Grammar Syntax Questions Medium
Subject-verb agreement refers to the grammatical rule that states that the subject and verb in a sentence must agree in number. This means that a singular subject should be paired with a singular verb, and a plural subject should be paired with a plural verb.
When it comes to compound objects, subject-verb agreement can become slightly more complex. A compound object is a grammatical structure where a single subject is connected to multiple objects. In this case, the subject and verb must agree with the closest object in terms of number.
For example, consider the sentence: "John and his friends play basketball." Here, the subject is "John and his friends," which is a compound object consisting of multiple individuals. However, since "friends" is plural, the verb "play" also needs to be in the plural form to maintain subject-verb agreement.
On the other hand, if the sentence were: "John or his friends plays basketball," the verb "plays" would be in the singular form because the closest object, "John," is singular.
In summary, subject-verb agreement with compound objects requires the verb to agree with the closest object in terms of number. This rule ensures grammatical accuracy and clarity in sentences.