Refreshment of Grammar Review

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering verb forms, tenses, and specific rules for subject-verb agreement based on the lecture material.

Verbs

Words that show action or a state of being.

Tense

The form of a verb that shows when the action takes place.

Four forms of a verb

The Present, Past, Present Participle, and Past Participle used to make different verb tenses.

Simple Present Tense

Formed using the present form of the verb and used for repeated action or habits.

Simple Past Tense

Formed using the past form of the verb and used for action completed in the past.

Simple Future Tense

Formed using the helping verb "will" and the present form of the verb, used for action not yet completed.

Subject

A part of a sentence that contains the person or thing performing the action (or verb) in a sentence.

Subject-Verb Agreement (Singular)

A singular subject must have a singular verb, such as "A big ship sails into the harbor."

Subject-Verb Agreement (Plural)

A plural subject must have a plural verb, such as "The big ships sail into the harbor."

Intervening Phrase Rule

Words between the subject and verb, such as "on the oak tree" or "under the heat of the sun", do not affect the agreement.

Compound Subjects with "and"

A rule stating that a plural verb is used for subjects joined by "and", for example "The door and the window are both stuck."

Singular subjects joined by "Either,or" or "Neither,nor"

A rule stating that these requires a singular verb, for example "Either Roy or Ben is handsome in my eyes."

Mixed subjects joined by "Either,or" or "Neither,nor"

A rule stating that if a singular and plural subject are joined, the subject that is closer to the verb must agree with the verb.