Subject–Verb Agreement — Agreement & Concord
What Is It?
Subject–verb agreement ensures that a verb’s form matches its subject in number and sometimes person.
Canonical pattern: S (sing/pl) → V (sing/pl).
Why Use Subject–Verb Agreement?
- Accuracy – prevents logic errors in logs (“Jobs complete” vs. “Job completes”).
- Clarity – keeps sentences unambiguous for ESL readers.
- Professionalism – boosts credibility in specs.
- Parsing – helps NLP tools map actions to actors.
When to Choose Subject–Verb Agreement
- User‑facing error messages.
- Compliance reports reviewed by auditors.
- Automated announcements from CI/CD systems.
Forming Subject‑Verb Agreement Sentences
| Tense / Aspect | Formula | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | Sₛg + V‑s | The server runs nightly. |
| Present Simple | Sₚl + V‑base | The servers run nightly. |
| Present Perfect | S + have/has + V‑pp | Our cluster has scaled twice. |
| Future Simple | S + will + V | All nodes will reboot at 02:00. |
Tips for Writing with Subject–Verb Agreement
- Pair collective nouns with singular verbs unless focus is on members (“The team deploys,“ but “The team are reviewing commits”).
- Place intervening phrases in commas; verb still matches core subject.
- Treat indefinite pronouns individually: each, everyone = singular.
- Watch for compound subjects joined by and (plural) vs. or/nor (closest subject wins).
- Verify agreement after copy‑pasting lists into release notes.
Exceptions & Nuances
Words like data and media may be plural or mass nouns; follow project style guide (“Data is recorded” vs. “Data are recorded”). Verb agreement in headings is optional (“Backup Jobs – Runs Daily”).