Subject-Verb Agreement

Rule (ketentuan) yang paling penting dalam bahasa Inggris adalah bahwa antara subject dengan verb harus in agreement. Artinya, jika subject-nya singular maka verb-nya juga harus singular. Sebaliknya, jika subject-nya plural maka verb-nya juga harus plural.

Contoh :    -present continuous    (singular)

Sam are going to go to the zoo tomorrow (salah)  are = plural

                   Sam is going to go to the zoo tomorrow (benar)

                   -simple present  (singular)

                    Ani live in Jakarta (salah)     ga pake +s = plural

                    Ani lives in Jakarta (benar)

Penjelasan :

Pada contoh pertama, are tidak sesuai dengan subjek Sam karena are hanya dapat digunakan terhadap orang kedua (you) atau orang ketiga jamak.

Pada contoh kedua, live tidak bisa digunakan karena orang ketiga tunggal pada simple present tense harus diberi imbuhan –s menjadi lives.

1. Singular subject – singular verb

Yang dimaksud dengan singular subject adalah subject pronoun he, she, dan it, atau nouns yang dapat digantikan dengan he, she atau it; Sedangkan yang dimaksud dengan singular verbs adalah verb1+es/s, is/was, serta verb phrase seperti: is/was + verb-ing/verb3, has +verb3, has been verb-ing dan has been verb3.

	Singular subject		Singular verb		Tenses
1	He/She/it		verb1 + es/s		simple present
2	He/She/it		is + verb-ing		present continuous
3	He/She/it		was + verb-ing		past continuous
4	He/She/it		Has/have + verb3		present perfect
5	He/She/it		has + been + verb-ing		present perfect continuous
6	He/She/it		Is/are going to + verb1		simple future
7	He/She/It		Is/are going to + be verb-ing		future continuous
8	He/She/it		Was/would + verb1		past future
9	He/She/It		Was/would + be verb-ing		past future continuous

Contoh : 

1 . She lives in a small house  (+)                                (-)I She doesn't live in a small house

2 .  She is working on that task (+)                            (-)She is not working on that task

3 . You were studying when she called (+)            (-)You were not studying when she called

4 . I have seen that movie twenty times                                (-)I have not seen that movie twenty times

5 . We have been waiting here for over two hours(+)     (-)We have not been waiting here for over two hours

6 . You are going to meet Jane tonight (+)            (-)You are not going to meet Jane tonight

7 . You are going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight    (-)You are not going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight

8 . He would cross the street this morning (+)     (-)He would not cross the street this morning

9 . You would be smiling if you knew the truth (+)             (-)You wouldn't be smiling if you knew the truth

Jika kalimatnya tidak menggunakan verb, kita gunakan to be :

	Singular subject	Singular verb	Tenses
10	He/She/it	is	simple present
11	He/She/it	is + being	present continuous
12	He/She/it	was	simple past
13	He/She/it	was + being	past continuous
14	He/She/It	has been	present perfect
10	He/She/it	has + been + being	present perfect continuous
16	He/She/it	is going to + be	simple future
17	He/She/it	is going to + be being	future continuous
18	He/She/it	was going to + be	past future
19	He/She/it	was going to + be being	past future continuous

2. Plural subject – plural verb

Yang dimaksud dengan plural subject adalah subject pronouns seperti I, we, you, they, dan semua plural nouns. Sedangkan yang dimaksud dengan plural verbs adalah verbs dan verb phrase selain singular verbs di atas.

Pola-pola plural subject-plural verb disajikan pada tabel berikut:

	Plural subject	Plural verb	Tense
1	I/we/you/they	verb1	simple present
2	I/we/you/they	am/are + verb-ing	present continuous
3	I/we/you/they	was/were + verb-ing	past continuous
4	I/we/you/they	have+ verb3	present perfect
5	I/we/you/they	have + been + verb-ing	present perfect continuous
6	I/we/you/they	am/are going to + verb1	simple future
7	I/we/you/they	am/are going to + be verb-ing	future continuous
8	I/we/you/they	was/were going to + verb1	past future
9	I/we/you/they	was/were going to + be verb-ing	past future continuous

Jika kalimatnya tidak menggunakan verb (kalimat nominal), maka digunakan to be :

	Plural subject	Plural verb	Tense
10	I/we/you/they	am/are	simple present
11	I/we/you/they	am/are + being	present continuous
12	I/we/you/they	was/were	simple past
13	I/we/you/they	was/were + being	past continuous
14	I/we/you/they	have been	present perfect
10	I/we/you/they	have + been + being	present perfect continuous
16	I/we/you/they	am/are going to + be	simple future
17	I/we/you/they	am/are going to + be being	future continuous
18	I/we/you/they	was/were going to + be	past future
19	I/we/you/they	was/were going to + be being	past future continuous

Contoh:

	Singular subject-singular verb	Plural subject-plural verb
1	She dances	They dance
2	She is dancing	They are dancing
3	She was dancing	They were dancing
4	She has danced	They have danced
5	She has been dancing	They have been dancing
6	She is going to dance	They are going to dance
7	She is going to be dancing	They are going to be dancing
8	She was going to dance	They were going to dance
9	She was going to be dancing	They were going to be dancing
10	She is nice to me.	They are nice to me.
11	She is being nice to me.	They are being nice to me.
12	She was nice to me.	They were nice to me.
13	She was being nice to me.	They were being nice to me.
14	She has been nice to me.	They have been nice to me.
10	She has been being nice to me.	They have been being nice to me.
16	She is going to be nice to me.	They are going to be nice to me.
17	She is going to be being nice to me.	They are going to be being nice to me.
18	She was going to be nice to me.	They were going to be nice to me.
19	She was going to be being nice to me.	They were going to be being nice to me.