Lesson 5 Subject-Verb Agreement (Auxiliary and Linking Verbs)

Essential Question

How do we make an irregular verb singular or plural?

Grammar in the World

What Do I Know?

Use the interactive exercise below to see what you already know about subject-verb agreement with auxiliary and linking verbs:

Building Blocks

Grammar is a complex system and structure of language. Mizzou Academy Grammar Lab spotlights one skill (or block) at a time, but it’s often helpful to see how a skill works together with other, related blocks to build the language structure as a whole. You may find the following resource topics helpful as context for this lesson:

Learn About Subject-Verb Agreement with Auxiliary and Linking Verbs

The subject of a sentence is the person, place, thing or idea that does or is something in a sentence. When a noun or pronoun functions as the subject in a sentence, we call them subject nouns and subject pronouns.

The largest tree on our campus is a pin oak.

Students are eating ice cream under the tree.

The verb in a sentence is the action or state of being that the subject does or is.

The largest tree on our campus is a pin oak.

Students are eating ice cream under the tree.

When we write or speak, we make our subjects and verbs match -- they either are singular or plural.

A singular subject takes a singular verb.

In Missouri, the season of summer is from June through September.

Our campus has delicious Tiger Stripe ice cream at Buck’s Ice Cream Shop.

A plural subject takes a plural verb.

The months of summer are from June through September.

Buck’s Ice Cream flavors are produced by food science students at Mizzou.

In general, we add an -s to verbs to make them singular, and we add an -s to nouns to make them plural. However, auxiliary verbs (also known as helping verbs) and some linking verbs work differently.

Note: to be, to do, and to have can be either helping or linking verbs, depending on the sentence.

Auxiliary/Linking Verb	Singular	Plural
to be	am/is was I am she is he is	are were we are they are
to do	do/does I do she does he does	do we do they do
to have	have/has I have she has he has	have we have they have

You often will see these verbs used in contractions. A contraction is a combination of two words, joined together into one word by using an apostrophe.

Auxiliary Subject and Verb

Contraction

I am

She/He is

You are

We are

They are

I’m

She’s/He’s

You’re

We’re

They’re

I had

She/He had

You had

We had

They had

I’d

She'd/He'd

You’d

We’d

They’d

I have

She/He has

You have

We have

They have

I’ve

She’s/He’s

You’ve

We’ve

They’ve

Look at each bold subject and bold/italics helping verb in these lyrics from Katrina and the Waves’ famous song, “Walking on Sunshine.”

I used to think maybe you loved me

Now, baby, I’m[I am] sure

And I just can't wait 'til the day

When you knock on my door

Now every time I go for the mailbox

Gotta hold myself down

'Cause I just can't wait 'til you write me

You’re [You are] coming around

Now I’m [I am] walking on sunshine

I’m [I am] walking on sunshine

And it’s [it is]starting to feel good, hey

All right now

And it’s [it is] starting to feel good...

Here are some tips to help create subject-verb agreement between subjects and helping verbs.

Be, Can, Do

The verbs to be, to do, and to have are singular or plural in sentences.

I am walking on sunshine. You are walking on sunshine.
He does walk on sunshine. We do walk on sunshine.
She has walked on sunshine. They have walked on sunshine.

→ Notice that with modal helping verbs, the number (singular or plural) does not change:

I could walk on sunshine. You could walk on sunshine.
He would walk on sunshine. We would walk on sunshine.
She might walk on sunshine. They might walk on sunshine.

Forming Questions

We use helping verbs to form questions. To make the subject and verb agree, change the position of the helping verb (not the main verb).

You have visited the beach recently.

Have you visited the beach recently?

I am looking forward to sunny days.

Why am I looking forward to sunny days?

He does not like melted ice cream.

Does he like melted ice cream?

We are packing a picnic lunch.

Are we packing a picnic lunch?

They have planned to canoe down the river.

Have they planned to canoe down the river?

Do I Get It?

Sunflowers, by Vincent Van Gogh

Use the interactive below to see how much you've learned about subject-verb agreement with auxiliary and linking verbs.

Note that there are two exercises in this one interactive. When you finish the first one, click on Slide 2 to continue.