Verbs for class 5 English

Subject Verb Agreement

Subject verb agreement is a vital part of English Grammar and without it, the reader could be confused. In this chapter, students of class 5 will know the importance of subject verb agreement and exceptions to the rules while using them.

In this learning concept, students will learn:

• Basic rules of subject verb agreement with examples in sentences.
• Subject verb agreement definition.

All the learning concepts covered for Class 5 have illustrations, mind maps, and examples. After going through this concept, students can check their understanding by solving the two printable PDF subject verb agreement worksheets. The solutions to these subject verb agreement worksheet for class 5 are also available in PDF format.

Definition

Each sentence follows certain rules with the number of verbs and nouns. This agreement of number between the subject and verb is known as subject-verb agreement.

Rules of Subject-Verb Agreement

1. Usually, a singular subject needs a singular verb, whereas a plural subject takes a plural verb.
   Plural verbs do not have the letter ‘s’ at the end of the word, but plural nouns may have ‘s’.

   Example

   

    

   Since ‘she’ is singular, we are adding ‘s’ with the subject, whereas in the second sentence,the verb ‘play’ remains in the plural form. Notice there is no ‘s’ after the word ‘play’.

2. When there are two or more subjects separated by a conjunction, the verb should be plural.

   Example:

   1. The teacher and his studentsattendthe workshop every Monday.
   2. Mohit and Shayamplayfootball every Sunday.
   3. Nancy, Molly and Jacky eat ice-creams after lunch.
3.  If the subjects together mean one specific thing, class or type, then we use a singular verb.

    Example:

    Many Heroes but Few Saviours was awarded the best novel of the year.
   The novel titled ‘Many Heroes but Few Saviors’is one novel; hence the verb used with it is singular.

4. If both the subjects have separate articles, then the verb has to be a plural one.

    Example:

   1. The principal and the director of the school were present in the meeting today.
5.  When there is any phrase starting with ‘of’ between the subject and the verb, irrespective of the noun or pronoun in the phrase, the verb will still behave according to the subject.

    Example:

   1. The bundle of papers lies on the table.
6. When two subjects are connected by ‘either-or’, or ‘neither-nor’,the verb agrees to the nearest  noun or pronoun.

    Example:

   1. Neither the police nor the medical experts have made any comment on the report yet.
7. When sentences begin with ‘here’ or ‘there’, we should identify the main subject and use the verb accordingly. In this sentence, the subject could be written after the verb.

       Example:

   1. Here are the books that you ordered from the store.
   2. There lies the umbrella.
8. Indefinite pronouns like any, some, and much need a singular verb when they join with an  uncountable noun but a plural verb when they join with countable nouns.

       Example:

   1. Some water is lost in the process.
   2. Some of the marbles are red in colour.
9.  Collective nouns can take either singular or plural verbs depending on the meaning.

       Example:

   1. The team performed well this time.
   2. The team members have not come for practice today.
10.  We use a singular verb with the word ‘every’ and the phrase ‘many a’.

          Example:

    1. Every person in the village knows the story. Many thoughts come to my mind when I stay alone.

Exceptions

1. Some nouns though they look like plural forms yet take a singular verb since they are proper        nouns.

    Example:

1. Mathematics is my favorite subject.
2. Gems is my favorite chocolate.

2. With the word ‘pair’ we always use singular verbs.

    Example:

1. The pair of shoes is kept on the shoe rack.
2. A pair of scissors was on the table.

 

Concept : Main and Helping Verbs

The main verb refers to the main action , while the helping verb indicates the time of the action. In this chapter, students will know the main verb and helping verb definition, and common mistakes that could occur.

In this learning concept, students will learn the following:

• Characteristics of main verb.
• Features of helping verb.
• Types of helping verbs.
• Identify the difference between main verb and helping verb

All the learning concepts covered for Class 5 have illustrations, mind maps, and examples. Students can check their understanding by solving the two printable PDF main verbs and helping verbs worksheet. The solutions to these main verb and helping verbs exercises are also available in PDF format.

Well, you know about verbs and their types . In this chapter, we will focus on the difference between the main verb and helping verbs.

Definition:

• The main verb in a sentence is the main action focused, while the helping verb helps to indicate the time of the action.

Examples:

        b)  She was eating.

• In the above examples, the helping verb ‘is’ indicates the action eating is done in the present, but in the next sentence, the helping verb ‘was’ indicates that the action took place in the past.
• Since the main verb refers to basic action, it is also known as the principal verb. Similarly, an auxiliary verb helps to complete the grammatical sense of the sentence. Thus, it is also known as the helping verb and vice versa.
• There are two types of helping or auxiliary verbs:

Differences between Main Verb and Helping(Auxiliary) Verb

Let us look at the differences between the main verb and a helping verb.

Main Verb	Helping Verb
1. Must be present in every sentence.	Only appears in certain types of sentences. For example: Questions Negative sentences When ‘ing’ form is used
2. It can appear only once in a simple sentence.	It can appear more than once in a sentence.
3. Indicates the basic meaning of the sentence.	Shows grammatical meaning. (show the tense, aspect, voice, and emphasis)
4. It does not require any helping verb and can function as the only verb in the sentence.	It requires the main verb and cannot appear as the only verb in a sentence.
5. No negation without the use of helping or auxiliary verbs.	It is always formed when using negation in sentences. Examples: be: was not, isn’t, weren’t do: doesn’t, did not, don’t have: has not, haven’t

Common Mistakes

1. Remember that a sentence must have the main verb, but it is not compulsory to have a helping verb. Affirmative sentences in the simple present and simple past have no helping verbs.

         Examples:

1. She went away.
2. He crossed the stream.

     2. Helping verbs change form according to the subject, tense and the verb they go with.

         Examples:

                   a. Sentence pair 1:

• 1. • I am going to the market today.
     • I had gone to the market yesterday.
  2.  
  3.   b. Sentence pair 2:
     • • I do go to the market once a week.
       • I did go to the market once a week.

          Notice how the time of action changes for each sentence depending on the helping verb              used.

     3. A helping verb is always placed before the main verb.

        Examples:

        Ritu can ride a motorbike. ✅

        Ritu ride can a motorbike. ❌

        They might visit today. ✅

        They visit might today. ❌

        In the above sentences,‘can’ and ‘might’are helping verbs that come before the main verb          ‘ride’ and ‘visit’.

     4. There are some helping verbs (forms of be, have, and do) that, at times, do act as main               verbs.