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6th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 4 of 17

Agreement

Subjects, verbs and pronouns match

What your child practices

Making verbs agree with their subjects (even with tricky phrases, “each,” “everyone” and “either…or”) and choosing pronouns that clearly match the nouns they replace.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 6L1 · subject-verb and pronoun agreement

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Find the real subject. Ignore phrases in between: “The box of crayons is…”
  2. Each, everyone and somebody are singular: “Everyone is ready.”
  3. With either…or, the verb agrees with the closer subject. Pronouns must match the nouns they replace.

Example: “The box of markers ___ on the shelf.” is or are? The subject is “box,” not “markers.” One box takes a singular verb. Answer: is

Agreement in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 4 of 17 in 6th grade English Language Arts, after Make Your Case and before Sentence Repair.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which pronoun correctly completes the sentence?

    Ravi and Amir forgot _____ lunches at home.

    • its
    • their
    • there
    • they're

  2. Question 2

    Which verb correctly completes the sentence?

    Each of the players _____ a water bottle.

    • having
    • has
    • are having
    • have

  3. Question 3

    Which verb correctly completes the sentence?

    The news about the field trip _____ better than we expected.

    • are
    • have been
    • was
    • were

  4. Question 4

    Which pronoun correctly completes the sentence?

    The puppy chased _____ own tail.

    • their
    • its
    • they're
    • it's

  5. Question 5

    Which sentence has correct subject–verb agreement?

    • The girls in my class play soccer at recess.
    • The girls in my class was playing soccer at recess.
    • The girls in my class is playing soccer at recess.
    • The girls in my class plays soccer at recess.

  6. Question 6

    Which pronoun correctly completes the sentence?

    The geese flew south because _____ needed warmer weather.

    • it
    • them
    • they
    • its

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