Subject–verb agreement
የባለቤትና የግሥ ስምምነት (subject–verb agreement)
The verb must match its subject: she works, they work; there is one, there are two; everyone is. Most mistakes come from he/she/it -s and from tricky subjects.
he, she, it + -s
Amharic marks the person on every verb (እሠራለሁ, ይሠራል, ትሠራለች, ይሠራሉ), so the idea is familiar. English marks it in only one place: the present simple with he, she, it, or one person or thing. Add -s (or -es), and use does, doesn't, has and is.
In Amharic
አማርኛ በእያንዳንዱ ግሥ ላይ ሰውን ያሳያል (እሠራለሁ፣ ይሠራል፣ ትሠራለች፣ ይሠራሉ)፤ ስለዚህ ሐሳቡ አዲስ አይደለም። እንግሊዝኛ ግን በአንድ ቦታ ብቻ ያሳያል፦ በአሁን ቀላል ከ he, she, it ወይም ከአንድ ሰው ወይም ነገር ጋር። -s (ወይም -es) ይጨምሩ፣ does, doesn't, has እና is ይጠቀሙ።
| I / you / we / they | he / she / it | Spelling rule |
|---|---|---|
| work | works | most verbs: + s |
| watch, fix, go, do | watches, fixes, goes, does | -ch, -sh, -s, -x, -o: + es |
| study, carry | studies, carries | consonant + y: y → ies |
| play, pay | plays, pays | vowel + y: + s |
| have | has | irregular |
| am (I) / are | is | be |
| don't | doesn't | negative |
- One -s only: with doesn't or does, the main verb has no -s: She doesn't work. Does he know?
- A name or a singular noun is he/she/it: My mother works. The bus leaves at six.
- Modals never take -s: She can, he must.
- My husband works at the airport.
- She studies English at night.
- The clinic opens at eight.
- He doesn't have a car.
- Does your daughter like her school?
There is and there are
With there is / there are, the verb agrees with the noun that comes after it. Singular and uncountable nouns take there is; plural nouns take there are. In a list, the first noun decides.
In Amharic
በ there is / there are ግሡ ከኋላው ከሚመጣው ስም ጋር ይስማማል። ነጠላና የማይቆጠሩ ስሞች there is ይወስዳሉ፤ ብዙ ቁጥር ስሞች there are ይወስዳሉ። በዝርዝር ውስጥ የሚወስነው የመጀመሪያው ስም ነው።
| Singular / uncountable | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| + | There is (There's) a pool. | There are two bedrooms. |
| − | There isn't any parking. | There aren't any buses after midnight. |
| ? | Is there a laundry room? | Are there any jobs? |
| past | There was a problem. | There were ten people. |
| list | There is a sofa and two chairs. | There are two chairs and a sofa. |
- Uncountable nouns are singular: There is some water. There's a lot of traffic.
- In speech, there's is often used with plurals, but write there are.
- There are three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
- There is a bus stop in front of the building.
- Is there a pharmacy near here?
- There were a lot of people at the festival.
Tricky subjects
Some subjects look plural but take a singular verb, and the other way round. everyone, nobody, each and every are singular. people and police are plural. In American English, group nouns like family, team and staff usually take a singular verb. With either…or and neither…nor, the verb agrees with the nearer noun. Words between the subject and the verb don't change it: The price of the apartments is high.
In Amharic
አንዳንድ ባለቤቶች ብዙ ቁጥር ይመስላሉ፣ ግን ነጠላ ግሥ ይወስዳሉ፤ በተቃራኒውም። everyone, nobody, each እና every ነጠላ ናቸው። people እና police ብዙ ቁጥር ናቸው። በአሜሪካ እንግሊዝኛ እንደ family, team እና staff ያሉ የቡድን ስሞች ብዙ ጊዜ ነጠላ ግሥ ይወስዳሉ። በ either…or እና neither…nor ግሡ ከቅርቡ ስም ጋር ይስማማል። በባለቤቱና በግሡ መካከል ያሉ ቃላት አይለውጡትም፦ The price of the apartments is high።
| Subject | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| everyone, everybody, someone, nobody, nothing | singular | Everyone is here. Nobody knows. |
| each, every + noun | singular | Each room has a window. Every child needs a coat. |
| one of + plural noun | singular | One of my friends lives in Denver. |
| either / neither of + plural noun | singular (formal) | Neither of the elevators is working. |
| either…or / neither…nor | agrees with the nearer noun | Either my brother or my parents are coming. |
| family, team, staff, company (US) | usually singular | My family is in Addis. The team is winning. |
| people, police, children | plural | The people are friendly. The police are here. |
| news, money, information | singular | The news is good. The money is in the bank. |
| amounts of money, time, distance | singular | Ten dollars is enough. Two hours is too long. |
- Find the real subject: The list of names is (not are) on the wall.
- Two subjects joined by and are plural: My wife and I are from Bahir Dar.
- Everybody needs a photo ID.
- Each apartment has its own parking space.
- The police are looking for the driver.
- Neither the manager nor the workers know the new schedule.
- Twenty dollars is too much for a haircut.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Correct | Why |
|---|---|---|
| She works at the airport. | he/she/it + -s in the present simple. | |
| He doesn't like coffee. | he/she/it take doesn't. | |
| There are three bedrooms. | A plural noun after there: there are. | |
| Everyone is here. | everyone is singular. | |
| The people are friendly. | people is plural. | |
| One of my friends lives in Denver. | The subject is one, so the verb is singular. |
Practice
Each answer is checked as you go, with the reason. Nothing here is saved.
My sister ___ at a hospital.
He ___ like spicy food. (negative, short form)
There ___ two parks near my house.
There ___ a pharmacy on the corner. (one word)
Everybody ___ the answer.
The news ___ good today.
Each student ___ a laptop. (has / have)
Either my brother or my parents ___ going to pick you up.
One of my coworkers ___ from Eritrea.
The price of the apartments ___ too high. (is / are)
The police ___ outside the building.