NCERT Textbook: Subject-Verb Agreement - English Grammar (Communicative) Interact In English Class 10

 Page 1


3
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
41
In this unit you will learn about the relationship between a subject and its verb. We 
need to work on this, because students often make mistakes in identifying whether 
the subject noun is singular or plural. As a result, mistakes are made in the use of 
verbs to go with words like jeans, scissors, politics etc. This unit deals with these 
areas.
A. Subject - Singular, Plural or Uncountable
A.1. Read the following dialogue. First, underline the word or words that 
represent the subject in each sentence of the dialogue. Then circle the 
verbs that each subject refers to. (One has been done for you as an 
example)
 
 
 
 
Is it true that the students from the Space 
Research Centre                          this evening?
 
 
are arriving
 
 
I agree. The constellation they are going to 
observe is clearly visible from here.
 
 
What about the team supervisor? Is he 
coming?
 
 
No, their manager called this morning. The 
supervisor is busy making arrangements for the 
committee which is to arrive tomorrow.
 
 
I have heard that he is going to join politics.
 
 
Yes, this news is true.
 
 
But honesty is his policy and politics is a 
corrupt game these days. 
 
Yes, the study they are conducting needs an 
elevated location like our campus.
   
Yes, but that does not mean that good people 
should not join politics.
Yes, you are right.
When the pick-up bus that we have sent to the 
railway station arrives here, we may need help 
to shift the luggage which, I presume, is going 
to be very heavy.
Page 2


3
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
41
In this unit you will learn about the relationship between a subject and its verb. We 
need to work on this, because students often make mistakes in identifying whether 
the subject noun is singular or plural. As a result, mistakes are made in the use of 
verbs to go with words like jeans, scissors, politics etc. This unit deals with these 
areas.
A. Subject - Singular, Plural or Uncountable
A.1. Read the following dialogue. First, underline the word or words that 
represent the subject in each sentence of the dialogue. Then circle the 
verbs that each subject refers to. (One has been done for you as an 
example)
 
 
 
 
Is it true that the students from the Space 
Research Centre                          this evening?
 
 
are arriving
 
 
I agree. The constellation they are going to 
observe is clearly visible from here.
 
 
What about the team supervisor? Is he 
coming?
 
 
No, their manager called this morning. The 
supervisor is busy making arrangements for the 
committee which is to arrive tomorrow.
 
 
I have heard that he is going to join politics.
 
 
Yes, this news is true.
 
 
But honesty is his policy and politics is a 
corrupt game these days. 
 
Yes, the study they are conducting needs an 
elevated location like our campus.
   
Yes, but that does not mean that good people 
should not join politics.
Yes, you are right.
When the pick-up bus that we have sent to the 
railway station arrives here, we may need help 
to shift the luggage which, I presume, is going 
to be very heavy.
42
CBSE
A.2. A subject can be
Therefore, all nouns can be either
   or
A.3. List the subjects from the dialogues in A1 under the following headings. 
One has been done as an example
countable uncountable
Non mass
Eg. machinery
Mass
e.g. coffee
coal
sugar
COUNTABLE SINGULAR COUNTABLE PLURAL UNCOUNTABLE
students
 
singular - e.g. a pen, a body, a box
plural - e.g. children, plates, boxes
uncountable - e.g. furniture, sugar
Page 3


3
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
41
In this unit you will learn about the relationship between a subject and its verb. We 
need to work on this, because students often make mistakes in identifying whether 
the subject noun is singular or plural. As a result, mistakes are made in the use of 
verbs to go with words like jeans, scissors, politics etc. This unit deals with these 
areas.
A. Subject - Singular, Plural or Uncountable
A.1. Read the following dialogue. First, underline the word or words that 
represent the subject in each sentence of the dialogue. Then circle the 
verbs that each subject refers to. (One has been done for you as an 
example)
 
 
 
 
Is it true that the students from the Space 
Research Centre                          this evening?
 
 
are arriving
 
 
I agree. The constellation they are going to 
observe is clearly visible from here.
 
 
What about the team supervisor? Is he 
coming?
 
 
No, their manager called this morning. The 
supervisor is busy making arrangements for the 
committee which is to arrive tomorrow.
 
 
I have heard that he is going to join politics.
 
 
Yes, this news is true.
 
 
But honesty is his policy and politics is a 
corrupt game these days. 
 
Yes, the study they are conducting needs an 
elevated location like our campus.
   
Yes, but that does not mean that good people 
should not join politics.
Yes, you are right.
When the pick-up bus that we have sent to the 
railway station arrives here, we may need help 
to shift the luggage which, I presume, is going 
to be very heavy.
42
CBSE
A.2. A subject can be
Therefore, all nouns can be either
   or
A.3. List the subjects from the dialogues in A1 under the following headings. 
One has been done as an example
countable uncountable
Non mass
Eg. machinery
Mass
e.g. coffee
coal
sugar
COUNTABLE SINGULAR COUNTABLE PLURAL UNCOUNTABLE
students
 
singular - e.g. a pen, a body, a box
plural - e.g. children, plates, boxes
uncountable - e.g. furniture, sugar
43
CBSE
A.4. Work in pairs and decide whether the following are countable singular (cs), 
countable plural (cp) or uncountable (uc). Write the symbols under each 
circle. One has been done as an example
A.5. Some nouns look as if they are plural, but are in fact singular.
Some other school and university subjects work in the same way.  Guess 
which subjects these are from the clues.
feet
cp
person
news oxen
tooth
goose
coffee
gentlemen
knife
oil
boxes
furniture
Economics is an important subject at Senior Secondary level.
Clue
2
E = mc
1+1 = 2
Subject
..............................................
..............................................
Page 4


3
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
41
In this unit you will learn about the relationship between a subject and its verb. We 
need to work on this, because students often make mistakes in identifying whether 
the subject noun is singular or plural. As a result, mistakes are made in the use of 
verbs to go with words like jeans, scissors, politics etc. This unit deals with these 
areas.
A. Subject - Singular, Plural or Uncountable
A.1. Read the following dialogue. First, underline the word or words that 
represent the subject in each sentence of the dialogue. Then circle the 
verbs that each subject refers to. (One has been done for you as an 
example)
 
 
 
 
Is it true that the students from the Space 
Research Centre                          this evening?
 
 
are arriving
 
 
I agree. The constellation they are going to 
observe is clearly visible from here.
 
 
What about the team supervisor? Is he 
coming?
 
 
No, their manager called this morning. The 
supervisor is busy making arrangements for the 
committee which is to arrive tomorrow.
 
 
I have heard that he is going to join politics.
 
 
Yes, this news is true.
 
 
But honesty is his policy and politics is a 
corrupt game these days. 
 
Yes, the study they are conducting needs an 
elevated location like our campus.
   
Yes, but that does not mean that good people 
should not join politics.
Yes, you are right.
When the pick-up bus that we have sent to the 
railway station arrives here, we may need help 
to shift the luggage which, I presume, is going 
to be very heavy.
42
CBSE
A.2. A subject can be
Therefore, all nouns can be either
   or
A.3. List the subjects from the dialogues in A1 under the following headings. 
One has been done as an example
countable uncountable
Non mass
Eg. machinery
Mass
e.g. coffee
coal
sugar
COUNTABLE SINGULAR COUNTABLE PLURAL UNCOUNTABLE
students
 
singular - e.g. a pen, a body, a box
plural - e.g. children, plates, boxes
uncountable - e.g. furniture, sugar
43
CBSE
A.4. Work in pairs and decide whether the following are countable singular (cs), 
countable plural (cp) or uncountable (uc). Write the symbols under each 
circle. One has been done as an example
A.5. Some nouns look as if they are plural, but are in fact singular.
Some other school and university subjects work in the same way.  Guess 
which subjects these are from the clues.
feet
cp
person
news oxen
tooth
goose
coffee
gentlemen
knife
oil
boxes
furniture
Economics is an important subject at Senior Secondary level.
Clue
2
E = mc
1+1 = 2
Subject
..............................................
..............................................
44
CBSE
 Work in pairs and complete the following spider diagrams, a, b and c.  All 
the words will be related to the word in the centre.  Some clues are given.
a.
b.
c.
      Now, complete the sentence :
dramatics
ae ................c.....
gy...................s
ec .........................
statistics
elec .......................s
Subjects
dia....................s
ra.......................s
mu.................p.....
tuberculosis
me....................
rickets
diseases
c......d......s
d...............ts
ath.................
skittles
bi......l....................
t.........n............
games/
spots
All the above nouns look like plurals (i.e. they end in s.)  But they are, in fact, singular nouns
For these nouns we use a ……………… verb.
Page 5


3
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
41
In this unit you will learn about the relationship between a subject and its verb. We 
need to work on this, because students often make mistakes in identifying whether 
the subject noun is singular or plural. As a result, mistakes are made in the use of 
verbs to go with words like jeans, scissors, politics etc. This unit deals with these 
areas.
A. Subject - Singular, Plural or Uncountable
A.1. Read the following dialogue. First, underline the word or words that 
represent the subject in each sentence of the dialogue. Then circle the 
verbs that each subject refers to. (One has been done for you as an 
example)
 
 
 
 
Is it true that the students from the Space 
Research Centre                          this evening?
 
 
are arriving
 
 
I agree. The constellation they are going to 
observe is clearly visible from here.
 
 
What about the team supervisor? Is he 
coming?
 
 
No, their manager called this morning. The 
supervisor is busy making arrangements for the 
committee which is to arrive tomorrow.
 
 
I have heard that he is going to join politics.
 
 
Yes, this news is true.
 
 
But honesty is his policy and politics is a 
corrupt game these days. 
 
Yes, the study they are conducting needs an 
elevated location like our campus.
   
Yes, but that does not mean that good people 
should not join politics.
Yes, you are right.
When the pick-up bus that we have sent to the 
railway station arrives here, we may need help 
to shift the luggage which, I presume, is going 
to be very heavy.
42
CBSE
A.2. A subject can be
Therefore, all nouns can be either
   or
A.3. List the subjects from the dialogues in A1 under the following headings. 
One has been done as an example
countable uncountable
Non mass
Eg. machinery
Mass
e.g. coffee
coal
sugar
COUNTABLE SINGULAR COUNTABLE PLURAL UNCOUNTABLE
students
 
singular - e.g. a pen, a body, a box
plural - e.g. children, plates, boxes
uncountable - e.g. furniture, sugar
43
CBSE
A.4. Work in pairs and decide whether the following are countable singular (cs), 
countable plural (cp) or uncountable (uc). Write the symbols under each 
circle. One has been done as an example
A.5. Some nouns look as if they are plural, but are in fact singular.
Some other school and university subjects work in the same way.  Guess 
which subjects these are from the clues.
feet
cp
person
news oxen
tooth
goose
coffee
gentlemen
knife
oil
boxes
furniture
Economics is an important subject at Senior Secondary level.
Clue
2
E = mc
1+1 = 2
Subject
..............................................
..............................................
44
CBSE
 Work in pairs and complete the following spider diagrams, a, b and c.  All 
the words will be related to the word in the centre.  Some clues are given.
a.
b.
c.
      Now, complete the sentence :
dramatics
ae ................c.....
gy...................s
ec .........................
statistics
elec .......................s
Subjects
dia....................s
ra.......................s
mu.................p.....
tuberculosis
me....................
rickets
diseases
c......d......s
d...............ts
ath.................
skittles
bi......l....................
t.........n............
games/
spots
All the above nouns look like plurals (i.e. they end in s.)  But they are, in fact, singular nouns
For these nouns we use a ……………… verb.
45
CBSE
Rickety Ron is a student of statistics, which for many years………….. been his favourite subject.  
Ron has always loved playing with numbers.  Dramatics…………………… his life but every time 
he takes a role for stage acting, he's mysteriously down with mumps. Mumps ……………………
always been his undoing!  Ron is no good at games and opts for the least exerting sports of 
all.  So, for him, it's skittles, darts and cards. Cards …………………….. his favourite, though!  He 
loves aerobics too.  Aerobics, to him, ………………… both relaxation and entertainment.
RICKETY RON
A.6. Fill in the blanks with appropriate verbs to complete this biography of 
Rickety Ron.
A.7.  Work in pairs.  Take turns to ask and answer the following.
Questions Answers
Example:1. What are shears used for? 1. They are used ………………...........
...................................................
          2. Have you got the binoculars?   2. No,...…………….them………………
...................................................
3. What are pliers made of?         3. They.…………………………………..
        ...................................................
4. How much….…………..………      4. ……………………….. cost..............
…..……………………….……..?      ................................................... 
         5. Are your socks………………...     5. Yes, …………………………………...
…………………………………..? ...................................................
6. What are tongs used for?             6. …………. are.…………………………
...................................................
7. Are your ………………………..   7. My goggles...…………………………
.………………………………….?       ...................................................