What Is Subject Predicate Agreement

Subject-Predicate agreement is a grammatical concept that is crucial in ensuring that sentences and statements are grammatically correct and clear. In simple terms, it is the matching of the subject and predicate of a sentence in terms of number, person, and tense. This agreement is fundamental in ensuring that the sentences we write and speak are easily understood by our target audience.

To understand subject-predicate agreement, we must first comprehend what a subject and predicate are. A subject is a word or phrase that is the topic of a sentence, while the predicate refers to the action or state that the subject is performing or undergoing. For example, in the sentence “John runs every morning,” John is the subject, and runs is the predicate.

Subject-Predicate agreement involves matching the subject of a sentence with the appropriate verb in terms of number, person, and tense. This agreement ensures that the subject and predicate agree in terms of whether they are singular or plural, who is performing the action, and when the action is happening. For example, in the sentence “The dog barks at the mailman,” the subject, the dog, is singular, and the predicate, barks, agrees with it by being in the third-person singular form.

To ensure proper subject-predicate agreement, it is essential to pay attention to the following key rules:

1. Use singular subjects with singular predicates and plural subjects with plural predicates. For example, “The boy runs” is correct because boy is singular, while “The boys run” is correct because boys is plural.

2. Ensure that the subject and predicate agree in terms of person. For example, “I run” (first person singular) matches with “He runs” (third person singular).

3. Match the subject and predicate in terms of tense. For example, “She is reading a book” (present tense) matches with “He was reading a book” (past tense).

Subject-Predicate agreement plays a crucial role in effective communication. It is imperative to ensure that it is consistently and appropriately used to avoid confusion and miscommunication. By understanding and following the above rules, you can achieve proper subject-predicate agreement and produce clear, concise, and grammatically correct sentences.