Subjects, Verbs, and Agreement

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms and concepts from the Sophia Learning lesson on subjects, verbs, and their agreement rules within English sentences.

Sentence

A group of words that expresses a complete thought and includes a subject and a verb.

Subject

Who or what a sentence is about; it can be a noun, pronoun, or sometimes a noun clause.

Verb

A word that defines an action or indicates a state of being.

Compound Subject

When more than one noun or pronoun serves as a subject in a sentence.

Singular Indefinite Pronoun

A subject such as "nobody", "everyone", or "one" that requires a verb in the singular form.

Plural Indefinite Pronoun

A subject such as "both" or "many" that requires a plural verb.

Action Verb

A verb that conveys a physical action, typically involving movement.

Linking Verb

A verb that connects the subject to information about the subject and does not convey action, such as "be" verbs, "seems", and "tastes".

Object

The item acted upon by the subject in a sentence.

Subject-Verb Agreement

The requirement that the tense, number, and person must be the same for both the subject and the verb to avoid confusing readers.

Irregular Verb

A verb that does not follow the standard pattern for verb formation, such as the verb "to be."

Collective Nouns

Also known as "group subjects," these are words like "family" that refer to multiple members but are treated as singular subjects.