PSAT/SAT PRACTICE
Essential Skills for the Writing and Language Test
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT (SVA)
• A verb must agree in number with its
subject. REMEMBER: The
agreement of a verb with its subject
is not affected by any interrupting
words.
• The unlikely alliance between
women’s rights groups and
fundamentalist religious
organizations are creating havoc in
the political arena.
• Ignore the prepositional phrase that
begins “between women’s […].”
• The subject of the sentence alliance
is singular; thus, are should be is.
• Ralph, as well as his sisters, plan to
participate in the three day
conference on drug use among
high school students.
• HINT: Ignore the words between the
commas!
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT (SVA)
• Each of the following sentences contains a subject-verb
agreement error.
• 1. Jeremy, along with several of his friends, intend to
bicycle from Berkeley to Los Angeles.
• 2. Delayed broadcasting, not to mention close monitoring
of particular networks, are ways in which the government
attempts to control television program content.
• 3. A major advantage that large chain stores have over
small, independent retailers are the ability to sell products at
a lower cost.
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT (SVA)
• Each of the following sentences contains a subject-verb
agreement error.
• 1. Jeremy, along with several of his friends, intends to
bicycle from Berkeley to Los Angeles.
• 2. Delayed broadcasting, not to mention close monitoring
of particular networks, is a way in which the government
attempts to control television program content.
• 3. A major advantage that large chain stores have over
small, independent retailers is the ability to sell products at a
lower cost.
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT (SVA)
• 4. The hours the average American spend working have
increased dramatically since the 1970s, making it hard for
many workers to get a good night’s sleep.
• A. No change
• B. have spent
• C. spends
• D. are spent
• Choice C is the best answer because the verb “spends”
grammatically corresponds with the singular noun
“American.” Choices A, B, and D are incorrect because, in
each instance, the noun and verb do not grammatically
correspond. The verbs “spend,” “have spent” and “are spent”
would correspond with a plural noun, but not with the singular
noun “American.”
“THERE” SENTENCE ERRORS (SVA)
• REMEMBER: If you see sentences or
phrases beginning with the word
there, be careful. The true subject
appears after the verb.
• To the reporter’s surprise, there was
few disagreements about what
needed to be done to improve the
agency’s tarnished image.
• HINT: The word disagreements
determines the verb in this
sentence.
• Each of the following sentences
contains a subject-verb agreement
error:
• 5. After I attempted to wash off the
face paint, there was traces of
color still evident on my forehead
and chin.
• 6. Trying to recount the movie to his
friend, Josh realized that there were
one element of the plot which he
couldn’t quite recall.
INVERTED STRUCTURE ERRORS (SVA)
• REMEMBER: In “inverted structure”
sentences, the true subject appears
after the verb.
Each of the following sentences
contains a subject-verb agreement
error:
• Viewed with suspicion by the
NAACP was proposals to give tax
credits to parents who send their
children to private schools.
7. Behind the school’s gym is the
offices for part-time and assistant
coaches.
• HINT: Don’t be fooled into thinking
that “NAACP” is the subject of the
sentence. Turn the sentence
around—”Proposals to give tax
credits . . . were viewed . . . [.]”
8. Making the varsity basketball
team and staying on the honor roll is
some of Tania’s goals for the school
year.
“NEITHER/NOR” AND
“EITHER/OR” ERRORS (SVA)
• REMEMBER: In neither/nor and
either/or sentences, the number of
the verb is determined by
whichever subject is closer to the
verb.
• Each of the following sentences
contains a subject-verb agreement
error:
• REMEMBER: When “neither” or
“either” appears alone in a
sentence, the verb should always
be singular!
• 10. Either the encyclopedia or the
farmer’s almanac are a good
source of information about season
rainfall patterns.
• 9. Neither of those internet tabloid
articles are worth reading.
PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT (PAA)
• Each of the following sentences
contains a pronoun-antecedent
agreement error. For each
sentence, underline the antecedent
and change the pronoun.
• 1. The Milky Way galaxy, which
contains hundreds of stars, shines
their brightest in the Aquarius
constellation.
• 2. When the theater closed their
doors to the public, the local
residents were truly disappointed.
• 3. The members of the jury suddenly
regretted its decision.
• 4. Comprised of experienced and
talented singers, the choir deserved
the excellent review given to them
by the school newspaper.
• 5. The state regarded their
educational system as one of the
most effective and progressive in
the entire nation.
PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT (PAA)
• 6. The project enlists volunteers to transcribe the recipes: working
from our home computers, the volunteers type up the scanned
handwritten recipes.
•
•
•
•
A.
B.
C.
D.
No Change
his or her
their
one’s
Choice C is the best answer because the possessive pronoun “their”
grammatically corresponds to the plural “volunteers.” Choice A is incorrect
because it provides a possessive pronoun that would correspond with “we,”
which would only be valid if the writer were part of the group of volunteers.
Choices B and D are incorrect because each provides a possessive
pronoun for a singular noun, yet the subject of the clause is the pluralnoun
“volunteers.”
PRONOUNS: CASE, AGREEMENT,
CONSISTENCY AND CLARITY
• MEMORIZE THESE TWO RULES:
• Put the subject of a
sentence/clause in the subjective
case.
• Sharon and he entered the wind
surfing contest.
• Put the object of a verb and the
object of a preposition in the
objective case.
• The forest ranger gave him and me
some good advice about hiking.
• The meal that Maria described to us
had been prepared by her.
VERBS: SEQUENCE, TENSE AND FORM
• REMEMBER: Don’t let the tense of
an underlined verb contradict the
tense of a verb in the nonunderlined part of the sentence.
• He wore a pained expression as his
parents embarrass him in front of his
friends.
• Each of the following sentences
contains an underlined verb
sequence error:
• 1. When I yelled at him, he
becomes angry.
• 2. More people will attend the
meeting if it had not been
scheduled during work hours.
• 3. Before she retired in May, Ms.
Miller was coaching track and field
for 15 years.
VERBS: SEQUENCE, TENSE AND FORM
• REMEMBER: Make sure the tense of
the underlined verb agrees with the
time at which the action takes
place.
• Today, employees of the German
Bundesbank worked for an
institution that single-mindedly
pursues the goal of safeguarding
the currency.
• HINT: the word today determines
the tense of the verbs in the
sentence above.
• Each of the following sentences
contains an underlined verb tense
error:
• 4. In 1989, despite many predictions
to the contrary, the stock market
has crashed.
• 5. During the Renaissance, Italian
nobles have created elaborate
gardens to flaunt their wealth.
• 6. Throughout his life, the writer is
tortured by horrible nightmares that
informed characters and themes in
many of his stories.
VERBS: SEQUENCE, TENSE AND FORM
• REMEMBER: Be sure to check the
conjugation of the underlined verb,
especially irregular verbs.
• Each of the following sentences
contains an underlined verb form
error:
• Since he had spoke to no one at
the office about his illness, he was
surprised when nearly all of his
coworkers offered their
condolences.
• 7. In order to soothe her throat, she
drunk three cups of tea.
• HINT: The past perfect for “speak” is
“had spoken,” not “had spoke.”
• 8. You would have won the race if
you had ran faster.
• 9. Now that it is raining, I wish I had
brung my umbrella along on the
walk.
VERBS: SEQUENCE, TENSE AND FORM
Some recipes don’t fare well in the twenty-first century
(one club member called her 1800s gingerbread a
“molasses-laden brick”), while others had worked just fine.
• A. No Change
• B. Work
• C. Worked
• D. Could have worked
• Choice B is the best answer because it provides a verb in
the present tense (“work”), which is consistent with the
present tense verb “don’t fare” that opens the sentence.
• 10.