Agreement with the subject is an essential grammatical rule that copy editors must be knowledgeable about. It refers to the grammatical agreement between the subject of a sentence with a verb, adjective, or pronoun. When there is proper agreement with the subject, sentences become coherent and understandable, making it easier for readers to comprehend the intended message.
The subject of a sentence is the person, place, thing, or idea that the sentence discusses. It is the main focus of the sentence, and it always comes before the predicate, which contains the verb and other connected elements. The verb in the predicate agrees with the subject in terms of person and number. In other words, if the subject is singular, the verb is singular, and if the subject is plural, the verb is plural.
For example, consider the following sentence: “The dog barks at the mailman.” In this sentence, “the dog” is the subject, and “barks” is the verb. The verb “barks” agrees with the singular subject “the dog.” If the subject were plural, the verb would be “bark.” For example, “The dogs bark at the mailman.”
Similarly, agreement with the subject is important when using adjectives to describe the subject. Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns, and they must agree with the subject in terms of number and gender. For example, “The happy dog wagged his tail” is correct, while “The happy dog wagged their tail” is incorrect because “dog” is singular, not plural.
Pronouns also require agreement with the subject. For instance, if the subject is singular, the pronoun used to replace it must also be singular. Likewise, if the subject is plural, the pronoun used must also be plural. For example, “He likes to play football” is correct because “he” agrees with the singular subject “the boy.” “They like to play football” is also correct because “they” agrees with the plural subject “the boys.”
Agreement with the subject is crucial for effective communication. Sentences with improper agreement can be confusing and difficult to understand. As a professional, it is essential to ensure that content is grammatically correct and free from errors, including agreement with the subject. Clear, concise, and grammatically correct copy is essential for search engine optimization and for ensuring that readers have a positive user experience.