Making Words Agree

Subject-Verb Agreement

Making the verb match the person or thing doing it.

Mastered by: Third-person -s and is/are by about 4
Practice items: 120
Sections: 10

Play it

Each one opens full screen, already set to this skill.

The rule, explainedShow ↓

The verb has to match who is doing it.

ONE person or thing: add "-s". The dog barks. My sister walks. The bird sings.

MORE THAN ONE - or I, or you: no "-s". The dogs bark. My sisters walk. I walk. You walk.

A quick check: put "he" in front. If "he" works, the verb needs its "-s".

The dog barks. The dogs bark.
She walks to school. They walk to school.

Watch for: "The dogs barks" and "the dog bark" - the -s on the wrong one. Listen for whether the child is tracking how many.

What this skill is

English verbs change shape depending on who is doing them. One dog barks; two dogs bark. I am, you are, he is. This shows up in four main places: the third-person -s ending ("she runs"), the be verbs (am, is, are, was, were), the have verbs (has, have), and the do verbs (does, do).

What to expect

Third-person -s is one of the later grammatical endings to arrive and one of the first to disappear when a child is tired or working hard on something else. Errors like "he run" and "they was" are typical up to about 4;6. Because these forms are unstressed and quick, they are also frequently affected by hearing loss or fluctuating ear infections - worth ruling out.

Try this at home

Contrast singular and plural right next to each other so the difference is audible: "The bird flies. The birds fly." Kids need to hear the pair back to back; hearing either one alone does not teach the contrast.

When to refer

Persistent agreement errors after age 5, or errors that come and go alongside ear infections.

Print it

Subject-Verb Agreement worksheet120 items across 10 sections, with answer key · PDF

Put it into practice

Tap any item below to open it full screen, one at a time, so a child can answer without reading the answer first.

These activities are a starting point, not the practice itself. A structured task is a good way to introduce a form and to find out whether a child has it yet. What actually moves it into everyday speech is using it in the real world and in ordinary play — which means the four things below matter more than finishing the list.

Recast
Say their sentence back correctly, without asking them to repeat it. Child: “he goed.” You: “he went! Where did he go?”
Expand
Add one or two words to what they said and hand it back. Child: “big truck.” You: “a big red truck!”
Simplify what you ask
Cut a long instruction into single steps and say them in the order they happen, rather than repeating the long one louder.
Follow their lead
Use whatever they are already playing with. A form practiced on something they chose is the one that shows up again tomorrow.

Play it in a game ASHA Practice Portal