Subject-Verb Agreement

Summary
Kimmy and Nikki introduce the concept of subject-verb agreement and how it works in sentences.

Transcript
(Kimmy and Nikki are in the garage, practicing their musical instruments. Kimmy has a guitar and Nikki has a flute)

Kimmy: Yo, Nikki. I have a new guitar solo.

Nikki: Really? Well, let's hear it.

(Kimmy plays a riff on her guitar)

Nikki: Uh...nice.

Kimmy: Yeah, I practiced playing this guitar ever since I was a kid. I really hope I get to join my friend's band with this baby.

Caption: Today's Lesson: Subject-Verb Agreement.

Narrator: Today, Kimmy and Nikki are going to explain how to get subjects and verbs to agree.

Kimmy: Subject-verb agreement is all about numbers. A subject has to agree with its verb in number. Single subjects are followed by single verbs and plural subjects are followed by plural verbs.

Nikki: For instance, let's take Kimmy playing the guitar. Kimmy is one single person, so we say, "Kimmy plays the guitar." Our subject is "Kimmy" and our subject is "plays". Take away the rest and "Kimmy plays" is still a correct sentence. "Kimmy" and "plays" agree.

Kimmy: But if Nikki were to pick up a guitar and play it along with me, then our subject would be "Kimmy and Nikki".

Nikki: That's right. Our sentence would be "Kimmy and Nikki play the guitar." Again, you can check to see if this is correct by removing the extra words, leaving just the subject and verb. "Kimmy and Nikki play."

Kimmy: It sounds right, and sometimes with the English language, that's the best way to know if something's correct. "Kimmy and Nikki play" agrees in number, but "Kimmy and Nikki plays" does not. You can hear that the first way just sounds more correct.

Nikki: That's right, because most verbs that end in "s" are singular. That's the opposite of nouns; when they end in "s'", they're usually plural. All right, let's get back to our music.

Kimmy: Um, I don't think I want you to play in my band.

Nikki: Huh? How come?

Kimmy: Because your flute-playing is horrible, and you're way too demanding.

Nikki: I'm too demanding? What are you talking about? Fine. I'll just go solo.

(Kimmy walks off as Nikki picks up her flute. She tries to play it, but it turns out that she's not very good)

Nikki: Darn.