Subject-Verb Agreement: There and Here

•  Students are used to sentences like this one: The cat walked away. In the sentence, the word cat is the subject and it comes before the verb walked.

• Another pattern for a sentence occurs in these examples: Here is a grocery list with many items. There are thirty students in the room. In these sentences, the subject comes after, NOT before, the verb. In the first example the subject is list and the verb is is. In the second example, students is the subject and the verb is are.

• Notice another difference in the patterns. Sentences with the words here and there usually use the state-of-being verbs is, are, was, or were. Readers don't see action, but the existence of something.

Tip: Sentences with the words here and there use an inverted or backward pattern. To easily choose the correct verb, turn the sentence around so the subject comes first.

Examples: A grocery list with many items is here. Thirty students are in the room there.

Note: Cross out prepositional phrases so you aren't tricked into thinking the wrong noun is the subject.

Are you ready to take a practice quiz? Try the one below.