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.

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.

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

	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 + verb3	present perfect
5	He/She/it	has + been + verb-ing	present perfect continuous
6	He/She/it	is going to + verb1	simple future
7	He/She/It	is going to + be verb-ing	future continuous
8	He/She/it	was going to + verb1	past future
9	He/She/It	was going to + be verb-ing	past future continuous

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 :

	Pluralsubject	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.

Bagaimana subject-verb agreement pada tensis lain yang tidak disebutkan di atas?

Bentuk verb atau verb phrase pada tensis-tensis yang tidak disebutkan di atas baik ketika subject-nya singular maupun plural adalah sama.

Contoh:

1. The elevator worked very well yesterday. (Lift itu berfungsi dengan baik kemarin)
2. The elevators worked very well yesterday. (Lift-lift itu berfungsi dengan baik kemarin).

1. Andi had gone before Ani arrived. (Andi telah pergi sebelum Ani tiba).
2. Andi and Amir had gone before Ani arrived. (Andi dan Amir telah pergi sebelum Ani tiba).

1. My mother will go to Bali tomorrow. (Ibuku akan pergi ke Bali besok).
2. My mother and my father will go to Bali tomorrow. (Ibuku dan ayahku akan pergi ke Bali besok).

1. Jenny would have passed the test if she had studied well. (Jenny telah lulus ujian jika dia telah belajar dengan baik).
2. Jenny and Julie would have passed the test if they had studied well. (Jenny dan Julie telah lulus ujian jika mereka telah belajar dengan baik).

Pada contoh-contoh di atas, kita lihat bahwa subject-nya langsung diikuti oleh verb. Selanjutnya, mari kita bahas subject-verb agreement ketika subject dipisahkan oleh prepositional phrase atau oleh ungkapan-ungkapan (expression).

A. Subject – verb agreement ketika dipisahkan oleh prepositional phrase

Jika antara subject dengan verb dipisahkan oleh prepositional phrase(2 atau lebih kata yang diawali oleh preposition), prepositional phraseini tidak berpengaruh terhadap verb. Yang perlu diperhatikan adalah apa subject kalimatnya. Jika subject-nya singular maka verb-nya juga harus singular, sedangkan jika subject-nya plural maka verb-nya juga harus plural.

Singular subject + (prepositional phrase) + singular verb

Plural subject + (prepositional phrase) + plural verb

Contoh:

1. The study of languages is very interesting. (singular subject) (Mempelajari bahasa sangat menarik)
2. Several theories on this subject have been debated. (plural subject) (Beberapa teori tentang subyek ini telah diperdebatkan).
3. The view of these disciplines varies from time to time. (singular subject) (Kajian tentang disiplin ilmu ini berubah-ubah dari waktu ke waktu)
4. The danger of forest fires is not to be taken seriously. (singular subject) (Bahaya kebakaran hutan tidak ditangani secara serius)
5. The effects of that crime are likely to be devastating. (plural subject) (Pengaruh kejahatan mungkin menghawatirkan)
6. The fear of rape and robbery has caused many people to flee the cities. (singular subject). (Ketakutan terhadap pemerkosaan dan perampokan telah menyebabkan banyak orang meninggalkan kota-kota besar).
7. The boys in the room are studying (plural subject). (Anak-anak di dalam kamar sedang belajar).

B. Subject – verb agreement ketika dipisahkan oleh together with, along with, as well as

Selain prepositional phrase di atas, ekspresi-ekspresi seperti together with, along with, accompanied by, dan as well as, juga tidak berpengaruh terhadap verb.

together with along with accompanied by as well as

(bersama-sama dengan) (bersama sama dengan) (ditemani oleh) (begitu juga, dan)

Contoh:

1. The actress, along with her manager and some friends, is going to a party tonight. (Artis itu, bersama-sama dengan manager dan beberapa temannya, akan pergi ke pesta malam ini).
2. Mr. Julianto, accompanied by his wife and children, is arriving tonight. (Pak Julianto, ditemani oleh istri dan anak-anaknya, akan tiba malam ini).
3. My wife as well as I is a volleyball player. (Istri saya begitu juga saya adalah seorang pemain bola volley).

Penggunaan together with, along with, accompanied by, dan as well as, dalam pola seperti ini hanya menambahkan informasi tambahan. Jika ekspresi tersebut dihilangkan, makna inti dari kalimat tersebut tidak berubah, yaitu:

1. The actress is going to a party tonight.
2. Mr. Julianto is arriving tonight.
3. My wife is a volleyball player.

Sebaliknya, jika conjunction ‘and‘ digunakan untuk menggantikan ekspresi-ekspresi di atas, maka verb-nya berubah menjadi plural.

Contoh:

1. The actress and her manager are going to a party tonight.
2. Mr. Julinto and his wife and children are arriving tonight.
3. My wife and I are volleyball players. (Istri saya dan saya adalah pemain-pemain bola volley).

Sumber : http://swarabhaskara.com/parts-of-speech/subject-verb-agreement-part-1/