ she can go back to the plaza and find Doon. (think)

She ________________ Poppy in bed. (leave)

One of the boys ________________ the ball. (catch)

Dr. Hester  ________________ to have a hundred things to do. (seem)

Each of the directions  ________________  of a cure that Dr. Hester 
 ________________  is useless. (tell, feel)

Neither Torren's mother or father  ________________ through the avalanche. (live)

The truck  ________________ down. (break)

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No one  ________________ the car. (fix)
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The bird  ________________ high into the clouds. (fly)

Lina  ________________ many questions. (ask)

Part C - Multiple Choice

Which of the following is written correctly?
1. Gas run out.
2. He find one last truck that still has gas.
3. The truck break down.
4. He opens the hood.

Which of the following sentences does not contain a mistake?
1. Lina fixs the blanket over Poppy.
2. Electricity keeps the lamp working.
3. His voice infuriate Lina.
4. The teacher in Torren's school teachs him about the old times.
Choose the answer that is written correctly.
1. The story confuses Lina.
2. Torren roll his eyes.
3. The coughing sickness kill many people.
4. The insect buzzs in Lina's ear.
Which of the following sentences does not contain a mistake?
1. The Terrible Weapon makes a loud sound.
2. Neither Lina or Doon sleep at all that night.
3. Torren cast an indifferent glance at Mr. Murdo.
4. One of the people mixs medicine for Dr. Hester.
Choose the answer that is written correctly.
1. Each day bring a new discovery to Doon.
2. Edward or Sadge stays awake.
3. The road away from Sparks led to another city.
4. It sound like Poppy is saying, "Wy-na".
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Part A

sleeps
stands
agrees
looks
spreads
throws
grows
pushes, stumbles, catches
seems
goes, comes

Part B

thinks
leaves
catches
seems
tells, feels
lives
breaks
fixes
flies
asks

Part C - Multiple Choice