subject verb agreement in sindh and english: a comparative study

Subject-Verb Agreement in Sindhi and English:
A Comparative Study
Mubarak Ali Lashari
Amara Aftab Soomro
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Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 Vol. 13:6 June 2013
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Abstract
In this paper, the researchers particularly investigated the subject verb agreement in Sindhi and English languages. English and Sindhi are two entirely different languages. There are differences in their phonology, morphology and syntax also. In this paper, the researchers examined the difference between one of the aspects of syntax, specially the difference between subject verb agreements in both the languages. Syntactically English is a head initial SVO language and Sindhi is a head
Final SOV language. These two languages differ not only in phonology, morphology and syntax but they have also got difference in their origin. First the study shows a brief look at origin of Sindhi and English languages. Then subject verb agreement in
Sindhi and English is analysed individually, afterwards there is a analysis of comparison between these two languages in subject verb agreement.

Key words: Subject-verb, Agreement, Paryog, Head, Comparative, Syntax

Introduction – Sindhi
Sindhi is an Indo-Aryan language with its roots in the Lower Indus River Valley.
Sindhi language is one of the most ancient languages of the world, which belongs to the Indus
Valley Civilization. This language is the family member of the languages like Urdu, Persian,
Sanskrit, Arabic, Hindi, and so on. Sindhi employs Perso-Arabic script and thus is written from right to left in contrast to the most of the Western languages which are written from left to right (Shaikh 1986).

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Sindhi takes its name from the river Indus, known in earlier times as the
Sindhu. Today Sindhi is spoken in the province of Sindh, Pakistan where it is recognized by the government as the official language of the province. Nearly half of the population of Sindh province lives in rural areas, where Sindhi is the primary language. In the urban centers of Sindh, Sindhi competes for status and speakers with
Urdu (the national language of Pakistan), and increasingly English. Sindhi is also spoken by about 2.5 million people in India, including major communities in Gujarat,
Mumbai and Pune, where immigrants from Sindh relocated after the 1947 partition of
India and Pakistan. Beyond the Indian subcontinent, Sindhi is spoken by large
Diaspora communities in the United Kingdom and the United States, and around the world. English
The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes were the Anglos, the
Saxons and the Jutes. They crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern
Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the
Celtic speakers were pushed towards west and north by the invaders - mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from "Englaland" and their language was called “Englics" - from which the words "England" and "English" are derived.

English is a head initial SVO language, shows distinctive agreement only in the third person singular, present tense form of verbs, which are marked by adding
"-s" (walks) or "-es" (fishes). The rest of the persons are not distinguished in the verb
(I walk, you walk, they walk, etc.). In English, singular verb generally have an ‘s’ at the end, Plural verbs do not, and Nouns are the opposite, like; book (singular noun), walks (singular verb) and books (plural noun) , drive (plural verbs) etc.
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Sindhi Structure
In Sindhi, the order of words in a sentence differs from English. The verb typically appears at the end of the sentence in Sindhi, while in English, it comes after the subject, but not at the end of the sentence.
Syntactically, Sindhi displays a host of properties that are typical of Indic languages as a whole. Sindhi is a head-final SOV language. Postpositions are attested and affixation is largely suffixal. Sindhi verbs agree with their subjects in person, gender, and number. All inflection proceeds by way of affixation.
Sharaf ud Din Islahi, in “The linguistic connections of Urdu and Sindhi languages” (Urdu-Sindhi ke Lisani Rawabit), affirms the above claims that Sindhi language is closely associated with the sub-continental languages. He confirms that
Urdu and Sindhi are two such languages of the sub-continent in which much linguistic relations and agreements are found. Their phonetic system is almost same. Their grammar is closely related. Their vocabulary and semantics are inter-connected. Their scripture is almost same. Their literary traditions are also almost analogous.
(pp. 61)
“Sindhi language has taken birth from Sanskrit and Prakrit; and its letters of
Alphabets are mostly from Sanskrit” (Shaikh 1986, pp,6). Now we will have a brief investigation of syntactical differences between Sindhi and English language.
Syntactic difference between English and Sindhi

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Structure dependency seems common in all the languages. This asserts that
“knowledge of language relies on the structural relationship in sentences rather than the sequence of words.” (Chomsky 1988).
Yet language differs in many ways; if knowledge of language consisted simply of unvarying principles, all human languages would be identical. The theory of
Head parameters specifies the order of elements in a language. It asserts that some languages are head-initial and some languages are head-final. We are here concerned with English and Sindhi language, so the syntactic differences of both these languages are given below:
1. English is a head-initial language and Sindhi is a head-final language. Other differences are;
2. Sindhi is written from right hand rule, while English is written from left hand side. Example
This is English. ------- (He Sindhi Ahe) ‫--هي س ڌي آهي‬3. In Sindhi language, the auxiliaries such as. ‘-‫’-ٿو-‘ ,’-ٿ -‘ ,‘-آهي-‘ ,’-آهن‬ appear at the end of the sentence, while in English auxiliaries appear in middle of the sentence.
Example
This is my book.

-- (He Muhjo Kitab Ahe) ‫آهي‬

‫-- هي م جو ڪت‬

4. In Sindhi language, verbs come after the object of the sentence, while in English language verbs come before the object of the sentence.
Example
I am eating.

---- (Aaon Khai Rahyo Ahyan)

‫-آئو ک ئي رهيو آهي‬

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5. In Sindhi language, preposition comes after the object, while in the English language object comes after preposition.
Example
I am going to School. -- (Aaon School Danhn Wajji Rahyo Ahyan) ‫آئو سڪول ڏ ن ن‬
‫ ڃي رهيو آهي‬Subject Verb Agreement
Subject-verb agreement is a grammatical rule, which states that the subject and the verb must agree in a sentence. The subject normally refers to the noun or pronoun that tells us whom or what the sentence is about. A verb normally has a singular and plural form in the present tense. Agreement allows us to show who’s doing what in a sentence by indicating which part of the sentence go together. In languages where the verb is inflected, it often agrees with its primary argument (the subject) in person, number, and/or gender. The word whose form is determined by the other is said to be
‘agree’ with it. Agreement can occur over short or long distances in sentences
(Neelman and Weeman 1999). For example consider the following sentence:
John blames them
In this sentence, the verb ‘blames’ agrees with the subject ‘John’. And the subject is licensed by agreement. There is no agreement between the verb and object
‘them’.
Subject Verb Agreement in English
Subject
The word that represents the doer or agent of an action or set of actions in a sentence is either a noun (e.g., pen, car, Jessica etc) or a pronoun (e.g., we, they, he, she etc). It can be either a singular or plural.
1. Your sentence may have a compound subject.
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2. Your subject will never be in a prepositional phrase.
3. Usually your subject comes before your verb.
Verb
The word/words represents the actions of a sentence (e.g., is, went, will place, have taken, will have been observed, etc.). Wren and Martin (2002) define verb as:
“A Verb is a word that tells or asserts something about a person or thing.
Verb comes from the Latin verbum, a word. It is so called because it is the most important word in a sentence” (pp. 65).
Subject verb agreement refers to the change in the form of a verb depending on its subject. Wren and Martin (2001) say that;
The subject of the verb, like the personal pronouns, has three persons- the first, the second and the third. The subject of a verb may be first person (I, we), second person (You [singular], You [plural]), or third person (he, she, it, they).
In English a verb changes form only when its subject is third person singular
(he/she/it) and only in the present tense.
Present Tense
Singular

Plural

I eat

They eat

You eat

You eat

He, She, It eats

We eat

Past tense
Singular

Plural

I ate

They ate

You ate

You ate

He, She, It ate
We ate
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The subjects above given are not underlined. The verbs are bold and underlined. Now look at the present tense conjugations of verbs, because that is where you will see a difference. In the present tense, all of the different subject uses “eat” except for the third person subjects “he”, “she”, and “it”. If you are using what are called “regular verbs”, you will always add this -s after the third person subject.
Therefore you can say “I like apples”, “You like apples,” but if you use “She”, you must say “She likes apples”.
English grammar is not quite this simple in practice because people don’t always use the words I, She, He, They, We, You, and It. Usually they are more specific rather simple. For instance say, “My sister teaches a class at college” or “Joe and
Jessica always dress well”. Now look at the subject and than decide what type of word of pronoun it is. “My mother” is a “She”, so the verb must include an –s or –es. “Joe and Jessica” are “they”, so the verb will not have the –s or –es ending.
Regular vs. Irregular Verbs
This is a little more complicated because there are two types of verbs: Regular and irregular. Regular verbs such as walk, play, jump and always follows –s as stated above.; and in the past tense form you will add – ed to make walked, played, jumped.
But irregular verbs do not follow this pattern. Below are given three most common irregular verbs and their conjugations, which you will have to memorize in order to use them correctly.
To Be
Present Tense
Singular

Plural

I am

We are

You are

You are

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He, She, It is

They are

Past tense
Singular

Plural

I was

We were

You were

You were

He, She, It was

They were

To Have
Present Tense
Singular

Plural

I have

We have

You have

You have

He, She, It has

They have

Past tense
Singular

Plural

I had

We had

You had

You had

He, She, It had

They had

To Do
Present Tense
Singular

Plural

I do

We do

You do

You do

He, She, It does

They do

Past tense
Singular

Plural

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I did

We did

You did

You did

He, She, It did

They did

Some Additional Rules
*

When you have a subject with both the singular or plural noun like “Mr,

Anderson and the students”)., make the verb agree to the closest one. For instance,
Jessica and the students like their university.
*

Make sure that contradictions like “isn’t/ aren’t, don’t/ doesn’t, haven’t etc” agree

with the verb. For instance,
Joe doesn’t like macroni. (Does not)
The Andersons don’t like pizza. (Do not)
*

Words that come between a subject and its verb do not affect the number (singular

or plural) of the subject. You must determine which word is the sentence 's subject and then use it to decide whether the verb needs an “-s” ending. For instance,
.

A computer with a variety of memory chips serves a special purpose.
Computers with a variety of memory chips serve a special purpose.

* If the verb comes before the subject, it still need to be conjugated. For instance,
There are three children with the cat in the garden.
* If you see who, which or that as a subject, than use the type of the verb that best suits the noun the who, which or that stands for. For instance.
Maira is the type of person who is always silent.
Maira is one of those girls who are always silent.
Subject Verb Agreement for Compound Subjects
A compound subject is made up of two or more subjects that are connected by a coordinating conjunctions. Both the subjects have the same verb.
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*

When the compound subject is connected by ‘and’. It is treated as plural. For

instance,
Rabia and Sadia are my sisters.
Ahmed and Aslam are absent.
*

A compound subject that refers to one thing/idea/person or to something

considered as one unit is treated as singular.
The producer and director of the film has won an award.
(When one person is both the director and producer).
* When there are two singular nouns joined by “or” or “nor,” use the singular verb.
This is because you are looking at the noun separately, not as a combination. For instance, Neither Max nor John wants to do singing
The mango or the apple juice is all right with me.
* A compound subject made up of a singular subject and plural subject connected by
‘or’ or ‘nor’ is treated as follows.
1. Singular, if the subject close to the verb is singular. For instance,
Either the students or the teacher has taken the globe from here.
(Teacher------singular)
2. Plural, if the subject close to the verb is plural.
Neither the ship nor the boats are in sight. (Boats-----plural)
* When the subjects joined by or/nor are of different persons. The verb agrees with the nearer subject.
Either he or I am guilty.
Neither you nor they are responsible.

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* Two nouns qualified by each or every, even though connected by and, requires a singular verb.
Every boy and every girl was given a packet of sweets.

Specific Cases of the Subject-Verb Agreement
* A collective noun can be treated as a singular or a plural depending on the context.
*

Collective nouns like “group, team, committee, class, family” treat a group as a

single entity and therefore, should use singular verbs. For instance,
1.

The group is cooperative.

2. The hockey team has great players.
*

It is treated as a plural when the components of the noun are considered

individually. For instance,
The committee have issued individual dissenting notes.
The board of directors are divided on the implementation of the reforms. *

Always match the indefinite pronouns such as: “much, someone, anyone,

everyone, anything, nothing, something, everyone, each, every, either, neither, no one, one, other etc with singular verbs. For instance,
Every one is anxious about me.
Anyone who has got a problem, please stand up.
*

Some nouns like “news, civics, mumps, physics, mathematics” are singular and

should be matched with the singular verbs. For instance,
Mumps is a terrible disease
No news is good news.

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*

Some nouns like “ spectacles” ending in ‘s’ however are treated as plural even

though they refer to one thing or pair .for instance
His spectacles are broken.
* Some indefinite pronouns such as: “ few, many and several” are always plural. For instance, Several new products were introduced recently
Few girls were absent yesterday.
* Certain words such as: “any, all, most, more, none, enough, and plenty” can either be singular or plural.
1. They are singular, when they refer to one thing or person or to a portion of something and, hence they a singular verb. For instance
Most of the work is over.
2. They are plural, when they refer to a number of individual things, persons, and places and hence they take a plural verb. For instance,
Most of my neighbours are government employees. ( several)
* ‘Many’ is singular as it modifies with a singular noun. For instance,
Many students tries hard to pass this entrance exam.
* Titles of books, magazines, etc are singular. For instance,
The Arabian Nights is still read by many people.
*

Words or phrases that express an amount of money, fraction, distance, or

interval of time are singular. For instance,
Twenty kilometres is a long distance.
One hundred rupees is enough for this labour.
* Class nouns denoting clothing, furniture, cutlery, stationary, etc. are singular.
This stationary is expensive.
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Davidson (2003) states that sometimes it is not the immediate subject, or what seems to be the subject of the verb that determines whether the verb must be singular or plural, but some other words or phrase in the sentence. For example:
The boy who is playing outside is my son. (‘the boy’ is the antecedent of the relative pronoun ‘who’).
Subject Verb Agreement in Sindhi
In Sindhi , the verb agrees with the subject and its number (either singular or plural), gender (masculine or feminine) and persons ( pronoun) .The word ‘Kartar’ or
‘karta’ means ‘Faail’, which we can say Subject in English and the ‘Kartary’ means
‘Faailey’( --Kam Kandarr ‫ڪم ڪ دڙ‬

--) which we can say ‘Subjective’ in English

language.
The verb in Sindhi can be defined as; a word that shows to be, to do, to have or an action on something, that is said to be a verb or in short a word which tells something about a person or thing etc. (Baig1992, pp.2).
Verb which in Sindhi language is called “Fael” has two main kinds.
According to Allana (2004),
“All the Dravidian languages have two kinds of verbs Fael Mutaadi and Fael
Lazmi” (pp. 262). They are same as 1. “Fael Lazmi” (Intransitive verb) and 2. “Fael
Mutaadi” (Transitive verb) same as in English language.
In Sindhi, the agreement is said to be a ‘Nisbatoon’ or ‘Paryoog’, Paryoog of
Sindhi language is taken from Sanskrit language which means “Nisbatoon‟ or
“Melap”, or we can say agreement in English language. which shows the verb agreement with other components
There are three types of ‘Nisbatoon’ or ‘Paryoog’ in Sindhi language.
1. Kartary paryoog (Subjective agreement).
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2. Karmani paryoog (Objective agreement).
3. Bhawei Paryoog (Neuter agreement).
Here we are concerned with the ‘Kartary Paryoog’ (Subjective agreement).
1. In Sindhi language, showing the number agreement of a verb with its subjects.
------- (Chhokro khedde tho “Boy plays”)-‫کيڏي ٿو‬

‫----ڇوڪ‬

---(Chhokra kheddan tha “Boys play”) ‫----ڇوڪ کيڏ ٿ‬* In the former sentence, the subject is singular in number, than the verb agrees to it as ‘khede tho’.
* In the later sentence, the subject is plural in number, the verb agrees to it as ‘khedan tha’. Let’s look at some more examples;

--- (Ho Masjid wayo “He went to mosque”)-- ‫هو مسجد يو‬
- (Uhe Masjid waya, “They went to mosque”)- ‫-- هي مسجد ي‬* In the former sentence, when there is a singular subject as “Hu” (He), than it takes singular verb as ‘wayo’.... ‫( يو‬went)
* In the latter sentence, when the subject is plural in number as “Uhay” (They), than the verb changes from ‘wayo’ to ‘waya’ particularly in Sindhi language.

2. All the Sindhi nouns belong to one of the two noun genders, feminine and masculine. A verb in the clause agrees to the gender of the noun. For example, the verb ‘laugh’ agrees with the gender of the subject.
--- (Chhokro khilyo “Boy laughed”) ‫کليو‬

‫--ڇوڪ‬

---(Chhokree Khilee, “Girl laughed”) ‫-ڇوڪ ي کلي‬

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Masculine nouns commonly occur with the vowel endings -o in the singular , and with the –aa in the plural. And feminine noun commonly occur with the vowel endings – i in the singular and – oon in the plural .
Verb agreement in ‘Kartary Paryoog’ changes according to the gender of the subject. For instance,
- (Chhokro khedyo huo “Boy had played)-‫کيڏيو ه و‬

‫-ڇوڪ‬

- (Chhokri kheddi hue, “Girl had played)- ‫ڇوڪ ي کيڏي ه ي‬* In the former sentence, there is a masculine gender ‘- ‫( ’ڇوڪ‬boy), the verb agrees to it as ‘-‫’کيڏيو‬
* In the later sentence, there is a feminine gender ‘-‫( ’-ڇوڪ ي‬girl), the verb agrees to it as ‘-‫ .’--کيڏي‬Let’s look at some more examples.

--- (Ahmed School wayo, “Ahmed went to school”).‫ ح د سڪول يو‬--- (Rabia school wayee, “Rabia went to school”)- ‫ر بعه سڪول ئي‬* In the former sentence. If there is a masculine gender (Ahmed), the verb agrees to it as ‘-‫’- يو‬
* In the later sentence, when there is a feminine gender (Rabia), the verb agrees to it as ‘-‫ ’- ئي‬instead of ‘-‫.’- يو‬

3. The changing of the verb agreement of Sindhi language according to the persons
(pronoun). For instance,
-- (Aaon khedandus, “I shall play”)- ‫آئو کيڏندس‬- (Aseen khedandaseen, “We shall play)- ‫ سين کيڏند سين‬- (Hoo khedandee, “She will play”) ‫هوء کيڏندي‬َ
-- (Uhey khedanda, “They will play”) ‫ هي کيڏند‬Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 13:6 June 2013
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

In the first sentence, when the pronoun is first person singular , the verb stand for it as ‘-‫.’-کيڏندس‬



In the second sentence, the subject is first person plural, the verb agrees to it as a ‘--‫.’-کيڏند سين‬




In the third sentence, the subject is third person singular, the verb agrees to it as ‘—‫’-هوء کيڏندي‬
َ
In the fourth sentence, the subject is third person plural, the verb agrees to it as ‘-- ‫’-کيڏند‬

Comparative Study of Sindhi and English
Differences between the Subject Verb Agreement in Sindhi and English
Here are some of the areas where English and Sindhi subject verb agreement differs. Like:
Agreement with Person
Present Tense

English

Sindhi

I speak

‫آئو ڳال ائيند آهيا‬

you speak

‫تو ڳال ائيند آهين‬

he speaks

‫هو ڳال ائيند آهي‬

She speaks
We speak
They speak

‫هوء ڳال ائيندي آهي‬
َ
‫سين ڳال ايو ٿا‬
‫هي ڳال ائين ٿا‬
------------------------------

Now we can see from the above given examples that in English a verb changes form only when its subject is third person singular (he/she/it) and only in the present tense. Now look at the present tense conjugations of verbs, because that is where you
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will see a difference. In the present tense, all of the different subject uses “speak” except for the third person subjects he, she, and it. If you are using what are called
“regular verbs”, you will always add this -s (speaks) after the third person subject.
But in Sindhi, all of the different subjects agree with different verb forms, as the first person subject ‘- ‫ ’-آئو‬agrees with the verb ‘- ‫ ,’ڳ ل ئي د آهي‬and ‘-‫ ’ سين‬agrees with the verb ‘- ‫ ’ڳ ل ئي د آهيو‬instead of ‘- ‫.’-ڳ ل ئي د آهي‬
The second person subject ‘- ‫ ’تو‬agrees with the verb ‘-‫ .’-ڳ ل ئي د آهين‬And the third person subject ‘-‫ ’ -هو‬agrees with the verb ‘-‫ ’-هو-‘ , ’-ڳ ل ئي ٿو‬uses with the verb
‘-‫ ’ڳ ل ئي ٿي‬and ‘-‫ ’- هي‬uses with the verb ‘- ‫ ’-ڳ ل ئين ٿ‬and In Sindhi main verb comes with the auxiliary verb like ‘- ‫ . ’-ٿ‬here ‘-‫ ’-ڳ ل ئي‬is a main verb ‘ and ‘-‫ ’-ٿو‬is an auxiliary verb. Other auxiliary verbs are like; ‘- ‫ ’-ٿو-‘ ,’-آهي-‘ ,’-ٿ‬etc
Past Tense

English

Sindhi……………

I visited

‫آئو گ يس‬

you visited

‫ين‬

‫تو گ‬

he visited

‫هو گ يو‬

She visited

‫هوء گ ي‬
َ

We visited
They visited

‫هي گ يا‬

Now we can see from above given examples that in English, a verb doesn’t changes form for the first, second or even for third person subject in the past tense, you can see that, all of the different subjects agrees with the verb “visited” .
But in Sindhi, the case is different. The entire different subject uses different verbs in the past tense too. As for the first person subject ‘- ‫ ’آئو‬uses the verb ‘-‫’گ يس‬ and ‘-‫ ’ سين‬agrees with the verb ‘-‫.’-گ ي سين‬and the second person subject ‘- ‫ ’-تو‬uses
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the verb ‘-‫ين‬

‫ .’-گ‬And the third person subject ‘-‫(-هو‬He)’ uses the verb ‘-‫,’-گ يو‬

‘Hu’a (She)’ uses the verb ‘-‫ ’-گ ي‬and ‘- ‫ ’گ ي‬agrees with the verb ‘-‫.’- هي‬
Future Tense

English

Sindhi. …………
‫آئو پي ندس‬

I will drink

‫تو پي ندين‬

you will drink

‫هو پي ند‬

he will drink
She will drink

‫هوء پي ندي‬
َ

We will drink

‫سين پي ند سين‬
‫هي پي ند‬

they will drink

Now we can see from above given examples that in English, a verb doesn’t change its form for the first, second or even for third person subject in the future tense, you can see that all of the different subjects agrees with the verb ‘will drink’.
But in Sindhi, the case is different in future tense also. The entire different subject uses different verbs in the present, past and even in future tense. As the first person subject ‘- ‫ ’-آئو‬uses the verb with it as ’-‫ ,’-پي دس‬and ‘-‫ ’- سين‬uses the verb ‘‫ ,’- پي د سين‬the second person subject ‘- ‫ ’-تو‬uses the verb ‘-‫ ’-پي دين‬and the third person subject ‘-‫ ’-هو‬agrees with the verb ‘- ‫ ’-هوء-‘ ,پي د‬agrees with the verb ‘-‫’-پي دي‬ and ‘-‫ ’- هي‬agrees with the verb ‘- ‫’-پي د‬
Agreement with Gender
The boy had cry

‫ڇوڪر رنو هو‬

The girl had cry

‫ڇوڪري رني ه ي‬
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Mubarak Ali Lashari and Amara Aftab Soomro
Subject-Verb Agreement in Sindhi and English: A Comparative Study

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Now you can see in the above given examples that in English, the subject for both the genders (masculine and feminine) as ‘the boy’ and ‘the girl’ agrees with the verb ‘cry’.
But in Sindhi, the masculine subject ‘- ‫ ’-ڇوڪ‬agrees with the verb as ‘- ‫رنو‬
‫ ’-هو‬with vowel ending –o, but the feminine subject ‘-‫ ’-ڇوڪ يء‬agrees with the verb
َ
as ‘-‫ ’-رني ه ي‬with the vowel sound ending –i. for more understanding another example is:
The dog ran

‫ڪتو ڊ ڙيو ه و‬

The cat ran

‫ٻلي ڊ ڙي ه ي‬
--------------------------

‘Dog’ is the masculine gender and ‘ cat is the feminine gender, In English the verb doesn’t change its form for different gender subjects. As in above examples, the verb agrees to both the gender subjects ‘dog’ and ‘cat’ as ‘ran’.
But in Sindhi, the verb changes its form for different genders. As the gender
(masculine) subject ‘--‫ ’-ڪتو‬agrees with the verb as ‘-‫ ,’-ڊ ڙيو ه و‬and the feminine gender subject ‘-‫ ’-ٻلي‬agrees with the verb as ‘-‫ ’-ڊ ڙي ه ي‬with the vowel endings –o and –I respectively.
Agreement with Numbers
The boy plays

‫ڇوڪر کيڏي ٿو‬

The boys play

‫ڇوڪر کيڏ ٿا‬

She eats

‫هوء کائي ٿي‬
َ

They eat

‫هي کائن ٿا‬

In English, we will always add this -s after the singular third person subject he, she, and it, and a verb has a singular and plural forms in the present tense only. As
Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 13:6 June 2013
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Subject-Verb Agreement in Sindhi and English: A Comparative Study

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‘the boy’ is a ‘he’ so the verb must include an –s or –es ending like ‘plays’. and for plural subject as ‘the boys’ refers to “they”, the verb will not have the –s or –es ending like; ‘play’. Same is the case with “She” agrees with the verb as ‘eats’, and
‘They’ agrees with the verb as ‘eat’.
And in Sindhi, the subject ‘- ‫ ’-ڇوڪ‬is a singular in number. Then the verb agrees to it as ‘-‫ ,’-کيڏي ٿو‬But if the subject ‘- ‫ ’-ڇوڪ‬is plural in number than the verb agrees to it as ‘- ‫ .’-کيڏ ٿ‬Same is the case with the singular subject ‘-‫ ’-هوء‬agrees with
َ
the verb as ‘-‫ ’-ک ئي ٿي‬and the plural subject ‘-‫ ’- هي‬agrees with the verb as ‘- ‫.’-ک ئن ٿ‬
Similarities in Some Cases
Here are some of the areas, where English and Sindhi share a common rule for subject verb agreement like:
* Every verb should agree with the subject in number and person. For instance,
English: They like sweets. (They=plural, like=plural).
Sindhi: Uhay mitha pasand kan tha. (Uhay=plural, pasand kan tha=plural)
* When a compound subject is connected by ‘and’, it is treated as plural in both
Sindhi and English. For instance,
English: Rabia and Sadia are my sisters. (Are= plural)
Sindhi: - ‫ =-آهن-(ر بعه ۽ سعديه م جو ڀيڻيو آهن‬plural)
* If two singular nouns refer to the same person or thing, the verb treated as singular in both Sindhi and English. For instance,
English: The producer and director of the film has won an award. (Has won= singular).
Sindhi: --‫ = -کٽيو-( -فلم جي هد يتڪ ر ۽ پ ڊيوس يو رڊ کٽيو‬singular).
(When one person is both the producer and director).

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Subject-Verb Agreement in Sindhi and English: A Comparative Study

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* Words joined to a singular subjects by words such as ‘with’, ‘as well as’ etc are treated as singular in both Sindhi and English.
English: Sanskrit as well Arabic was taught there. (Was taught = singular). Sindhi: -‫ي دي ه ي‬

‫= - ي دي ه ي-( .-س سڪ ت توڙي ع بي تي پڙه ئي‬

singular).
* When the subjects joined by the ‘or’ or ‘nor’ are of different person. The verb agrees to with the nearer in both Sindhi and English.
English: Neither you nor he is responsible. (He = singular, is = singular). Sindhi: --‫ = -هو-( -نه تو نه ئي هو ميو ر آهي‬singular, -‫ = -آهي‬singular)
English: Either he or I am guilty. (I = singular, am = singular)
Sindhi: - ‫ش م د آهي‬

‫ري م‬

‫ = -م -( .-ي ته هو ي‬singular, - ‫=-آهي‬

singular).
* When the plural noun is a proper name for some single object or some collective unit. It follows a singular verb in both Sindhi and English.
English: The Arabian Nights is still a great favourite. (Arabian Nights
= plural, is = singular)
Sindhi: -‫( ---ع بين ن ئٽس ڃ ت ئين پس د ڪ ي ي دي آهي‬Arabian Nights = plural, -‫ = -آهي‬singular)
*

The collective noun can be treated as singular in both Sindhi and English ,

when the noun is considered as a single unit.
English: This group is cooperative. (Is = singular)
Sindhi: -‫ڪ دڙ آهي‬

‫ = -آهي-( .- هو ٽولو تع‬singular)

Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 13:6 June 2013
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Subject-Verb Agreement in Sindhi and English: A Comparative Study

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* Words and phrases that express an amount or money, fraction, distance, or interval of time are singular in both Sindhi and English.
English: Twenty kilometres is a long distance. (Is = singular)
Sindhi: -‫ڏ مف صلو آهي‬

‫ =--آهي-( - ي ه ڪلوميٽ‬singular)

English: One hundred rupee is a large sum. (Is = singular)
Sindhi: -‫ = -آهي-( -هڪ سو ر پيه ڏي قي ت آهي‬singular)
Conclusion
From above analysis, we have examined that the subject and the verb agrees in a sentence. Agreement allows us to show who’s doing what in a sentence by indicating which part of the sentence go together. And through above analysis of comparison between Sindhi and English verb agreement, we have come to know the difference as well as the similarities in subject verb agreement in both languages.
=========================================================
References
Ahmed, S , Shah, Z. & Qurat-ul-Ain (2004) , Syntactical Translation System for
English to Sindhi translation. A paper presented in National Conference on
Emerging
Technologies 2004. Retrieved from http://www.szabist.edu.pk/Publications/Session%20VI%20Paper%20No%201%20(P %20112-115).pdf
Bajwa.F (-), The fundamental of English Grammar and composition. Nela Gumbal,
Lahore: Zia Publishers
Barber, C. (1964). The Story of language. Pan piper/ Pan books Ltd.
Cook.J. V. (1996). Chomsky’s Universal Grammar. Hong kong, Blackwell Publisher.
Cole, J.S (2006), The Sindhi language. Asian Educational Services.
Catherine (2013), BBC learning English, subject-verb agreement. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1844_gramchalleng e47/
Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 13:6 June 2013
Mubarak Ali Lashari and Amara Aftab Soomro
Subject-Verb Agreement in Sindhi and English: A Comparative Study

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Ping, L. G. (2012). An Alternative method of teaching subject verb agreement.
The Teacher English, Vol. XLI(2) December 2012. Retrieved from http://www.melta.org.my/ET/2012/vol2/MELTA-9.pdf Guha, I. & Guha, K. (2005), The Grammar tree, Essentials of Grammar and
Compositon. Oxford University press.
Jokhiyo, M (2008), Sojhro, Sindhi Grammar Jo Majmu’o. Kandiaro, Roshni
Publishers.
Lashari, M. (2011). Syntax in action, verb agreement in Sindhi language. language in
India journal
Subject verb agreement, writing centre module retrieved on 10/04/2013 from http://www.greenriver.edu/Documents/student-affairs/tutoringresources/wc/subject-verb-agreement-module.pdf Triumph, E. (1872). Grammar of the Sindhi language compared with Sanskrit and
Prakrit. F.A Braukhaus.
Murray, D. & Rockowitz, A. C. (--). The verb system, Subject verb agreement,
Grammar & Mechanics, The Hunter college reading/writing centre. Retrieved on 10/05/2013 from http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/online/subject-verb-agreement.pdf
Wren, P.C. & Martin, H. (2002). High school English grammar and composition.
Ram Nagar, New Delhi: S. Chand & Company Ltd
=============================================================
Mubarak Lashari, M.Phil (English), Ph.D. Scholar
Department of English Language
International Islamic University
Islamabad
Institute of English Language and Literature
University of Sindh
Jamshoro
Pakistan [e-mail] Amara Aftab Soomro, B.S. Hons. Student
Institute of English Language and Literature
University of Sindh
Jomshoro
Pakistan
[e-mail]
Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 13:6 June 2013
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Subject-Verb Agreement in Sindhi and English: A Comparative Study

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References: Ahmed, S , Shah, Z. & Qurat-ul-Ain (2004) , Syntactical Translation System for English to Sindhi translation Barber, C. (1964). The Story of language. Pan piper/ Pan books Ltd. Cook.J. V. (1996). Chomsky’s Universal Grammar. Hong kong, Blackwell Publisher. Cole, J.S (2006), The Sindhi language. Asian Educational Services. Catherine (2013), BBC learning English, subject-verb agreement. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1844_gramchalleng Guha, I. & Guha, K. (2005), The Grammar tree, Essentials of Grammar and Compositon Jokhiyo, M (2008), Sojhro, Sindhi Grammar Jo Majmu’o. Kandiaro, Roshni Publishers. Lashari, M. (2011). Syntax in action, verb agreement in Sindhi language. language in India journal Triumph, E. (1872). Grammar of the Sindhi language compared with Sanskrit and Prakrit