Subject-Verb Agreement (Part 1)

Rule (ketentuan) yang paling penting dalam bahasa Inggris adalah bahwa antara subject dengan verb
harus in agreement. Artinya, jika subject-nya singular maka verb-nya juga harus singular. Sebaliknya,
jika subject-nya plural maka verb-nya juga harus plural.

1. Singular subject – singular verb

Yang dimaksud dengan singular subject adalah subject pronoun he, she, dan it, atau nouns yang dapat
digantikan dengan he, she atau it; Sedangkan yang dimaksud dengan singular verbs
adalah verb1+es/s,is/was, serta verb phrase seperti: is/was + verb-ing/verb3, has +verb3, has been
verb-ing dan has been verb3.

Pola-pola singular subject-singular verb disajikan pada tabel berikut:

Singular
subject Singular verb Tenses

1 He/She/it verb1 + es/s simple present

2 He/She/it is + verb-ing present continuous

3 He/She/it was + verb-ing past continuous

4 He/She/it has + verb3 present perfect

5 He/She/it has + been + verb-ing present perfect continuous

6 He/She/it is going to + verb1 simple future

7 He/She/It is going to + be verb-ing future continuous

8 He/She/it was going to + verb1 past future

9 He/She/It was going to + be verb-ing past future continuous

Jika kalimatnya tidak menggunakan verb, kita gunakan to be :

Singular
subject Singular verb Tenses

10 He/She/it is simple present

11 He/She/it is + being present continuous

 12 He/She/it was simple past

13 He/She/it was + being past continuous

14 He/She/It has been present perfect

10 He/She/it has + been + being present perfect continuous

16 He/She/it is going to + be simple future

17 He/She/it is going to + be being future continuous

18 He/She/it was going to + be past future

19 He/She/it was going to + be being past future continuous

2. Plural subject – plural verb

Yang dimaksud dengan plural subject adalah subject pronouns seperti I, we, you, they, dan semua plural
nouns. Sedangkan yang dimaksud dengan plural verbs adalah verbs dan verb phrase selain singular
verbs di atas.

Pola-pola plural subject-plural verb disajikan pada tabel berikut:

Plural subject Plural verb Tense

1 I/we/you/they verb1 simple present

2 I/we/you/they am/are + verb-ing present continuous

3 I/we/you/they was/were + verb-ing past continuous

4 I/we/you/they have+ verb3 present perfect

5 I/we/you/they have + been + verb-ing present perfect continuous

6 I/we/you/they am/are going to + verb1 simple future

7 I/we/you/they am/are going to + be verb-ing future continuous

8 I/we/you/they was/were going to + verb1 past future

9 I/we/you/they was/were going to + be verb-ing past future continuous

Jika kalimatnya tidak menggunakan verb (kalimat nominal), maka digunakan to be :

 Pluralsubject Plural verb Tense

10 I/we/you/they am/are simple present

11 I/we/you/they am/are + being present continuous

12 I/we/you/they was/were simple past

13 I/we/you/they was/were + being past continuous

14 I/we/you/they have been present perfect

10 I/we/you/they have + been + being present perfect continuous

16 I/we/you/they am/are going to + be simple future

17 I/we/you/they am/are going to + be being future continuous

18 I/we/you/they was/were going to + be past future

19 I/we/you/they was/were going to + be being past future continuous

Contoh:

Singular subject-singular verb Plural subject-plural verb

1 She dances They dance

2 She is dancing They are dancing

3 She was dancing They were dancing

4 She has danced They have danced

5 She has been dancing They have been dancing

6 She is going to dance They are going to dance

7 She is going to be dancing They are going to be dancing

8 She was going to dance They were going to dance

 9 She was going to be dancing They were going to be dancing

10 She is nice to me. They are nice to me.

11 She is being nice to me. They are being nice to me.

12 She was nice to me. They were nice to me.

13 She was being nice to me. They were being nice to me.

14 She has been nice to me. They have been nice to me.

10 She has been being nice to me. They have been being nice to me.

16 She is going to be nice to me. They are going to be nice to me.

17 She is going to be being nice to me. They are going to be being nice to me.

18 She was going to be nice to me. They were going to be nice to me.

19 She was going to be being nice to me. They were going to be being nice to me.

Bagaimana subject-verb agreement pada tensis lain yang tidak disebutkan di atas?

Bentuk verb atau verb phrase pada tensis-tensis yang tidak disebutkan di atas baik ketika subject-nya
singular maupun plural adalah sama.

Contoh:

1. The elevator worked very well yesterday. (Lift itu berfungsi dengan baik kemarin)

2. The elevators worked very well yesterday. (Lift-lift itu berfungsi dengan baik kemarin).

1. Andi had gone before Ani arrived. (Andi telah pergi sebelum Ani tiba).

2. Andi and Amir had gone before Ani arrived. (Andi dan Amir telah pergi sebelum Ani tiba).

1. My mother will go to Bali tomorrow. (Ibuku akan pergi ke Bali besok).

2. My mother and my father will go to Bali tomorrow. (Ibuku dan ayahku akan pergi ke Bali besok).

1. Jenny would have passed the test if she had studied well. (Jenny telah lulus ujian jika dia telah
belajar dengan baik).

2. Jenny and Julie would have passed the test if they had studied well. (Jenny dan Julie telah lulus
ujian jika mereka telah belajar dengan baik).

Pada contoh-contoh di atas, kita lihat bahwa subject-nya langsung diikuti oleh verb. Selanjutnya, mari
kita bahas subject-verb agreement ketika subject dipisahkan oleh prepositional phrase atau oleh
ungkapan-ungkapan (expression).
A. Subject – verb agreement ketika dipisahkan oleh prepositional phrase

Jika antara subject dengan verb dipisahkan oleh prepositional phrase(2 atau lebih kata yang diawali oleh
preposition), prepositional phraseini tidak berpengaruh terhadap verb. Yang perlu diperhatikan adalah
apa subject kalimatnya. Jika subject-nya singular maka verb-nya juga harus singular, sedangkan jika
subject-nya plural maka verb-nya juga harus plural.

Singular subject + (prepositional phrase) + singular verb

Plural subject + (prepositional phrase) + plural verb

Contoh:

1. The study of languages is very interesting. (singular subject) (Mempelajari bahasa sangat
menarik)

2. Several theories on this subject have been debated. (plural subject) (Beberapa teori tentang
subyek ini telah diperdebatkan).

3. The view of these disciplines varies from time to time. (singular subject) (Kajian tentang disiplin
ilmu ini berubah-ubah dari waktu ke waktu)

4. The danger of forest fires is not to be taken seriously. (singular subject) (Bahaya kebakaran
hutan tidak ditangani secara serius)

5. The effects of that crime are likely to be devastating. (plural subject) (Pengaruh kejahatan
mungkin menghawatirkan)

6. The fear of rape and robbery has caused many people to flee the cities. (singular subject).
(Ketakutan terhadap pemerkosaan dan perampokan telah menyebabkan banyak orang
meninggalkan kota-kota besar).

7. The boys in the room are studying (plural subject). (Anak-anak di dalam kamar sedang belajar).

B. Subject – verb agreement ketika dipisahkan oleh together with, along with, as well as

Selain prepositional phrase di atas, ekspresi-ekspresi seperti together with, along with, accompanied
by, dan as well as, juga tidak berpengaruh terhadap verb.

together with (bersama-sama dengan)

along with (bersama sama dengan)

accompanied by (ditemani oleh)

as well as (begitu juga, dan)

Contoh:

1. The actress, along with her manager and some friends, is going to a party tonight. (Artis itu,
bersama-sama dengan manager dan beberapa temannya, akan pergi ke pesta malam ini).

2. Mr. Julianto, accompanied by his wife and children, is arriving tonight. (Pak Julianto, ditemani
oleh istri dan anak-anaknya, akan tiba malam ini).
 3. My wife as well as I is a volleyball player. (Istri saya begitu juga saya adalah seorang pemain
bola volley).

Penggunaan together with, along with, accompanied by, dan as well as, dalam pola seperti ini hanya
menambahkan informasi tambahan. Jika ekspresi tersebut dihilangkan, makna inti dari kalimat tersebut
tidak berubah, yaitu:

1. The actress is going to a party tonight.

2. Mr. Julianto is arriving tonight.

3. My wife is a volleyball player.

Sebaliknya, jika conjunction ‘and‘ digunakan untuk menggantikan ekspresi-ekspresi di atas, maka verb-
nya berubah menjadi plural.

Contoh:

1. The actress and her manager are going to a party tonight.

2. Mr. Julinto and his wife and children are arriving tonight.

3. My wife and I are volleyball players. (Istri saya dan saya adalah pemain-pemain bola volley).