Subject and verb agreement means that the verb ending matches the person or thing doing the action. In a single sentence this is easy. In a paragraph the subject changes, the sentences get longer, and the verb ending is the first thing to slip.
This lesson comes after adjective placement and agreement in context. It is part of sentence foundations and agreement, and the present-tense forms you practise here are developed further in present-time expression.
How do I track the subject through a paragraph?
Work in four short steps and keep a pencil mark above each subject.
- Underline the subject of each verb. It may be a noun, a name, a pronoun or two people joined by et.
- Turn it into a pronoun in your head: je, tu, il, elle, nous, vous, ils or elles. Two or more people become ils or elles, or nous if you are one of them.
- Choose the ending that matches the pronoun. For regular -er verbs in the present: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent.
- Check irregular verbs separately. être and avoir have their own forms: je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont; j’ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont.
Worked example
Check every verb in this paragraph:
Ma sœur et moi habitons à Penang. Nous partageons une chambre. Mes parents travaillent en ville, et ils rentrent tard. Ma sœur aime lire, mais moi, je préfère jouer au badminton.
Sentence 1. “Ma sœur et moi” is two people including the speaker, so the pronoun is nous: habitons.
Sentence 2. The subject is nous. Partager keeps an extra e before -ons to keep the soft g sound: partageons.
Sentence 3. “Mes parents” is plural, so ils: travaillent. The second verb also takes ils: rentrent. In speech these endings are silent, but in writing the -ent matters.
Sentence 4. “Ma sœur” is elle: aime. “Moi, je” is je: préfère, with the accent on the first e kept for this person.
Every verb was matched by naming the pronoun first.
The mistake to watch for
A common error is letting a word that sits close to the verb decide the ending.
Mistaken sentence: Les élèves de ma classe joue au football le vendredi.
The writer saw classe right before joue and chose a singular ending. The real subject is les élèves, which is plural. The correction is Les élèves de ma classe jouent au football le vendredi.
A second common slip is writing je with a -ons or -ent ending after a long sentence with several people in it. When the paragraph gets longer, repeat the subject-to-pronoun check at the start of each new sentence.
Check yourself
Try these, then open each answer.
1. Complete with the correct verb form: “Mes amis (aimer) le café.”
Show answer
“Mes amis” = ils, so aiment: Mes amis aiment le café.
2. Complete: “Toi et ton frère (être) en retard.”
Show answer
“Toi et ton frère” = vous, so êtes: Toi et ton frère êtes en retard.
3. Find and fix the error: “La classe de Mme Lim finissent à midi.”
Show answer
The subject is la classe (singular), not Mme Lim. Fix: La classe de Mme Lim finit à midi.
Where this leads next
Once your verbs agree, the next challenge is making sure the pronouns you use for people and things point clearly to one noun. Continue with repairing an ambiguous pronoun reference, or test yourself on the integrated practice set.
When a teacher reads a whole paragraph with you, they can see where a subject changed and the ending did not. That is a regular part of our online one-to-one French tuition.