Which sentence demonstrates proper subject-verb agreement with a plural subject?

Which sentence demonstrates proper subject-verb agreement with a plural subject?

• A. The dogs eat the dog food.
• B. The dogs eats the dog food.
• C. The dog eats the dog food.
• D. The dog eat the dog food.

Answer: (A)

Subject-verb agreement means the verb must match the subject in number. For present simple, plural subjects use the base form of the verb, while singular subjects add an -s. In the first sentence, “The dogs” is plural, and the verb “eat” is the base form. That pairing correctly matches a plural subject. The second sentence uses the plural subject with the verb “eats,” which has an -s ending and doesn’t agree with a plural subject. The third sentence has a singular subject, and the verb “eats” correctly agrees with that singular subject, but it’s about a singular subject, not a plural one. The fourth sentence has a singular subject with the verb “eat,” which is the base form and does not agree with a singular subject. So the sentence that demonstrates proper subject-verb agreement with a plural subject is the one where the plural subject is paired with the base form verb: “The dogs eat the dog food.”

Subject-verb agreement means the verb must match the subject in number. For present simple, plural subjects use the base form of the verb, while singular subjects add an -s.

In the first sentence, “The dogs” is plural, and the verb “eat” is the base form. That pairing correctly matches a plural subject.

The second sentence uses the plural subject with the verb “eats,” which has an -s ending and doesn’t agree with a plural subject.

The third sentence has a singular subject, and the verb “eats” correctly agrees with that singular subject, but it’s about a singular subject, not a plural one.

The fourth sentence has a singular subject with the verb “eat,” which is the base form and does not agree with a singular subject.

So the sentence that demonstrates proper subject-verb agreement with a plural subject is the one where the plural subject is paired with the base form verb: “The dogs eat the dog food.”