verb agreement in questions

In statements, the usual sentence structure is subject + verb. Questions, however, are arranged a little differently. In a question, at least part of the verb comes before the subject.

In the four examples below, the verbs are in bold. In each case, a helping verb comes before the subject, while the rest of the verb follows the subject. The subject is therefore between the two parts of the verb, and the structure is verb + subject + verb:

• Has Karl been working on the project?  [verb has + subject Karl + verb been working]
• Does Jan play basketball? [verb does + subject Jan + verb play]
• Have you seen the movie? [verb have + subject you + verb seen]
• Do they agree with your decision? [verb do + subject they + verb agree]

The entire verb may even come before the subject. (This happens especially when the verb is a simple form of be: is, was, are, were.) Then the structure is verb + subject, as in the examples below:

• Is Greta on your team? [verb is + subject Greta]
• Was the concert good? [verb was + subject concert]
• Are the children ready to go? [verb are + subject children]
• Were the keys in your pocket? [verb were + subject keys]

This reversal of the usual subject-verb order is called inversion. Despite the fact that questions follow an inverted order, the subject and verb must still agree. In the examples above, the singular verbs has, does, is and was agree with their singular subjects Karl, Jan, Greta and concert. The plural verbs have, do, are and were agree with their plural subjects you, they, children and keys.

Remember, when you are asking a question, you need to make the verb agree with the subject that comes after it.