Number Agreement for Dummies

Number agreement is a term we use to talk about how words in a sentence match with each other in terms of their number. Now, when we say "number," we're not talking about math here. We're actually talking about whether a word is in singular form, when something is talking about just one thing, or in plural form, when something is talking about more than one thing. So basically, number agreement is all about making sure that the words we use in a sentence match up with the number of the noun they are describing.

Let me give you an example to make it easier to understand. Imagine you are talking about your friend. If you say "My friend is nice," the word "is" matches with the singular form of the noun "friend." Now, if you are talking about both of your friends, you would say "My friends are nice," and this time the word "are" matches with the plural form of the noun "friends." This is what we mean by number agreement - making sure that the verb (in this case, "is" or "are") matches with the number of the noun it is describing.

Number agreement is not only important for verbs, but also for other parts of speech like pronouns and articles. For example, if you are talking about a dog, you would say "The dog is cute," using the singular form of the article "the." But if you are talking about more than one dog, you would say "The dogs are cute," using the plural form of the article "the." Similarly, when we use pronouns like "he," "she," or "it," we need to make sure they match with the singular form, and when we use pronouns like "they" or "we," we need to make sure they match with the plural form.

So, in a nutshell, number agreement is all about making sure that the words we use in a sentence match up with the number (singular or plural) of the noun they are referring to. It helps us communicate clearly and properly, so that people understand what we are trying to say without any confusion.