Here are some sentences with ONE subject and ONE verb:
The girl ran to school.The bad guy ran away from the police.
Lollipops are colorful and tasty.
Football involves running and tackling.
The clown at the McDonald's stole the cheeseburger from the kid.
Here are some sentences with a subject pair (compound subject) and one verb:
The ice cream and cake melted all over the table.Tom and Jerry jumped out of the airplane.
The cat and mouse ran across the kitchen.
The mashed potatoes and gravy are cooked well.
Here are some sentences with one subject and a verb pair (compound verb):
The car spun and crashed.The girls ran and skipped to school.
The flower grew and blossomed into a beautiful rose..
Rhona Mitra sang and danced to the song.
Angelina Jolie ducked and rolled to avoid gunfire during a scene.
The cheetah ran and farted before eating the little panda.
SENTENCES: Lollipops are colorful and tasty. Football requires running and tackling. QUESTION: "Lollipops" is plural should I use "is" instead of are I'm confuse? Example "football"l is singular verb is "requires" plural.
ReplyDeleteLIsandro
Hi Lisandro,
DeleteI think you've got it a little mixed up. Let me see if I can help.
If you have one of something, use "is" (singular).
If you have more than one, use "are" (plural).
The lollipop is colorful and tasty. (Here you have ONE lollipop).
The lollipops are colorful and tasty. (Here you have two or more lollipops).
Does that help? It sounds like you might be thinking about it a little too hard. Try to relax and see what happens naturally when you write. Then, you can evaluate.
If it helps, you can replace them with a pronoun.
DeleteThe lollipop is colorful and tasty.
It is colorful and tasty.
The lollipops are colorful and tasty.
They are colorful and tasty.
This is a good tool for checking yourself to see if you have done it correctly.
Will or would there be only one subject with more verbs or many subjects with only one verb in a sentence?
ReplyDeleteChanel P.
Yes, those are both possibilities. If you have a compound subject (like: my brother and I), you can have a simple verb or a compound verb.
DeleteMy brother and I like fishing.
My brother and I ate dinner, watched a movie, and went to bed.
In the first sentence, the simple verb is 'like,' but in the second sentence, there are three verbs: 'ate,' 'watched,' and 'went.'
Great question! I hope this answer helps.
Hey you used my example "Lollipops" except I didn't finish the rest.
ReplyDelete-Hareer A.
Oh and thanks for posting this, it will help me in the future.
ReplyDelete-Hareer A.
how do you spot subjects and verbs in sentences that arent like the ones in the book? -Gary A
ReplyDeleteGood question! Follow the same rules.
Delete1) To find the suject, ask yourself: Who/What is doing the action?
2) To find the verb, look for the word that shows action OR the word that links the subject to a description.
The dog ran. (ran is the action)
The dog is black. ("is" connects the dog to the description of what he looks like)
Thank you for posting this. It helps me re-read and keeps it fresh in my memory.
ReplyDeleteMy example was up there as well. Thanks Kristen for teaching this to us, it was helpfull.
ReplyDeleteDesalle J.
I always wasn't good at using plural and singular together knowing when to use what. It is very helpful to know singular with singular and plural with plural.
ReplyDelete