Is it "the team is" or "the team are"?

In American English, "the team is." Collective nouns like team, class, and family count as one group. Third graders meet this mostly through is/are choices, and it becomes a bigger theme in the 4th grade sheets.

What are the hardest agreement pairs for 3rd graders?

Was/were and does/do, because the sound cues are weaker than with bark/barks. If your student breezes through the -s verbs but stalls on those, that's normal; give them the was/were sheets a few extra times. Each print is a fresh set, so repetition stays honest.

3rd grade subject-verb agreement

3rd grade subject-verb agreement worksheets

A verb agrees with its subject in number: the singular subject takes barks/is/has, the plural takes bark/are/have. Third graders handle the common trouble verbs (is/are, was/were, has/have, does/do) and compound subjects joined by "and."

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.3.1.f.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of sentences you'll fix

Write the form of the verb in parentheses that agrees with the subject. Use the present tense unless the sentence says it already happened.

Rosa (stir) the pancake batter.
Fixed: Rosa stirs the pancake batter.
The waves (crash) on the sandy shore.
Three ducks (swim) across the pond.

Every print pulls a new set of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 3rd grade sheet

3rd grade sheets draw from 95 sentences, 8 to a page. 35 of the 95 aren't on 2nd grade sheets. The other 60 are. 2nd grade sheets print 7 to a page.

A few of the sentences, as the answer key corrects them:

The dog barks at squirrels in the yard.
Freya strums her ukulele on the porch.
The new soccer ball was flat by halftime last Saturday.

Fix it. Write the form of the verb in parentheses that agrees with the subject. Use the present tense unless the sentence says it already happened. 8 sentences to fix per page.
Choose the word. Circle the letter of the verb that agrees with the subject. 10 questions per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

The trouble verbs deserve their own drill order: is/are first, then was/were, then has/have, then does/do. For compound subjects, teach that "and" makes a plural team ("Maya and Leo walk"). Keep the routine: find the subject, count it, write the verb.

Watch for: The s moves: singular nouns usually have no s while their verb does (the dog barks), and plural nouns have the s while their verb doesn't (the dogs bark). Words between the subject and the verb don't change the match. In 'The box of crayons was full', the subject is box, not crayons.

Common questions about 3rd grade subject-verb agreement

Is it "the team is" or "the team are"?: In American English, "the team is." Collective nouns like team, class, and family count as one group. Third graders meet this mostly through is/are choices, and it becomes a bigger theme in the 4th grade sheets.
What are the hardest agreement pairs for 3rd graders?: Was/were and does/do, because the sound cues are weaker than with bark/barks. If your student breezes through the -s verbs but stalls on those, that's normal; give them the was/were sheets a few extra times. Each print is a fresh set, so repetition stays honest.

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Aligned to Common Core L.3.1.f. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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