Explain the concept of subject-verb agreement in interrogative sentences.

Sentence Structure Questions Long



80 Short 80 Medium 80 Long Answer Questions Question Index

Explain the concept of subject-verb agreement in interrogative sentences.

Subject-verb agreement is a grammatical concept that refers to the agreement between the subject and the verb in a sentence. In interrogative sentences, subject-verb agreement is still applicable, but it may have some variations compared to declarative sentences.

In interrogative sentences, the subject and the verb are often inverted, meaning that the verb comes before the subject. This inversion is commonly used to form questions. For example, in the declarative sentence "She is going to the store," the subject "she" comes before the verb "is going." However, in the interrogative form, it becomes "Is she going to the store?" where the verb "is" comes before the subject "she."

In terms of subject-verb agreement, the verb in an interrogative sentence should still agree with the subject in terms of number and person. This means that if the subject is singular, the verb should be in the singular form, and if the subject is plural, the verb should be in the plural form.

For example:
- Singular subject: "Does he like ice cream?" Here, the singular subject "he" agrees with the singular verb "does."
- Plural subject: "Do they play soccer?" In this case, the plural subject "they" agrees with the plural verb "do."

It is important to note that when the subject is a pronoun, the verb form changes to match the pronoun. For example, "Does she like coffee?" Here, the singular pronoun "she" agrees with the singular verb "does."

In some cases, when the subject of the interrogative sentence is a noun phrase or a noun clause, the verb form may not change. Instead, the verb agrees with the noun or pronoun within the subject. For instance, "What is your favorite color?" Here, the singular verb "is" agrees with the singular noun "color," even though the subject "What" is not a singular noun.

In summary, subject-verb agreement in interrogative sentences involves inverting the subject and verb, while still ensuring that the verb agrees with the subject in terms of number and person. This agreement is crucial for maintaining grammatical correctness and clarity in interrogative sentences.