Subject–Verb Agreement
📋 What it is
A singular subject takes a singular verb (she runs); a plural subject takes a plural verb (they run).
🗣️ Coach says
The verb must match the subject in number. “The dogs barks” is wrong — plural subject, singular verb. BOLT mismatches these when the subject and verb get far apart in the sentence. Find the real subject first.
🧠 Memory hook
One → verb+s (she runs). More than one → verb, no s (they run).
😂 Giggle
What did the red pen say to the typo?
"I've got my eye on you!"
😲 Whoa!
The trickiest subjects are words like "everyone" and "each" — they feel plural but take a SINGULAR verb.
🖍️ Grade BOLT-3000's subject–verb agreement.
You're the teacher — mark BOLT-3000's work, then reveal how you did. (Grading a robot: all the skill, none of the sting.)
BOLT wrote: “The box of crayons are open.”
✗ Needs a fix — the subject is “box” (singular): “The box of crayons IS open.”
The verb agrees with the true subject "box", not the nearby "crayons".
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Write a sentence where the subject and verb are far apart, and make them agree.